Uptown New York

Last updated

Uptown New York
Uptown New York (film poster).jpg
Uptown New York theatrical poster
Directed by Victor Schertzinger
Written by Viña Delmar (story "Uptown Woman")
Warren Duff (writer)
Starring Jack Oakie
Shirley Grey
Leon Ames
Cinematography Norbert Brodine
Edited by Rose Loewinger
Music byVal Burton (musical director)
Distributed by Sono Art-World Wide Pictures
Release date
  • November 27, 1932 (1932-11-27)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Uptown New York is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Victor Schertzinger and starring Jack Oakie, Shirley Grey, and Leon Ames. It is based on the story by Vina Delmar.

Contents

Plot summary

Pat and Max are in love and share an intimate relationship. However, after Max receives his surgeon's diploma, his parents have arranged a marriage for him with a woman from a rich, good background. He marries that woman but occasionally bumps into Pat, explaining how he actually loves her instead of his wife. Pat dislikes the idea of him seeing her on the side. Heartbroken, Pat later meets Eddie (a gumball machine salesman), who proposes marriage, which she accepts. In a hotel bridal suite, Pat mentions her previous relationship to Eddie, and mentions that he can walk out on her if he wants, he is OK with it.

Later, While attempting to stop two teenagers from robbing one of Eddie's gumball machines, she runs across the street without looking and is struck by a truck. She is in the hospital awaiting surgery. Eddie, chooses Max as the surgeon and, later while Pat is in her hospital bed, overhears Max's conversation with Pat about their love, and his decision to divorce his wife, he will take Pat to Vienna to get well, and they will get married. Eddie decides to walk out on Pat as he believes that she is going to run off with Max. Through complications (and a fight) over Eddie's attempt to pay Pat's hospital bill by selling his company which he only owns half of (Pat owns the other half), he ends up in jail. Pat runs to the jail and explains the misunderstanding and proclaims her love for Eddie.

Cast

Reception

Time reviewed the film and said after summarizing the story that "Uptown New York was written by Vina Delmar with dangerous recklessness as to motivation but with a good eye for local color. The hero and heroine meet each other in a ladies' room—which, as the cinema becomes less pastoral, is growing in popularity as a romantic setting—but thereafter the story manages to keep closer to the kitchen than the bathroom." [1]

The New York Times wrote "Presented with a rather engaging simplicity, if with no particular distinction, [Uptown New York] makes an effective minor entertainment" and "After the first shock of watching Jack Oakie suffering the emotions that go with tears, it is possible to accept the comedian as a dramatic actor of considerable effectiveness in "Uptown New York" [...] In several scenes Mr. Oakie cavorts with Henry Armetta and George Cooper for the purposes of comedy, but the effect is not notably humorous. Shirley Grey as the wife gives a quietly effective performance. Leon Waycoff is properly aware of his winning qualities as the lover." [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Bad Girl</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Bad Girl is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Sally Eilers, James Dunn, and Minna Gombell. The screenplay was adapted by Edwin J. Burke from the 1928 novel by Viña Delmar and the 1930 play by Delmar and Brian Marlowe. The plot follows the courtship and marriage of two young, working-class people and the misunderstandings that result from their not having learned to trust and communicate with one another. The film propelled then-unknown actors Eilers and Dunn to stardom. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Jones</span> American actress and singer

Shirley Mae Jones is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as Oklahoma! (1955), Carousel (1956), and The Music Man (1962). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a vengeful prostitute in Elmer Gantry (1960). She played the lead role of Shirley Partridge, the widowed mother of five children, in the musical situation-comedy television series The Partridge Family (1970–1974), which co-starred her real-life stepson, David Cassidy, son of Jack Cassidy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph L. Mankiewicz</span> American film director, screenwriter, and producer (1909–1993)

Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and won both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in consecutive years for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950), the latter of which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Ames</span> American actor (1902–1993)

Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing father figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) with Lucille Bremer, Margaret O'Brien and Judy Garland as his daughters, Little Women (1949), On Moonlight Bay (1951) and By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953). His best-known dramatic role may have been as District Attorney Kyle Sackett in the crime film The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Armetta</span> Italian-American actor (1888–1945)

Henry Armetta was an American character actor who appeared in at least 150 American films, beginning in silent movies. His last film was released posthumously in 1946, the year after his death.

