Small town girl

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Movie
German title Small town girl
Original title Small town girl
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1936
length 106 minutes
Rod
Director William A. Wellman
script John Lee Mahin ,
Edith Fitzgerald ,
Frances Goodrich ,
Albert Hackett
production Hunt Stromberg
music Herbert Stothart ,
Edward Ward
camera Oliver T. Marsh ,
Charles Rosher
cut Blanche Sewell
occupation
synchronization

Kleinstadtmädel (Original title: Small Town Girl ) is an American comedy film from 1936. Janet Gaynor and Robert Taylor are directed by William A. Wellman in the lead roles. The novel of the same name by Ben Ames Williams served as a literary model .

action

Kay Brannan is fed up with the boring small-town life in Carvel. She can no longer bear the same everyday life with her family. Also from their boring admirers Elmer she feels annoyed arrive as countless Football fans in place, because they are on their way to a football game between Yale and Harvard must take a detour. In the evening she is almost hit by a car. Robert Dakin, a Boston brain surgeon, sits in the car . He asks her for directions to a restaurant and simply takes her to celebrate with her. Afterwards he wants to drive to Boston with her drunk. On the way they stop and he suggests they get married. Kay initially hesitates and finally agrees, as a marriage with Robert offers her the opportunity to finally get out of Carvel. The next morning Robert, who has sobered up again, realizes his mistake and proposes that the marriage be annulled. Together they drive to his parents' house in Boston. Robert's parents are quite taken with Kay. However, since Robert was actually engaged to the wealthy Priscilla Hyde, they fear a scandal that could cost Robert his career. Robert suggests that he and Kay stay together for six months and then quietly file for divorce. Kay is forced to agree to it.

They spend their honeymoon on the family yacht. They try to pretend to the staff that they are a happy couple in love, which is rather difficult for them at first. During their journey, they make a stopover and go ashore. A young goat is caught in a wire fence there. Robert and Kay rush to the animal's aid. Robert takes care of it and Kay is there to help. Back in Boston, Kay began to develop feelings for Robert. He too begins to like her, but he also feels obliged to Priscilla when she returns from a trip to Europe, and he begins to meet with Priscilla in secret.

One evening, Kay receives a call from the hospital. Jimmy, a young patient Robert has grown dear to, needs an operation immediately. Robert should therefore immediately go to the hospital. Kay calls Priscilla immediately and asks her to let Robert know. Priscilla, however, refuses and says Kay should just make up an excuse for Robert. Kay then drives to Priscilla and tells Robert personally about the emergency. Robert, who had previously had a drink, rushes to the hospital, but at the operating table he feels unable to perform the operation. Another aspiring surgeon finally steps in for him. Robert feels miserable at home. He failed all along the line. Kay tries to cheer him up and confess her feelings to him, but a call from Priscilla intervenes and she leaves the house sadly. She visits Robert's father and tells him that she will be leaving Robert and returning to her hometown. Shortly afterwards, the newspaper announced that Kay and Robert had split up and that a divorce was imminent. Kay lives with her family as before. One evening she meets Elmer, who is still hoping for a future together with her. However, Robert comes by with his car and gives Kay to understand that he does not want to divorce her. Kay gets into the car with him and drives away happily with him.

background

Jean Harlow was supposed to take on the female lead. Robert Montgomery, in turn, was originally supposed to play Robert Taylor's role. After Harlow left the project, Maureen O'Sullivan was put in the role of Kay Brennan. But then MGM decided on Janet Gaynor, who initially felt unsuitable for the role and had to be loaned from 20th Century Fox . Originally Jack Conway was discussed as a director , but William A. Wellman ultimately took over the direction. Filming ranged from December 26, 1935 to March 23, 1936. In February 1936, Wellman had to stop his work on small town girls for two weeks due to a severe flu . Robert Z. Leonard stepped in for him at short notice during this time. During Wellman's absence, producer Hunt Stromberg hired writers, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett , to write an alternate ending for the script by John Lee Mahin and Edith Fitzgerald .

Kleinstadtmädel started in US cinemas on April 10, 1936. In 1952, MGM made a film under the same original title, which was released in 1953 and is sometimes considered a remake, but has only rudimentary similarities with Wellman's 1936 film. The latter was renamed One Horse Town for its US television premiere .

Ben Ames Williams' literary source was first published in 1935 in the Saturday Evening Post with illustrations by James Montgomery Flagg . One of these illustrations was used as a background image in the opening credits of the film.

Theatrical release

The cost of production was $ 760.00, of which $ 115,000 was Janet Gaynor's fee. At the box office, the film proved very popular with grossing US $ 1,108,000 in the US and Canada, with a further US $ 497,000 from overseas markets. With a cumulative result of $ 1,605,000, the studio was able to realize a profit of $ 274,000 in the end.

Reviews

Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times found that "Ben Ames Williams' pleasing novel Small Town Girl was equally pleasing" and had "pleasing actors," but probably as "another of those willing, albeit very, of those willing ones romantic MGM productions ”. The beginning is promising, but then the plot drifts into clichés. Nugent, however, also admitted that the film had "amiable charm and moments of warm-hearted comedy". Especially since the cast is not to blame for the inadequacies: In his opinion, Robert Taylor and Janet Gaynor make "a beautiful couple".

Variety attested the film "nice comedy sequences and a balanced cast". Although the material is “well-known and predictable”, the film manages to create a “clever mix of sentimentality and fun” with “speed and humanity”. As for the actors, Variety ratedJanet Gaynor's performance as "strikingly sovereign." Robert Taylor looks like "the ladies like it" and plays in such a way "that the men don't mind".

German version

The German dubbed version was created in 1937 in the MGM dubbing studio in Berlin .

role actor Voice actor
Katherine "Kay" Brannan Janet Gaynor Ellen Schwanneke
Dr. Robert "Bob" Dakin Robert Taylor Heinz von Cleve
Dr. Dakin Lewis Stone CW castle

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c cf. Notes on tcm.com
  2. ↑ “Ben Ames Williams's facile novel, Small Town Girl , has been adapted with equal facility to the Capitol's screen, has been animated by a facile group of players and may, as easily, be dismissed as another pleasant, if incurably romantic, bit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. [...] Still the Capitol's new offering has an amiable glow and several moments of warm comedy. […] Mr. Taylor and Miss Gaynor are a pleasant co-starring combination […]. ” Frank S. Nugent : Four New Films, Including 'Small Town Girl,' at the Capitol, Join the Easter Parade . In: The New York Times , April 11, 1936.
  3. ↑ “ Small Town Girl is romance with nice comedy sequences and with a well-balanced cast […]. All the time-tested and easy-to-foresee elements are present [...]. Picture has tempo and humanity. There is a skillful blending of the sentimentality and the giggles. On the acting end it's a smacko assignment for Gaynor and she displays considerable authority in her performance. Taylor looks like the dames like him to look, and he acts like the boys can okay him. " See Small Town Girl . In: Variety , 1936.
  4. ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de