Vivacious Lady **** (1938, Ginger Rogers, James Stewart, Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi, James Ellison) – Classic Movie Review 2709

George Stevens’s expert and delightful 1938 romantic comedy film Vivacious Lady pairs perfectly cast James Stewart and Ginger Rogers as a conservative professor and the showgirl he impulsively marries.

Producer-director George Stevens’s expert and delightful 1938 American black-and-white romantic comedy film Vivacious Lady pairs James Stewart and Ginger Rogers effectively. The stars are perfectly cast and on their best form.

Stewart plays conservative young university botany professor Peter Morgan who takes a quick trip to the city of Manhattan and falls in love at first sight with a nightclub performing showgirl, singer Francey Brent (Rogers). After a whirlwind romance, he impulsively marries her. But when he goes back home with her to the small town of Old Sharon, he hasn’t the courage to break the news to his stuffy parents (Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi) in his ultra-conservative, ultra-respected family. The professor has married a showgirl!

The newlywed couple can’t even find a moment to be alone with each other, let alone consummate their marriage.

Stevens’s movie proves to be a nimbly written, sparkling romantic comedy with vivacious star performances, tasty support acting and expert direction. Among the highlights of this enduring film are Stewart’s scenes with his university president dad Charles Coburn and Rogers’s stand-up row with Stewart’s old flame Helen (Frances Mercer).

Also in the vintage cast are James Ellison, Franklin Pangborn, Grady Sutton, Jack Carson, Hattie McDaniel, Phyllis Kennedy, Willie Best, Spencer Charters, Maude Eburne, George Chandler, Lloyd Ingraham, Dennis O’Keefe, Edgar Dearing and Barbara Pepper.

The screenplay is by P J Wolfson and Ernest Pagano, adapted from a 1936 short story in Pictorial Review by I A R Wylie. It runs a fast paced 90 minutes. The score is by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Robert De Grasse, who was Oscar nominated for Best Cinematography, along with James Wilkinson for Best Sound.

Released on May 13, 1938, it proved a nice little earner for RKO Radio Pictures. It cost $703,000 and took $1,206,000, a recorded profit of $75,000.

Rogers recommended Stewart for the role, though they had never worked together, but were dating before production. However, Stewart became ill after just four days of shooting, but RKO shelved the production from April till December 1937 and had to recast some actors, losing Donald Crisp and Fay Bainter (replaced by Charles Coburn and Beulah Bondi).

Steve McQueen planned a remake that happily never happened.

The cast

The cast are Ginger Rogers as Francey Brent/ Francey Morgan, James Stewart as Professor Peter Morgan Jr, James Ellison as Keith Morgan, Beulah Bondi as Mrs Martha Morgan, Charles Coburn as Peter Morgan Sr, Frances Mercer as Helen, Phyllis Kennedy as Jenny, Franklin Pangborn as apartment manager, Grady Sutton as Culpepper, Jack Carson as Charlie, Alec Craig as Joseph, Willie Best as train porter, and Hattie McDaniel as maid, Spencer Charters, Maude Eburne, George Chandler, Lloyd Ingraham, Dennis O’Keefe, Edgar Dearing and Barbara Pepper.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,709

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com