Simone Simon

JOSETTE

20th Century Fox, 1938.  Directed by Allan Dwan.  Camera:  John Mescall.  With Don Ameche, Simone Simon, Robert Young, Joan Davis, Bert Lahr, Paul Hurst, William Collier, Sr., Tala Birell, Lynn Bari, William Demarest, Ruth Gillette, Armand Caliz, Maurice Cass, Raymond Turner, George H. Reed, Billy Baxter, Paul McVey, Fred Kelsey, Lillian Porter, Alice Armand, Antonio Filauri, James C. Morton, Edward Keane, Hank Mann, Robert Kellard, Robert Lowery, Lon Chaney, Jr., Slim Martin, Ruth Peterson, June Gale, Jayne Regan, Brooks Benedict, John Donaldson, Harry Denny, Harold Foshay.

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In New Orleans, strait-laced, business-oriented David Brossard, Jr. and his playboy brother Pierre own a cannery and fishing fleet, which they inherited from their father.  Brossand, Sr., who, like Pierre, is quite the ladies' man, constantly gets involved with women who mistakenly think he still owns the business, while in reality he receives an allowance from his sons.  After the sons get a telegram from their father vacationing in Havana, informing them that he will soon wed French cabaret singer Josette, they trick their father, who has returned to New Orleans with Josette, into taking a business trip to New York to get him out of the way so that they can buy off Josette.  Unknown to Pierre and David, Josette has left for New York along with their father.

At the Silver Moon Café, where Josette is supposed to perform, wardrobe mistress Renee Le Blanc, who wants to be a singing star, impersonates the chanteuse.  After her first performance, the owner, Barney Barnaby, who thinks she is better than Josette, convinces her to continue the impersonation, but she is recognized as a phony by a drunken man who saw the real Josette perform in Havana.  Barnaby, however, manages to keep the man well supplied with liquor to stop him from calling the police.

Thinking that Renee is Josette, Pierre decides to romance her in order to keep her away from his father.  After Pierre gets Renee to go sailing with him, David, who is suspicious of his brother's scheme, stows away on the boat, and then Renee, attracted to David, hides in his car after the trip.  Despite getting the car stuck in the mud and becoming soaked in a rainstorm, David and Renee have a wonderful time together and they kiss as they part when they return to the club.  Renee wants to quit the impersonation, so as not to deceive David, but Barnaby convinces her to continue for just one more night to avoid having the club taken over by a bank.

Meanwhile, the elder Brossard, who was deserted by Josette when she learned his true financial status, returns home feeling foolish and tells David that Josette was only after his money. David gets drunk and rages at Renee, and she leaves with the sweet-talking Pierre.  When the real Josette returns to the Silver Moon and discovers that someone has been impersonating her, a reporter overhears her and calls in the story to his newspaper.  By the time David discovers the truth, Renee has left with Pierre on his yacht.  Wanting to apologize and tell Renee that he loves her, David follows in a boat with Renee's friend, May Morris.  On the yacht, Pierre chases Renee until she locks herself in a storage cabin.  Pierre then tricks her into coming out, but as David and May arrive, Renee attacks Pierre and swims for shore.  David dives in after her.

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Later, at the café, Renee sings as herself. David sits with Pierre, whose leg is in a cast, and after Renee sings "I love you" to David, Pierre trips him as he attempts to go to Renee.

Notes
Based on the play Jo and Josette by Paul Frank and Georg Fraser (production undetermined), which was based on a short story by Ladislaus Vadnai (publication undetermined).

The working title of this film was Jo and Josette.  Sam Hellman is listed as a contributing writer in a SAB Notice of Tentative Credits, but his name is missing from a subsequent listing entitled "Confirmation that contributing writers have agreed on screen credits."  Hellman's contribution, if any, has not been determined.  According to a HR news item, Sidney Lanfield was originally scheduled to direct, but he was hospitalized and replaced by Allan Dwan a week before shooting began.  HR news items also report that production was halted in January 1938 with eight days remaining and did not resume until April because of Simone Simon's long illness.  According to an HR news item, Robert Young was borrowed from MGM.  Modern sources list Zeffie Tilbury and Harry Holman as additional cast members.

Songs include:  "May I Drop a Petal in Your Glass of Wine?", "In Any Language It's Love," and "Where in the World," music and lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel.

American Film Institute Catalog