Directed by:
Archie MayoScreenplay:
Casey RobinsonCinematography:
James Van TreesComposer:
Heinz RoemheldCast:
Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Eric Blore, George Barbier, Bonita Granville, Spring Byington, Veda Ann Borg, Janet Shaw (more)Plots(1)
Battling Shakespearean actors Basil Underwood and Joyce Arden perform the death scene from Romeo and Juliet , sniping at each other sotto voce between the lines. In spite of their conflicts, they really are in love and plan to marry that evening. Their plans change, however, when Marcia West, a member of the audience, visits Basil backstage to tell him he is her ideal man. Her distraught fiancé, Henry Grant, begs Basil to attend a house party and act caddishly to Marcia so she will fall out of love with him. Basil agrees, but Joyce, her marriage postponed for the twelfth time, is angry and suspicious. At the house party, Basil's efforts to make Marcia hate him backfire, and he starts to enjoy her attentions. Joyce arrives unexpectedly at the party and catches Basil and Marcia in a romantic moment, even though Digges, Basil's valet, has tried to warn the couple with a series of bird imitations. For revenge, Joyce introduces herself as Basil's wife, but when even this fails to discourage Marcia, she agrees to give Basil a "divorce." Panicked by the thought of losing the only woman he loves, Basil hurries back to his hotel, only to find Marcia there ahead of him. Henry follows and, admitting his love for Marcia, offers to give her up if it will make her happy. She is touched by his gesture and finally realizing that Basil is a bore, leaves gladly with Henry. Joyce sees them in the lobby, understands that they have reconciled and happily agrees to marry Basil at last. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Leslie Howard
UK
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Pygmalion (1938)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
Bette Davis
USA
Best movies:
All About Eve (1950)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
The Little Foxes (1941)
Olivia de Havilland
Japan
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Heiress (1949)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Patric Knowles
UK
Best movies:
Band of Angels (1957)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Eric Blore
UK
Best movies:
Shall We Dance? (1937)
Top Hat (1935)
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
George Barbier
USA
Best movies:
One Hour with You (1932)
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
The Crusades (1935)
Bonita Granville
USA
Best movies:
These Three (1936)
The Mortal Storm (1940)
Little Women (1933)
Spring Byington
USA
Best movies:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
Jezebel (1938)
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
Veda Ann Borg
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
Janet Shaw
USA
Best movies:
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Jezebel (1938)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Bess Flowers
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Rear Window (1954)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Jack Mower
USA
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Irving Bacon
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Sarah Edwards
UK
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Edmund Mortimer
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
It Started with Eve (1941)
Rosella Towne
USA
Best movies:
Dark Victory (1939)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Lionel Belmore
UK
Best movies:
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
Three Ages (1923)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
E.E. Clive
UK
Best movies:
The Invisible Man (1933)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Captain Blood (1935)
Joan Valerie
USA
Best movies:
Westward the Women (1951)
The Hucksters (1947)
The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
Georgia Caine
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
Dodge City (1939)