Bachelor Apartment

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Movie
Original title Bachelor Apartment
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1931
length 76 minutes
Rod
Director Lowell Sherman
script John Howard Lawson ,
J. Walter Ruben
production Henry Hobart ,
William LeBaron for RKO
music Max Steiner
camera Leo Tover
cut Marie Halvey
occupation

Bachelor Apartment is a 1931 comedy film directed by Lowell Sherman . He starred alongside Irene Dunne . The former silent film star Mae Murray plays her penultimate role in the film.

action

Wayne Carter is a well-known bachelor with numerous female acquaintances. In his luxurious Park Avenue apartment he welcomes his lovers, including the married Agatha Carraway. One day he made the acquaintance of the virtuous Helene Andrews, who came to New York from a small town in the Midwest to bring her easy-going sister to her senses. They both fall in love, but Mrs. Carraway's intrigues disrupt the smooth running of their romance. At the end, Wayne and Helene step in front of the altar.

background

Bachelor Apartment was Irene Dunne's third film since arriving in Hollywood . After her debut in the now-lost musical Leathernecking , she immediately began filming the Western Cimarron , a role for which she received the first of five Academy Award nominations for best actress . John Howard Lawson's first draft of the script for Bachelor Apartment was little more than a rough plot of a Playboy and his adventures with his newest mistress. For the main roles, the two former silent film stars Lowell Sherman and Mae Murray were intended. The character of Irene Dunne was not initially intended. In the end, the whole concept was rewritten and the part of Mae Murray was relegated to a supporting role.

Lawson took no pleasure in the finished film. In his words, the film belonged to a bygone era:

"Despite the modern cynicism and witty style, everything in 'Bachelor Apartment', including the actors, belonged in the Roaring Twenties ."

For Mae Murray it was her penultimate role and at the same time her debut in talkies . At the height of her career in 1926, Murray earned a weekly salary of $ 10,000 and was considered an international beauty. In the same year she married the - alleged - Georgian Prince David Mdivani for the second time. On his advice, Murray broke her contract with the film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was put on a so-called black list, so that she got no more film offers. Her husband raised her entire net worth of around $ 3,000,000 in just a few years, and Murray then divorced him. Her old friend Lowell Sherman got her the role in Bachelor Apartment . Also her last role in high stakes a few months later, Mae Murray played in a film by Lowell Sherman.

Irene Dunne appeared in a supporting role for the last time. Her next film Consolation Marriage already brought her name as the sole actress and star of the production above the title.

Reviews

The New York Times found Bachelor Apartment amusing.

“It's by and large a lively comedy with a Parisian flair. [...]. Although the plot remains completely implausible for the most part, it is no exaggeration to say that the film achieved its goal of keeping the audience in a good mood. [...] Miss Dunne is more competent than Helene. "

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ In spite of its up-to-date cynicism and zany style, everything about Bachelor Apartment, including its stars, belonged to the Roaring Twenties.
  2. ↑ For the most part it is a sophisticated comedy with a Parisian flair. [...]. Highly improbable though most of the action is, there is no gainsaying that it accomplished its purpose in arousing waves of merriment from an audience at the first showing. […] Miss Dunne is competent as Helene.