There Goes My Heart (film)

Last updated
There Goes My Heart
There Goes My Heart FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Written by Ed Sullivan (story)
Eddie Moran
Jack Jevne
Produced by Milton H. Bren
Hal Roach (uncredited)
Starring Fredric March
Virginia Bruce
Cinematography Norbert Brodine
Edited byWilliam Terhune
Music by Marvin Hatley
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • October 14, 1938 (1938-10-14)
Running time
81-83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million [1]
Box office$410,700 [2]

There Goes My Heart is a 1938 American romantic comedy film starring Virginia Bruce and Fredric March, and directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Bruce plays a wealthy heiress who goes to work under an alias at a department store owned by her grandfather, and March the reporter who tracks her down. The film is based on a story by Ed Sullivan, better known for his long-running Ed Sullivan Show . The film was nominated for a Best Score Oscar for Marvin Hatley. [3]

Contents

Plot

Because heiress Joan Butterfield can't convince her grandfather to let her do what normal girls her age do, she decides to sneak away from their yacht and go off on her own in New York City. Reporter Bill Spencer arrives at the yacht just before she leaves, hoping to get a rare photograph of her for his editor, Mr. Stevens, but he is only able to get a glimpse of her. Bill is determined to get his story on Joan and convinces Stevens to let him continue his pursuit. While other papers are trying to find the missing heiress, Bill decides to do a story contrasting her life with that of an ordinary salegirl in her grandfather's department store. Meanwhile, Joan meets good-hearted Peggy O'Brien in an automat and is able to get herself a free lunch when Peggy's is stolen and the manager refuses to replace it until the well-dressed Joan says that hers was stolen as well. The girls become friends and Peggy offers to let Joan stay with her, thinking that she is down-on-her-luck. She also promises to get Joan a job in Butterfield's department store, where Peggy works. Because Joan does not want anyone to know who she is, she assumes the name of Joan Baker. She enjoys her new life, even though adapting to everyday situations like cooking dinner prove challenging. When Bill comes into the store to do his feature, he recognizes Joan and, hoping to get a hot story, he pursues her. After first trying to avoid Bill, Joan soon agrees to go out with him, but inadvertently manages to squelch every attempt he makes to photograph her. As he gets to know Joan for the down-to-earth person she really is, Bill begins to fall in love with her. One day, when Joan accidentally leaves her watch in the women's restroom at Butterfield's, Dorothy Moore, a jealous co-worker, sees the inscription, "To Joan Butterfield--from Gramps" and realizes Joan's true identity. While Dorothy goes to Gramps, Peggy agrees to help Joan, even though she can't understand why Joan prefers the life of an ordinary salesgirl to her own. Not knowing that Bill has secretly been working on a story about Joan, Peggy calls him to tell him what has happened and he takes Joan to his island cabin just twenty-five miles from New York. That night, at his cabin, they realize that they are in love and Bill decides to stop Stevens from printing the story about Joan. The next morning, he secretly goes to New York to get some groceries and a marriage license and tears his story up into little pieces. As soon as Bill leaves, however, Stevens calls the entire newsroom staff in to glue the story back together, and before Bill can return to the island, his "exclusive" on a secret romance with Joan is headline news. Gramps then calls the paper and learns from Bill's pal, Flash Fisher, where he has taken Joan. By taking a speed boat, Gramps and his staff arrive at the island before Bill and show Joan the story with Bill's byline. When Bill arrives, Joan is so hurt and angry that she leaves without allowing him to explain. Some time later, Peggy and her chiropractor boyfriend, Pennypepper E. Pennypepper, decide that the best way to get the stubborn pair back together is to send each a telegram signed by the other, asking to meet at the island cabin. When they meet, they are at first reluctant to forgive and forget, but soon realize they are in love when a thunderclap causes the frightened Joan to rush into Bill's arms. Finally, a local minister who was sent to the island by Peggy and Penny enters the cabin at the right moment with his prayer book opened to the wedding ceremony. [4]

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>The Divorcee</i> 1930 film

The Divorcee is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan, and Zelda Sears, based on the 1929 novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, and won Best Actress for its star Norma Shearer.

<i>42nd Street</i> (film) 1933 musical film

42nd Street is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon, with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It stars an ensemble cast of Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers.

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

Emma is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy-drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, starring Marie Dressler, written by Leonard Praskins from a story by Frances Marion, and directed by Clarence Brown. The supporting cast features Richard Cromwell, Jean Hersholt and Myrna Loy.

<i>A Stolen Life</i> (film) 1946 film by Curtis Bernhardt, Jack Gage

A Stolen Life is a 1946 American drama film starring Bette Davis, who also produced it. The film, based on the 1935 novel A Stolen Life by Karel Josef Benes, was directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Among the supporting cast are Glenn Ford, Dane Clark, Peggy Knudsen, Charlie Ruggles, and Bruce Bennett. It is a remake of the 1939 British film Stolen Life starring Elisabeth Bergner and Michael Redgrave.

<i>Show People</i> 1928 film by King Vidor

Show People is a 1928 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by King Vidor. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film was a starring vehicle for actress Marion Davies and actor William Haines and included notable cameo appearances by many of the film personalities of the day, including stars Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart and John Gilbert, and writer Elinor Glyn. Vidor also appears in a cameo as himself, as does Davies.

