Primrose Path (1940 film)

Last updated
Primrose Path
Primrose Path Poster.jpg
Directed by Gregory La Cava
Screenplay byGregory La Cava
Allan Scott
Based onPrimrose Path
1938 play
by Robert H. Buckner
Walter Hart
February Hill 1934 novel by Victoria Lincoln
Produced byGregory La Cava
Starring Ginger Rogers
Joel McCrea
Cinematography Joseph H. August
Edited byWilliam Hamilton
Music by Werner R. Heymann
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • March 22, 1940 (1940-03-22)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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]

Contents

Marjorie Rambeau was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Plot

Lobby card for Primrose Path Primrose Path lobby card.jpg
Lobby card for Primrose Path

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.

Cast

Reception

The film made a profit of $110,000. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger Rogers</span> American actress and dancer (1911–1995)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory La Cava</span> American film director

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel McCrea</span> American actor (1905–1990)

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.

<i>Perfect Strangers</i> (1950 film) 1950 American comedy drama directed by Bretaigne Windust

Perfect Strangers, also released as Too Dangerous to Love in some territories, is a 1950 American comedy-drama film directed by Bretaigne Windust. Edith Sommer wrote the screenplay from an adaptation written by George Oppenheimer, based on the 1939 play Ladies and Gentlemen by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht. The film stars Ginger Rogers and Dennis Morgan as two jurors who fall in love while sequestered during a murder trial. Thelma Ritter, Margalo Gillmore, and Anthony Ross co-star in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Field</span> British actress (1917–1992)

Virginia Field was a British-born film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie Rambeau</span> American actress (1889–1970)

Marjorie Burnet Rambeau was an American film and stage actress. She began her stage career at age 12, and appeared in several silent films before debuting in her first sound film, Her Man (1930). She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Primrose Path (1940) and Torch Song (1953), and received the 1955 National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in A Man Called Peter and The View from Pompey's Head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miles Mander</span> English actor

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.

<i>Barnacle Bill</i> (1941 film) 1941 feature film directed by Richard Thorpe

Barnacle Bill is a 1941 feature film starring Wallace Beery. The screen comedy was directed by Richard Thorpe. Barnacle Bill was the second of seven MGM films pairing Beery and character actress Marjorie Main.

Sally Payne was an American actress. She featured in several B-Westerns in the 1940s.

<i>Rockabye</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Rockabye is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film starring Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, and Paul Lukas. The final version was directed by George Cukor after studio executives decided that the original film as directed by George Fitzmaurice was unreleasable. The screenplay by Jane Murfin is based on an unpublished play written by Lucia Bronder, based on her original short story.

<i>The Thirteenth Guest</i> 1932 film

The Thirteenth Guest is a 1932 American pre-Code mystery comedy thriller film, released on August 9, 1932. The film is also known as Lady Beware in the United Kingdom. It is based on the 1929 novel The Thirteenth Guest written by crime fiction author Armitage Trail, best known for the novel Scarface on which the 1932 movie of the same name was based. The novel was filmed again in 1943 as Mystery of the 13th Guest.

<i>The Silver Horde</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

The Silver Horde is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film starring Joel McCrea as a fisherman torn between two women, played by top-billed Evelyn Brent and Jean Arthur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa Harris</span> American television and film actress, singer and dancer (1906–1985)

Theresa Harris was an American television and film actress, singer and dancer.

<i>Our Little Girl</i> 1935 film by John S. Robertson

Our Little Girl is a 1935 American drama, in which Shirley Temple and Joel McCrea play the leading roles. The film was the final work of the veteran director, John S. Robertson.

<i>Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence</i> 1939 film by Ricardo Cortez

Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence is a 1939 drama film written by Dalton Trumbo, directed by Ricardo Cortez, and starring Jean Rogers, Raymond Walburn, Marjorie Rambeau and Glenn Ford. This was the first major screen role for both Ford and Richard Conte, and Ford was billed fourth.

<i>Forever Female</i> 1953 film by Irving Rapper

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivienne Osborne</span> American actress 1896–1961)

Vivienne Osborne was an American stage and film actress known for her work in Broadway theatre and in silent and sound films.

<i>Chance at Heaven</i> 1933 film

Chance at Heaven is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by William A. Seiter and written by Julien Josephson and Sarah Y. Mason based on a 1932 short story of the same name by Vina Delmar. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea, Marian Nixon, Andy Devine and Lucien Littlefield. It was released on October 27, 1933 by RKO Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Killy</span> American film director (1903-1981)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenie Vassar</span> Scottish-American actress (1870–1960

Queenie Vassar was a Scottish-born actress on stage and in films.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56
  2. Hal Erickson. "Primrose Path Plot Synopsis". Allmovie . Retrieved 2023-03-10.