Hot Saturday

Movie
Original title	Hot Saturday
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1932
length	72 minutes
Rod
Director	William A. Seiter
script	Seton I. Miller , Josephine Lovett
production	Paramount Pictures
music	John Leipold
camera	Arthur L. Todd
occupation
	Nancy Carroll : Ruth Brock; Cary Grant : Romer Sheffield; Randolph Scott : Bill Fadden; Edward Woods : Conny Billop; Lilian Bond : Eva Randolph; Jane Darwell : Mrs. Ida Brock; Rita La Roy : Camille; Oscar Apple : Ed W. Randolph;

Hot Saturday is a 1932 American film starring Nancy Carroll , Cary Grant and Randolph Scott and directed by William A. Seiter .

action

Ruth Brock works as a secretary at the local bank in idyllic Marysville, a small town west of New York. The young woman uses her good looks for all sorts of harmless flirting with male customers without ever exceeding the limits of propriety. While dancing in the evening after a hot Saturday, Ruth attracts the attention of Romer Sheffield, a wealthy womanizer who spends the summer in a lake house near Marysville. Due to misunderstandings, Ruth misses the return trip to town and spends a few hours alone with Romer in his house. Their disappearance does not go unnoticed and immediately rumors begin to rise about the true nature of being together. Within a few hours, talk turns into solid slander and Ruth's reputation is ruined. Even her own mother doubts that the lessons with Romer were really as innocent as Ruth claims. On Monday morning Ruth is fired by the owner of the bank for her proven immorality. When even Bill Fadden, Ruth's fiancé, takes the rumors for the truth, Ruth, disgusted and deeply disappointed by the behavior of those around her, decides to actually give the people of Marysville something to talk about. She breaks off her engagement to Bill, claims to have actually been intimate with Roman, and ends up running off to New York City with Roman.

background

Nancy Carroll's career began spectacularly during the transition from silent to sound films . Carroll established himself as one of Paramount Pictures' biggest stars through appearances in musicals and revue films . In 1930 she received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her role in The Devil's Holiday at the 1930 Academy Awards (November) . At the time, Nancy Carroll was getting more fan mail than any other star in the studio. With the demise of the musical, Carroll's popularity began to wane rapidly. In addition, there were conflicts with the studio management about the progress of her career. In 1932 it was foreseeable that her studio contract would no longer be renewed after its expiry and Paramount only used the actress in inexpensive films. Increasingly, Carroll's films have been used to give promising new talent a chance to present themselves to audiences.

So Hot Saturday gave her co-star, Cary Grant, more scenes and close-ups than her. Grant had made his debut as an actor just a few months earlier and, following the positive feedback from Paramount fans, was purposefully built up to become the leading man . Comparable to George Brent at Warner Brothers and Clark Gable at MGM , who appeared in a similar number of films in 1932, Grant was an established star by the end of the year.

Nancy Carroll made two more films for Paramount before retiring from the big screen in the mid-1930s.

criticism

The reviews were cautious and expressed the opinion that the events described would more suit the boisterous era of the Roaring Twenties than the current situation.

Variety was very tough in gauging the pulling power at the box office:

“With no real A-names in the cast, the film, although relatively entertaining, will have no chance of prominence. In the big cities it will be classified as a B-movie , while it will have better chances in smaller places, where the remaining supporters of Nancy Carroll may still appreciate such offers. […] The novel on which the film is based was published a few years ago when the adventures of exuberant youngsters sold much better at the box office than they do today. Whatever the potential of the original story, it must have been more than the scriptwriters realized, because the script leaves a lot of room for improvement. "

Mordaunt Hall hit the same note in The New York Times :

“The title suggests all the fun young people can have in their free time: dancing, alcohol and all kinds of love banter. Some may argue that "Hot Saturday" would be more likely to fit before 1926 - the year the novel was published - than it is today. [...] Cary Grant is casual as a young libertine woman and Randolph Scott is accordingly innocent as a boyfriend. "

Web links

Footnotes

↑ for the following quotations see here: [1]
↑ [...] Having no A name draw in its cast and but fairly agreeable as entertainment, picture will not get preferred playing time. It grades as a B picture in the big towns and as a first-run choice in the smaller spots, among which Nancy Carroll's following still merits such booking. […] Novel on which picture is based was published several years ago at a time when wild youth was better box office than it is now. Whatever the original story, it must have promised more than its adapters have realized since the treatment that was accepted for filming leaves a lot of room for improvement.
↑ The title suggests the social activities of the young people on their day off, the dancing, chap liquor and furtive amour with which they escape once a week from their routine laboratories. Some may raise the criticism that the behavior in "Hot Saturday" is more typical of the years immediately prior to 1926 - the year the novel appeared - than of the present. [...] Cary Grant is a nonchalant young libertine as Sheffield, and Randolph Scott is solidly virtuous as the boyhood sweetheart.

[1] r the following quotations see here: [1]

[2] [...] Having no A name draw in its cast and but fairly agreeable as entertainment, picture will not get preferred playing time. It grades as a B picture in the big towns and as a first-run choice in the smaller spots, among which Nancy Carroll's following still merits such booking. […] Novel on which picture is based was published several years ago at a time when wild youth was better box office than it is now. Whatever the original story, it must have promised more than its adapters have realized since the treatment that was accepted for filming leaves a lot of room for improvement.

[3] The title suggests the social activities of the young people on their day off, the dancing, chap liquor and furtive amour with which they escape once a week from their routine laboratories. Some may raise the criticism that the behavior in "Hot Saturday" is more typical of the years immediately prior to 1926 - the year the novel appeared - than of the present. [...] Cary Grant is a nonchalant young libertine as Sheffield, and Randolph Scott is solidly virtuous as the boyhood sweetheart.