And what better time for Cinderella tales than the Great Depression, when shopgirls, secretaries and waitresses (like Mia Farrow in Purple Rose of Cairo) could dream about Prince Charming, or in a pinch a mere millionaire, recognizing their inner goodness, virtue and purity, giving them that ring and whisking them away to live happily ever after.
Such tales became a bit stale and predictable but never fear, this is way before the Production Code took hold and there are several twists and turns before the inevitable.
Leading man Lowell Sherman, who died unexpectedly in 1934 at age 48, was a suave William Powell type onscreen as well as a successful director. Early Irene Dunne, as virtuous stenographer with requisite untamed younger sister, was perfect for conveying the kind of prissiness required for the role. There are two other gold-digging floozies to contrast with Irene's idealism, one of whom appears briefly in a see-through nightgown towards the end. This really was pre-code. Even Sherman's Jeeves-like butler is a bit of a cad in one scene.
Most of the complications arise from two of Sherman's old flames pursuing him while he pursues Dunne. One of them kind of fades out like the screenwriter forgot about her, or maybe some bits ended up on the cutting room floor. The other is a nasty, if somewhat cartoonish, femme fatale who stirs up some surprisingly serious trouble.
Much snappy dialogue and a good example of the fast-paced adult films that would become unmakeable in Hollywood a few years later.
Such tales became a bit stale and predictable but never fear, this is way before the Production Code took hold and there are several twists and turns before the inevitable.
Leading man Lowell Sherman, who died unexpectedly in 1934 at age 48, was a suave William Powell type onscreen as well as a successful director. Early Irene Dunne, as virtuous stenographer with requisite untamed younger sister, was perfect for conveying the kind of prissiness required for the role. There are two other gold-digging floozies to contrast with Irene's idealism, one of whom appears briefly in a see-through nightgown towards the end. This really was pre-code. Even Sherman's Jeeves-like butler is a bit of a cad in one scene.
Most of the complications arise from two of Sherman's old flames pursuing him while he pursues Dunne. One of them kind of fades out like the screenwriter forgot about her, or maybe some bits ended up on the cutting room floor. The other is a nasty, if somewhat cartoonish, femme fatale who stirs up some surprisingly serious trouble.
Much snappy dialogue and a good example of the fast-paced adult films that would become unmakeable in Hollywood a few years later.