<i>Sadie McKee</i> 1934 film by Clarence Brown

Sadie McKee is a 1934 American pre-Code, romantic-drama film directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford, and featuring Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone, Edward Arnold, and Esther Ralston. The film is based on the 1933 short story "Pretty Sadie McKee", by Viña Delmar. Crawford plays the title character, from young working girl through poverty, a marriage into enormous wealth and finally a (seemingly) settled life on her own terms.

<i>The Big Broadcast of 1936</i> 1935 musical film by Norman Taurog

The Big Broadcast of 1936 is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, and is the second in the series of Big Broadcast movies. The musical comedy starred Jack Oakie, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Ethel Merman, The Nicholas Brothers, Lyda Roberti, Wendy Barrie, Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, Akim Tamiroff, Amos 'n' Andy, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Argentinian tango singer Carlos Gardel.

<i>Dancers in the Dark</i> 1932 film by David Burton

Dancers in the Dark is a 1932 American pre-Code film about a taxi dancer, a big band leader, and a gangster.

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

Virtue is a 1932 American Pre-Code romance film directed by Edward Buzzell and starring Carole Lombard and Pat O'Brien.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viña Delmar</span> American dramatist

Viña Delmar was an American short story writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who worked from the 1920s to the 1970s. She rose to fame in the late 1920s with the publication of her suggestively titled novel, Bad Girl, which became a bestseller in 1928. Delmar also wrote the screenplay to the screwball comedy, The Awful Truth, for which she received an Academy Award nomination in 1937.

<i>Lawyer Man</i> 1932 film

Lawyer Man is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by William Dieterle, based on the novel by Max Trell. The film stars William Powell and Joan Blondell. It was produced by Warner Bros. By the time of the release, several actors were credited in the studio, but were not seen in the film. These include Edward Arnold, Harold Huber and Henry Armetta.

<i>Colleen</i> (1936 film) 1936 American film directed by Alfred Edward Green

Colleen is a 1936 American romantic musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Joan Blondell. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and was the seventh and final picture starring both Keeler and Powell.

<i>Now Ill Tell</i> 1934 film by Edwin J. Burke

Now I'll Tell is a 1934 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Edwin J. Burke starring Spencer Tracy, Helen Twelvetrees, and Alice Faye. It was produced by Fox Film shortly before the company's merger with Twentieth Century Pictures. It marked the final screen appearance of former silent star Alice Calhoun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Grey</span> American actress (1902–1981)

Shirley Grey was an American actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1930 and 1935.

<i>Hit the Deck</i> (1930 film) 1930 film by Luther Reed

Hit the Deck is a 1930 American pre-Code musical film directed by Luther Reed and starring Jack Oakie and Polly Walker, with Technicolor sequences. It was based on the 1927 musical Hit the Deck, which was itself based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne. It was one of the most expensive productions of RKO Radio Pictures up to that time, and one of the most expensive productions of 1930. This version faithfully reproduced the stage version of the musical.

<i>Paramount on Parade</i> 1930 pre-Code revue film

Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.

<i>Too Much Harmony</i> 1933 film by A. Edward Sutherland

Too Much Harmony is a 1933 American black-and-white pre-Code musical film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Bing Crosby, Jack Oakie, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, Harry Green, and Judith Allen. It was released by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Young People</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by Allan Dwan

Young People is a 1940 American musical drama film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Shirley Temple and Jack Oakie. This would be Shirley's final film as a child actress.

<i>From Hell to Heaven</i> 1933 film

From Hell to Heaven is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film. It was directed by Erle C. Kenton, and features an ensemble cast including Carole Lombard, Jack Oakie, Adrienne Ames and Sidney Blackmer. It was adapted from the stage play by Lawrence Hazard.

<i>Cynthia</i> (film) 1946 film by Robert Zigler Leonard

Cynthia is a 1947 American comedy drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Mary Astor, Elizabeth Taylor, and George Murphy. The film is based on the 1945 play The Rich, Full Life by Viña Delmar and was adapted by screenwriters Harold Buchman and Charles Kaufman.

References