Just by name

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Movie
German title Just by name
Original title In Name Only
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1939
length 94 minutes
Rod
Director John Cromwell
script Richard Sherman
production George Haight for RKO
music Roy Webb
camera J. Roy Hunt
cut William Hamilton
occupation

In Name Only (OT: In Name Only ) is an American feature film with Carole Lombard , Cary Grant and Kay Francis in the lead roles, directed by John Cromwell .

action

Alec Walker is unhappily married to Maida, a thoroughly calculating woman. She didn't marry Alec out of love, but to escape poverty and want. Now she takes advantage of her husband and drives him into drinking with her emotional cold. Everyone blames Alec for the misery and in return praises Maida for her seemingly infinite patience and indulgence. Alec's parents in particular constantly accuse him of treating his wife ruthlessly.

One day Alec meets the young artist Julie Eden, whose husband recently died and who then moved into a cottage with her young daughter Ellen. They both fall in love and Alec decides to change his life completely. People start whispering about the two lovers and by chance Maida and Julie also get to know each other. At first undecided about the further course of events, Maida finally agrees to get a divorce, as Alec wants to grant her a generous severance payment. Shortly before leaving for Paris, where everything should go as silently as possible, Suzanne, a scheming woman who has tried several times to seduce Alec and gives him no luck with someone else, incites Maida to call off the divorce. After this setback, Alec became more and more addicted to alcohol and developed pneumonia. He is almost dying when Julie is very reluctant to get permission from Alec's mother to go to his bed. Maida is beside herself and insults Julie. She says she only married Alec out of greed and no one would dispute her position even if Alec died of a broken heart. However, her father-in-law overhears the conversation and directs Maida out of the house. Alec gains new courage and the lovers finally have a future.

background

Kay Francis had fulfilled her studio contract in late 1938 after a bitter dispute with Warner Brothers . This was preceded by a lawsuit that Francis had initiated at the end of 1937 in order to be able to prematurely withdraw from her current contract. She said the studio only offered her inferior scripts and broken verbal promises to use her in better roles like Tovarich or Three Sisters from Montana . The studio first tried to buy the actress out of her current contract and offered to pay her 50% of the outstanding fees. Francis refused and the trial ended in September 1937 with a settlement. Warner Brothers used the actress from now on only in B-movies to get Francis to break her contract. In the end, the former star's career was ruined and Francis announced in the spring of 1939 that he would say goodbye to the big screen forever. It was her good friend Carole Lombard , whom she knew from her early days at Paramount Pictures , who offered her the role of Maida Walker. Francis accepted and gave one of their best and best known interpretations. The actress deliberately reserved the role of the wife, who only married out of material interests. The film initially went into production under the title Memory of Love and was only renamed shortly before the official release date in August 1939.

Theatrical release

With production costs of 722,000 US dollars, Nur was in name a production that was slightly above average by RKO standards. At the box office, the film was comparatively popular, with gross revenues of $ 926,000 domestically and an additional $ 395,000 in overseas markets for total grossing $ 1,321,000. In the end, the studio posted a profit of $ 155,000.

criticism

In the New York Times , Bosley Crowther gave praise and appreciation:

“It is particularly satisfying to encounter a film that takes up the age-old theme of husband, wife and other woman without false restraint. […] Miss Lombard interprets her moving role with all the delicate intensity and subliminal passion that have allowed her to mature into an important dramatic actress. Kay Francis, this time on the other side, plays the model wife, superior and inconsiderate. A fundamentally outstanding cast contributes to making one of the most demanding and entertaining films of the year. "

The The Washington Post particularly wrote cordial words of appreciation for Kay Francis:

“Kay Francis, on the other hand, has little room for humor in her role as the refined and manipulative Maida Walker. It is as gentle and disarming a threat to domestic tranquility and personal happiness as it has ever been. "

swell

  • John Callahan - Kay Francis: Secrets of an Actress - article in Bright Lights Film Journal , May 2006 issue
  • Lynn Kear & John Rossman - Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career - McFarland & Company, 2006; ISBN 0-7864-2366-8 .
  • Scott O'Brien - Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten. Her Life on Stage and Film - BearManor Media, 2006; ISBN 1-59393-036-4 .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ [I] t is particularly gratifying to encounter a film which does unblushingly tackle the hackneyed theme of husband, wife and other woman […] Miss Lombard plays her poignant role with all the fragile intensity and contained passion that have lifted her to dramatic eminence . Kay Francis, on the other side of the fence this time, is a model cat, suave, superior and relentless. And a generally excellent cast contribute in making this one of the most adult and enjoyable pictures of the season.
  2. ↑ Kay Francis, on the other hand, finds scant outlet for any sense of humor in her assignment to the subtly treacherous part of Maida Walker. She is as velvety and disarming a menace to domestic happiness and tranquility as ever clawed a friend.