Vivacious Lady

Last updated
Vivacious Lady
Vivacious Lady (1938 poster).jpg
Theatrical release poster by William Rose
Directed by George Stevens
Screenplay by P. J. Wolfson
Ernest Pagano
Based on"Vivacious Lady"
story in 1936 Pictorial Review
by I. A. R. Wylie
Produced byGeorge Stevens
Starring Ginger Rogers
James Stewart
James Ellison
Beulah Bondi
Franklin Pangborn
Charles Coburn
Hattie McDaniel
Cinematography Robert De Grasse
Edited byHenry Berman
Music by Roy Webb
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • May 13, 1938 (1938-05-13) [1]
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$703,000 [2]
Box office$1,206,000 [2]

Vivacious Lady is a 1938 American black-and-white romantic comedy film directed by George Stevens and starring Ginger Rogers and James Stewart. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The screenplay was written by P.J. Wolfson and Ernest Pagano and adapted from a short story by I. A. R. Wylie. The music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Robert De Grasse.

Contents

The film is a story of love at first sight between a young botany professor and a nightclub singer. The film's comedic elements include repeatedly frustrated attempts by the newlywed couple to find a moment alone with each other. Among the supporting players are James Ellison, Frances Mercer, Beulah Bondi, Franklin Pangborn, and Charles Coburn, as well as an uncredited appearance by Hattie McDaniel.

Plot

Lobby card for the film Vivacious Lady lobby card.JPG
Lobby card for the film

Botany professor Peter Morgan Jr. is sent to Manhattan to retrieve his playboy cousin Keith and immediately falls in love with nightclub singer Francey. After a whirlwind one-day courtship, Peter and Francey get married, and they and Keith return to the Morgan family's home, where Peter teaches at the university run by his father, Peter Morgan Sr. Mr. Morgan is known for being a proud, overbearing man, so Peter is afraid to tell him about the marriage. When they arrive, Mr. Morgan and Peter's high-society fiancée, Helen, initially take Francey for another of Keith's girlfriends. While Peter decides how to approach his father with the news, Francey stays at a women-only hotel, and Peter and Keith introduce her as a new botany student.

Peter mentions Francey to his father twice, but on both occasions, Mr. Morgan interrupts and ignores his son, and when Peter becomes insistent, his apparently ailing mother has a flare-up of her heart condition, making any further conversation impossible. For his third attempt, Peter decides to announce the marriage to his parents at the university's student-faculty prom. Keith brings Francey to the prom as his own guest, and Francey, still posing as a student, develops a friendly rapport with Mrs. Morgan, but gets into a nasty brawl with Helen in which Francey accidentally punches Peter's father.

Peter says nothing at the prom, but blurts the news to his father just as Mr. Morgan is about to give an important speech, resulting in another argument and another flare-up of Mrs. Morgan's heart condition. This prevents Mrs. Morgan from learning who Francey is, but she accidentally finds out from Francey herself during a conversation in Francey's apartment. Mrs. Morgan accepts the news happily, and admits to Francey that she pretends to have heart trouble any time her husband gets into an argument, but Mr. Morgan demands that Francey leave Peter, threatening to fire him if she doesn't. Francey agrees to leave, but the incident releases thirty years of marital frustration in Mrs. Morgan, who also decides to leave her husband.

Francey tells Peter she is leaving him. He vows that he can change his father's mind before her train departs. Peter's solution is to threaten the family with disgrace by getting drunk and otherwise misbehaving until his father relents, even if it costs him his job. Peter passes out before he can reach the train, which departs with both Francey and Mrs. Morgan aboard, but Mr. Morgan, having finally yielded to the combined pressure of his son and wife, stops the train by driving ahead of it with Peter and parking the car on the track. Both marriages are saved, and Peter and Francey finally have their honeymoon on the train.

