When Peter Morgan, a young botany
professor from Old Sharon, New York, goes to Manhattan on orders
from his father to bring back his wayward cousin Keith, he instead
falls in love with Francey, a high-spirited nightclub singer.
After a day of starry-eyed courtship, Francey and Peter marry, but
are unable to consummate the union on the train to Old Sharon.
The couple then must face Peter's
domineering, conservative father when they arrive at the university
town. Upon seeing blonde Francey at the train station, Mr.
Morgan immediately assumes that she is Keith's lover and refuses to
discuss her with his son. Afraid of upsetting his
heart-troubled mother, Peter decides to tell his parents and Helen,
his snobbish fiancée, about his marriage at the school prom and
sends Francey off to stay with Keith in his bachelor apartment.
Posing as a botany student, Francey
shows up at the prom with Keith, but before Peter can bring his
parents and new wife together, Francey is taunted into a
hair-pulling brawl with the jealous Helen. Worried about his
cousin's penchant for womanizing, Peter tells Francey to leave
Keith's place, and she moves into a women-only apartment building.
Finally, Peter manages to tell his father about Francey, and after
the initial shock of the news wears off, he condemns the marriage.
In the wake of her husband's fury, Mrs.
Morgan falls ill. The next day, however, having been told by
Helen that Francey has seduced her son, Mrs. Morgan goes to confront
Francey in her apartment and happily learns the truth. Mr.
Morgan arrives and orders Francey to divorce Peter, but Mrs.
Morgan revolts and decides to leave her husband. Having
revealed that she has been feigning her heart attacks, Mrs. Morgan
leaves Old Sharon on the same train as a depressed, discouraged
Francey. The two women and their husbands are soon reunited on
the train after Peter successfully challenges his father's authority
and convinces him that love is more important than either image or
career.
Notes
The film is based on the short story "Vivacious Lady" by
I.A.R. Wylie in Pictorial Review (October 1936).
Production on this film began in April
1937, according to HR news items and production charts.
When
James Stewart became ill after four days of shooting and then
had to leave to star in MGM's Benefits Forgot, the project was
shelved until mid-December 1937. Although George Stevens
continued as director, some cast members were replaced in the
production, including Fay Bainter and Donald Crisp. According
to HR, after Stewart's departure, RKO considered replacing
him with
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. HR also announced that James
Ellison and Fairbanks were competing for the same role. RKO
borrowed Stewart from MGM for the production.
One January 1938 HR production
chart lists Kay Van Riper as a co-screenwriter with Anne Morrison
Chapin, who is credited by the SAB as a treatment writer.
Riper's contribution to the final film has not been determined.
One reviewer advised exhibitors to screen this film before booking
it, as he feared that younger, impressionable viewers might forget
that "Francey" and "Peter" were married. Robert de Grasse
received an Academy Award nomination for his photography on the
production. Although Hugh McDowell, Jr. is credited on screen
as sound recorder, James Wilkinson, the head of RKO's sound
department, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound.
Modern sources add the following actors to the cast: Maurice Black
(headwaiter), June Eberling (girl on bus), Marvin Jones (boy on
bus), Bobby Barber (Italian), Ray Mayer and George Chandler (men on
train), Harry Campbell, June Johnson, Kay Sutton, Phyllis Fraser,
Edgar Dearing, Helena Grant, Vivian Reid, Vernon Dent, Kathleen
Ellis, June Horne, Dorothy Johnson, Phoebe Terbell, Robert Wilson,
Stanley Blystone and Barbara Pepper. In addition, modern
sources credit Mel Berns with make-up and John Miehle with still
photography.
Music includes You'll Be Reminded of
Me," words and music by George Jessel, Jack Meskill and Ted
Shapiro, vocal arrangement by Roger Edens.
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