Miss Polly

Last updated
Miss Polly
Directed by Fred Guiol
John E. Burch (assistant)
Screenplay byEugene Conrad
Edward E. Seabrook
Produced by Hal Roach
Starring ZaSu Pitts
Slim Summerville
Kathleen Howard
Brenda Forbes
Elyse Knox
Richard Clayton
CinematographyRobert Pittack
Edited by Richard C. Currier
Music by Edward Ward
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • November 14, 1941 (1941-11-14)
Running time
45 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$118,854 [1]
Box office$203,282 [1]

Miss Polly is a 1941 American comedy film produced as part of Hal Roach's Streamliners series. It was directed by Fred Guiol, written by Eugene Conrad and Edward E. Seabrook and stars ZaSu Pitts, Slim Summerville, Kathleen Howard, Brenda Forbes, Elyse Knox and Richard Clayton. The film was released on November 14, 1941 by United Artists. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

In the very old-fashioned small town of Midfield, there hasn't been a marriage in more than two years and the young people are slowly leaving the town. Minerva Snodgrass, the strict and assertive leader of the town's Purity League, has created numerous restrictions to keep the girls and boys apart. Her next-door neighbor is Miss Panadora Polly, a friendly and tolerant old maid who lives with her handyman (and catastrophic hobby inventor) Slim Wilkins and her housekeeper and companion Patsy.

Miss Polly tries to shelter the young romance between Minerva's daughter Barbara and her boyfriend Eddie, who is frustrated that Barbara remains under her mother's influence. To give Barbara courage, Miss Polly finds a mysterious liquor in her cellar that once made her shy sister marry a man. She tries the drink and as a result, she flirts with the young grocery boy and buys the sexiest dress in town.

In her new dress, Miss Polly visits the town meeting held by the mayor and Mrs. Snodgrass, who wants to establish new rules and has most of the townspeople under her control. But Miss Polly, courageous under the influence of the romance liquor, disagrees and wants to afford more freedom to the young people in town. Polly reminds the elderly and middle-aged meeting members of their own youthful indiscretions and slowly brings them to her side. Minerva states that she was always morally right during her life, but Miss Polly remembers that Minerva had an affair many years ago. Minerva collapses and, as there is no water nearby, Slim and Patsy offer her the romantic liquor to drink. Under the drink's spell, she now agrees to the marriage between Barbara and Eddie and develops a crush on Slim, chasing after him.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Douglas Wiggin</span> American writer

Kate Douglas Wiggin was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and composed collections of children's songs. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878. With her sister during the 1880s, she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Kate Wiggin devoted her adult life to the welfare of children in an era when children were commonly thought of as cheap labor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZaSu Pitts</span> American actress (1894–1963)

ZaSu Pitts was an American actress whose career spanned nearly five decades, starring in many silent film dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic Greed, and comedies, before transitioning successfully to mostly comedy roles with the advent of sound films. She also appeared on numerous radio shows and, later, made her mark on television. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 at 6554 Hollywood Blvd.

<i>Diner</i> (1982 film) 1982 film directed by Barry Levinson

Diner is a 1982 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. It’s Levinson's screen-directing debut and the first of his "Baltimore Films" tetralogy, set in his hometown during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, the other three films are Tin Men (1987), Avalon (1990), and Liberty Heights (1999). It stars Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Paul Reiser, Kevin Bacon, Timothy Daly and Ellen Barkin and was released on March 5, 1982. The movie follows a close-knit circle of friends who reunite at a Baltimore diner when one of them prepares to get married.

<i>Topper</i> (film) 1937 film by Norman Z. McLeod

Topper is a 1937 American supernatural comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring Constance Bennett and Cary Grant and featuring Roland Young. It tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Pepper</span> American actress (1915–1969)

Barbara Pepper was an American stage, television, radio, and film actress. She is best known as the first Doris Ziffel on the sitcom Green Acres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patsy Kelly</span> American actress (1910–1981)

Patsy Kelly was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of short comedy films produced by Hal Roach in the 1930s. Kelly's career continued in similar roles after Todd's death in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minerva Urecal</span> American vaudevillian and actress (1894–1966)

Minerva Urecal was an American stage and radio performer as well as a character actress in Hollywood films and on various television series from the early 1950s to 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slim Summerville</span> American actor (1892–1946)

Slim Summerville was an American film actor and director best known for his work in comedies.

<i>Hold Your Man</i> 1933 film by Sam Wood

Hold Your Man is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by an uncredited Sam Wood and starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable, the third of their six films together. The screenplay by Anita Loos and Howard Emmett Rogers was based on a story by Loos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Potel</span> American actor (1889–1947)

Victor Potel was an American film character actor who began in the silent era and appeared in more than 430 films in his 38-year career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Lewis</span> American actress (1873–1956)

Vera Lewis was an American film and stage actress, beginning in the silent film era. She appeared in more than 180 films from 1915 to 1947. She was married to actor Ralph Lewis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Griffies</span> English actress (1878–1975)

Ethel Griffies was an English actress of stage, screen, and television. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds (1963). She appeared in stage roles in her native England and in the United States, and had featured roles in around 100 motion pictures. Griffies was one of the oldest working actors in the English-speaking theatre at the time of her death at 97 years old. She acted alongside such stars as May Whitty, Ellen Terry, and Anna Neagle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Donnelly</span> American actress

Ruth Donnelly was an American film and stage actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Baldwin</span> American actor (1889–1977)

Walter Smith Baldwin Jr. was an American character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladys Henson</span> Irish actress

Gladys Henson was an Irish actress whose career lasted from 1932 to 1976 and included roles on stage, radio, films and television series. Among her most notable films were The History of Mr Polly (1949) and The Blue Lamp (1950).

Hal Roach's Streamliners are a series of featurette comedy films created by Hal Roach that are longer than a short subject and shorter than a feature film, not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the 29 features that Roach produced for United Artists were in the streamliner format. They usually consisted of five 10-minute reels.

<i>Niagara Falls</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by Gordon Douglas

Niagara Falls is a 1941 American comedy of errors film directed by Gordon Douglas that was one of Hal Roach's Streamliners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Newell (actor)</span> American actor

William M. Newell was an American film actor.

<i>Private Nurse</i> 1941 film by David Burton

Private Nurse is a 1941 American drama film directed by David Burton and written by Samuel G. Engel. The film stars Jane Darwell, Brenda Joyce, Sheldon Leonard, Robert Lowery, Ann E. Todd and Kay Linaker. The film was released on August 22, 1941, by 20th Century Fox.

<i>Puddin Head</i> (film) 1941 film by Joseph Santley

Puddin' Head is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Joseph Santley and written by Jack Townley and Milt Gross. The film stars Judy Canova, Francis Lederer, Raymond Walburn, Slim Summerville, Astrid Allwyn, Eddie Foy Jr., Alma Kruger, Hugh O'Connell and Chick Chandler. It was released on June 25, 1941 by Republic Pictures.

References

  1. 1 2 Ward, Richard Lewis (2005). A history of the Hal Roach Studios. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 213.
  2. "Miss Polly (1941) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  3. Bruce Eder (2014). "Miss Polly (1941)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 2014-10-17.