Primrose Path | |
---|---|
Directed by | Gregory La Cava |
Screenplay by | Gregory La Cava Allan Scott |
Based on | Primrose Path 1938 play by Robert H. Buckner Walter Hart February Hill 1934 novel by Victoria Lincoln |
Produced by | Gregory La Cava |
Starring | Ginger Rogers Joel McCrea |
Cinematography | Joseph H. August |
Edited by | William Hamilton |
Music by | Werner R. Heymann |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $702,000 [1] |
Box office | $1,200,000 [1] |
Primrose Path is a 1940 film about a young woman determined not to follow the profession of her mother and grandmother, prostitution. It stars Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea. The film was the novel February Hill by Victoria Lincoln (uncredited for legal reasons). [2]
Marjorie Rambeau was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Tomboy Ellie May Adams (Ginger Rogers) keeps her virtue despite her difficult circumstances. Her alcoholic, Greek scholar father Homer (Miles Mander) is unemployable, leaving her loving mother Mamie (Marjorie Rambeau) to support the family by going out with men. Her ex-prostitute grandmother (Queenie Vassar) sees nothing wrong with their shared profession.
One day, Ellie May warily accepts a ride to the beach from Gramp (Henry Travers). Gramp runs a beachside restaurant and gas station along with wisecracking Ed Wallace (Joel McCrea). Ellie May falls in love with Ed and eventually, after lying to him about being thrown out by her family over him, gets him to marry her. She becomes an industrious, well-liked waitress in the restaurant.
However, she makes a grave mistake when she finally agrees to take Ed to meet the rest of her family. When her lies about her relations are revealed, Ed leaves her. To add to her woes, her father accidentally shoots her mother during one of his drunken, half-hearted attempts at suicide. Before she dies, Mamie gets Ellie May to promise to take care of the family.
When Ellie May cannot find work, in desperation, she finally takes up the family profession. Thelma (Vivienne Osborne), Mamie's friend and co-worker, arranges for Ellie May to accompany her, her current boyfriend, and "Mr. Smith" (an uncredited Charles Lane) on a car trip to San Francisco. On the way, Ellie May gets them to stop at Ed's favorite nightclub, where she bitterly pretends to be what her husband thinks she is. However, after a private talk with a sympathetic Mr. Smith, Ed figures out the truth and takes Ellie May back. He also accepts the burden of her family.
The film made a profit of $110,000. [1]
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.
Gregory La Cava was an American film director of Italian descent best known for his films of the 1930s, including My Man Godfrey and Stage Door, which earned him nominations for Academy Award for Best Director.
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.
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Virginia Field was a British-born film actress.
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Miles Mander, was an English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist. He was sometimes credited as Luther Miles.
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Forever Female is a 1953 black and white film directed by Irving Rapper. It stars Ginger Rogers and William Holden. It won a Golden Globe in 1954.
Vivienne Osborne was an American stage and film actress known for her work in Broadway theatre and in silent and sound films.
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Edward Arthur Killy was an American director, assistant director and production manager in films and television. He was one of the few individuals to be nominated for the short-lived Academy Award for Best Assistant Director. During his 30-year career he worked on over 75 films and television shows.
Queenie Vassar was a Scottish-born actress on stage and in films.