Cast

Production

Vivacious Lady marked one of James Stewart's earliest starring roles. Ginger Rogers recommended Stewart as her leading man in this film. Although neither actor collaborated on any prior work, the two were dating at the time. [3]

After four days of shooting in April 1937, Stewart became ill, but then left to costar in Of Human Hearts (1938). RKO considered replacing Stewart, but shelved the production until December 1937. Actors Donald Crisp and Fay Bainter, who were cast in the original production, were replaced respectively by Charles Coburn and Beulah Bondi (both of whom co-starred with Stewart in Hearts as well).

Reception

The film made a profit of $75,000. [2]

In the early 1960s, Steve McQueen announced that he wanted to appear in a remake, but this did not happen. [4]

Awards and nominations

Vivacious Lady was nominated for two Oscars, for Best Cinematography and Best Sound, Recording (John O. Aalberg). [5] George Stevens won a Special Recommendation Award at the 1938 Venice Film Festival.

Adaptations to other media

Vivacious Lady was adapted as a radio play on the April 7, 1940 episode of The Screen Guild Theater with Ginger Rogers and Fred MacMurray, the January 6, 1941 episode of Lux Radio Theatre with Alice Faye and Don Ameche, [6] the October 2, 1945 episode of CBS's Theater of Romance with Robert Walker and Lurene Tuttle, [7] the December 3, 1945 Screen Guild Theater with James Stewart and Janet Blair and on the August 14, 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater with Lana Turner. It was also presented on Philip Morris Playhouse February 13, 1942, with Madeleine Carroll starring. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Stage Door</i> 1937 film by Gregory La Cava

Stage Door is a 1937 American tragicomedy film directed by Gregory La Cava. Adapted from the 1936 play of the same name, it tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film stars Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier, Andrea Leeds, Samuel S. Hinds and Lucille Ball. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. Eve Arden and Ann Miller, who became notable in later films, play minor characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger Rogers</span> American actress, dancer and singer (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.

<i>Heaven Can Wait</i> (1943 film) 1943 American comedy film by Ernst Lubitsch

Heaven Can Wait is a 1943 Technicolor American supernatural comedy film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay was by Samson Raphaelson based on the play Birthday by Ladislaus Bus-Fekete. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography by Edward Cronjager.

<i>Bachelor Mother</i> 1939 film by Garson Kanin

Bachelor Mother (1939) is an American romantic comedy film directed by Garson Kanin, and starring Ginger Rogers, David Niven, and Charles Coburn. The screenplay was written by Norman Krasna from an Academy Award-nominated story by Felix Jackson written for the 1935 Austrian-Hungarian film Little Mother. With a plot full of mistaken identities, Bachelor Mother is a light-hearted treatment of the otherwise serious issues of child abandonment.

The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Shipman</span> American actress (1899–1984)

Helen Phyllis Shipman was an American singer, dancer and actress who starred in various Broadway musicals, in musical comedies in vaudeville, and in films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beulah Bondi</span> American actress (1888–1981)

Beulah Bondi was an American character actress; she often played eccentric mothers and later grandmothers and wives, although she was known for numerous other roles. She began her acting career as a young child in theater, and after establishing herself as a Broadway stage actress in 1925, she reprised her role in Street Scene for the 1931 film version.

<i>The Devil and Miss Jones</i> 1941 film by Sam Wood

The Devil and Miss Jones is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Sam Wood and starring Jean Arthur, Robert Cummings, and Charles Coburn. Its plot follows a department store tycoon who goes undercover in one of his Manhattan shops to ferret union organizers, but instead becomes involved in the employees' personal lives.

<i>Of Human Hearts</i> 1938 film by Clarence Brown

Of Human Hearts is a 1938 American Drama Western film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Walter Huston, James Stewart and Beulah Bondi. Stewart plays a proud and ungrateful son who rebels against his preacher father and neglects his poverty-stricken mother. Bondi was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Carson</span> Canadian-American actor (1910–1963)

John Elmer Carson, known as Jack Carson, was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant. He appeared in such dramas as Mildred Pierce (1945), A Star is Born (1954), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). He worked for RKO and MGM, but most of his notable work was for Warner Bros.