<i>Love on the Run</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by W. S. Van Dyke

Love on the Run is a 1936 American romantic comedy film, directed by W.S. Van Dyke, produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone and Reginald Owen in a story about rival newspaper correspondents assigned to cover the marriage of a socialite. The screenplay by John Lee Mahin, Manuel Seff and Gladys Hurlbut was based on a story by Alan Green and Julian Brodie. Love on the Run is the seventh of eight cinematic collaborations between Crawford and Gable. At the time of its release, Love on the Run was called "a lot of happy nonsense" by critics, but was a huge financial success, nonetheless.

<i>The Boy with Green Hair</i> 1948 American fantasy-drama film

The Boy with Green Hair is a 1948 American fantasy-drama film in Technicolor directed by Joseph Losey in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Dean Stockwell as Peter, a young war orphan who is subject to ridicule after his hair mysteriously turns green, and is based on the 1946 short story of the same name by Betsy Beaton. Co-stars include Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, and Barbara Hale.

<i>Winner Take All</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Winner Take All is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney as a boxer. The film also features a single scene of George Raft conducting a band that had been lifted from Queen of the Nightclubs, an earlier film and lost film. Cagney and Raft would not make a full-fledged film together until Each Dawn I Die seven years later.

<i>The Family Secret</i> (1924 film) 1924 film by William A. Seiter

The Family Secret is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by William A. Seiter and featuring child star Baby Peggy. It is based on Editha's Burglar, a story by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in 1881 by St. Nicholas Magazine and adapted for the stage by Augustus E. Thomas.

<i>The Office Wife</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

The Office Wife is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, released by Warner Bros., and based on the novel of the same name by Faith Baldwin. It was the talkie debut for Joan Blondell who would become one of the major Warner Bros. stars for the following nine years.

<i>Montana Moon</i> 1930 film

Montana Moon is a 1930 pre-Code Western musical film which introduced the concept of the singing cowboy to the screen. Starring Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Dorothy Sebastian, and Ricardo Cortez, the film focuses on the budding relationship between a city girl and a rural cowboy.

<i>Strange Cargo</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by Frank Borzage

Strange Cargo is a 1940 American romantic drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in a story about a group of fugitive prisoners from a French penal colony. The adapted screenplay by Lawrence Hazard was based upon the 1936 novel, Not Too Narrow, Not Too Deep, by Richard Sale. The film was produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; it was the eighth and last film pairing of Crawford and Gable, and the first Gable picture released in the wake of Gone with the Wind. The supporting cast includes Ian Hunter, Paul Lukas, Eduardo Ciannelli, and Peter Lorre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Cleveland</span> Canadian-American actor (1885–1957)

George Alan Cleveland was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954.

<i>Slightly Dangerous</i> 1943 film by Wesley Ruggles

Slightly Dangerous is a 1943 American romantic comedy film starring Lana Turner and Robert Young. The screenplay concerns a bored young woman in a dead-end job who runs away to New York City and ends up impersonating the long-lost daughter of a millionaire. The film was directed by Wesley Ruggles and written by Charles Lederer and George Oppenheimer from a story by Aileen Hamilton. According to Turner Classic Movies film historian Robert Osborne, one sequence early in the film – in which Lana Turner's character does her job at the soda fountain while blindfolded – was actually directed by an uncredited Buster Keaton.

<i>The Last of Mrs. Cheyney</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Dorothy Arzner, Richard Boleslawski, George Fitzmaurice

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a 1937 American comedy drama film adapted from the 1925 Frederick Lonsdale play The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. The film tells the story of a chic jewel thief in England, who falls in love with one of her marks.

<i>Primrose Path</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by Gregory La Cava

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 an adaptation of the novel February Hill by Victoria Lincoln.

<i>If My Country Should Call</i> 1916 film

If My Country Should Call is a 1916 silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and starring Lon Chaney, Jack Nelson and Dorothy Phillips. The film was written by Ida May Park, based on a story by Virginia Terhune Van de Water. The film's theme was very topical at the time, since many American men were then signing up to fight in World War I and Mexico.

<i>Merrily We Go to Hell</i> 1932 film

Merrily We Go to Hell is a 1932 pre-Code film directed by Dorothy Arzner, and starring Fredric March and Sylvia Sidney. The supporting cast features a prominent early appearance by Cary Grant, billed ninth in the cast but with a larger part than this would suggest. The picture's title is an example of the sensationalistic titles that were common in the pre-Code era. Many newspapers refused to publicize the film because of its racy title. The title is a line March's character says while making a toast.

<i>Cry Vengeance</i> 1954 film by Mark Stevens

Cry Vengeance is a 1954 American film noir crime film directed by and starring Mark Stevens. The cast also includes Joan Vohs and Martha Hyer. It was produced by Lindsley Parsons and distributed by Allied Artists.

<i>Happiness Ahead</i> (1934 film) 1934 film by Mervyn LeRoy

Happiness Ahead is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Dick Powell with Josephine Hutchinson. This was Hutchinson's (credited) debut.

References

  1. "Top Films and Stars". Variety. 4 January 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. Ward, Richard Lewis (2005). A history of the Hal Roach Studios. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 213. - figures are producer's share from US/Canada
  3. "The 11th Academy Awards (1939) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  4. "Catalog - There Goes My Heart - catalog.afi.com". AFI Catalog .