<i>Flying Down to Rio</i> 1933 film by Thornton Freeland

Flying Down to Rio is a 1933 American pre-Code RKO musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although lead actors Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing. Among the featured players are Franklin Pangborn and Eric Blore. The songs in the film were written by Vincent Youmans (music), Gus Kahn and Edward Eliscu (lyrics), with musical direction and additional music by Max Steiner. During the 7th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the new category of Best Original Song for "Carioca", but it lost to "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee, the next Astaire and Rogers film.

<i>The Unholy Wife</i> 1957 American film by John Farrow

The Unholy Wife is a 1957 Technicolor film noir crime film produced and directed by John Farrow at RKO Radio Pictures, but released by Universal Pictures as RKO was in the process of ceasing its film activities. The film features Diana Dors, Rod Steiger, Tom Tryon and Beulah Bondi. The screenplay was written by William Durkee and Jonathan Latimer

<i>Tender Comrade</i> 1943 film by Edward Dmytryk

Tender Comrade is a 1943 black-and-white film released by RKO Radio Pictures, showing women on the home front living communally while their husbands are away at war.

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

James Ellison was an American film actor who appeared in nearly 70 films from 1932 to 1962.

<i>Carefree</i> (film) 1938 American musical film by Mark Sandrich

Carefree is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Ralph Bellamy. With a plot similar to screwball comedies of the period, Carefree is the shortest of the Astaire-Rogers films, featuring only four musical numbers. Carefree is often remembered as the film in which Astaire and Rogers shared a long on-screen kiss at the conclusion of their dance to "I Used to Be Color Blind," all previous kisses having been either quick pecks or simply implied.

The Tammy movies are a series of four light-hearted American films about a naive young lady from Mississippi. They were produced by Universal between 1957 and 1967, and based on the character created in Cid Ricketts Sumner's 1948 book Tammy Out of Time.

<i>Kitty Foyle</i> (film) 1940 film by Sam Wood

Kitty Foyle, subtitled The Natural History of a Woman, is a 1940 drama film starring Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, and James Craig, based on Christopher Morley's 1939 bestseller Kitty Foyle. Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of the title character, and the dress she wore in the film became known as a Kitty Foyle dress.

<i>Tom, Dick and Harry</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by Garson Kanin

Tom, Dick and Harry is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Garson Kanin and starring Ginger Rogers, George Murphy, Alan Marshal, Phil Silvers, and Burgess Meredith. It was produced and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The screen play written by Paul Jarrico, Rogers was working on the film when she was awarded the Oscar as Best Actress for her 1940 performance in Kitty Foyle. It was her first film released after her Oscar win. It was remade as The Girl Most Likely (1957), a musical which was also the last film released by RKO.

<i>Lucky Partners</i> 1940 American film

Lucky Partners is a 1940 American romantic comedy film starring Ronald Colman and Ginger Rogers. Directed by Lewis Milestone for RKO Radio Pictures, it is based on the 1935 Sacha Guitry film Good Luck. The picture was the only film pairing of Colman and Rogers, and Rogers' eleventh and final film written by Allan Scott.

<i>The Captain Is a Lady</i> 1940 film directed by Robert B. Sinclair

The Captain Is a Lady is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Robert B. Sinclair and written by Henry Clark, adapted from the play by Rachel Crothers. The film stars Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi, Virginia Grey, Helen Broderick, Billie Burke and Dan Dailey. It was released on June 21, 1940, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

References

  1. "Vivacious Lady: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56
  3. Introduction to Vivacious Lady. Turner Classic Movies, New York, USA. August 13, 2011. Television.
  4. Scott, John L. (July 17, 1962). "'Brothers Grimm' Has World Preview: First Dramatic Production Shown on Cinerama Screen". Los Angeles Times. p. C7.
  5. "The 11th Academy Awards (1939) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  6. "Alice Faye, Don Ameche Co-Star in Radio Theater". Toledo Blade (Ohio). 1941-01-06. p. 4 (Peach Section). Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  7. "Radio Credits". Robert Walker Tribute. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  8. "Madeleine Carroll Returns In Playhouse 'Vivacious Lady'". Harrisburg Telegraph. February 7, 1942. p. 26. Retrieved August 1, 2015 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg