Small Town Girl (1936)

“Really love him. Will ya?”

            Ever feel like your life was stuck in a rut and all you wanted to do was escape and start a new life? For the past few years I have definitely had the feeling my life has been stuck like every time I try to move forward I get pushed back further. My life in very routine which sometimes is good because I have ADD and anxiety but sometimes the routine gets old. I long to travel and dream of moving somewhere on my own. Sometimes I even dream of finding a nice guy that can take me away from everything… but let’s not spread that dream of mine around I am not that kind of a girl to talk about romantic feelings. I also have a feeling that I was meant to be more than I am. Maybe everyone has those feelings but lately those feelings have been very strong. The 1936 film Small Town Girl was perfect for me to watch with a main character who wanted more out of life.

            Every year thousands of people come driving through Kay Brannan’s (Janet Gaynor) hometown for the Harvard vs. Yale football game. She stands outside her family’s store watching all the cars drive by and even lets some boys sweet talk her as they wait in heavy traffic. Kay walks back to the store after walking down the street. She is frustrated with her life she feels there is something more and that she is just stuck. She has a boyfriend named Elmer (James Stewart) who is predictable in every way. Kay lives at home with her parents and her sister and brother-in-law. Every night they have the same conversations at dinner and even the same foods depending on the day of the week.

            That night Kay has enough of her family and of Elmer and goes for a walk. She is almost hit by a car as she crosses the street. The car is driven by a young man named Bob Dakin (Robert Taylor). He stops the car and apologizes. He sees Kay is pretty and starts flirting with her. He is trying to get to a tavern and asks Kay for directions but he does not pay attention he just stares at her. Bob has Kay go with him to the tavern. She does not want to go in an first but he begs her to come in and have some fun.

            After their partying Bob wants to take Kay down to Boston even though he is ridiculously drunk. He gets lost in a town. He comes up with the idea to find the Justice of the Peace to ask for directions. Kay is worried about her family not knowing where she is and wants to go home. Bob comes up with the idea that they should get married when they go see the Justice of the Peace. Kay knows she should not take advantage of Bob in his drunken state but she sees their marriage as her way of getting out of her small town life.

            Back on the road, Bob falls asleep at the wheel and Kay steers the car just in time to keep it from crashing. Both of them fall asleep until the morning. When Bob wakes up he at first does not remember what has happened so Kay helps jog his memory. He looks down at his pocket in his coat and sees the marriage certificate. Bob tells her he has a lawyer friend that can keep the marriage out of the papers but she reminds him that the night before the Justice of the Peace recognized Bob’s name and called the papers.

            Bob brings Kay to his parents’ home in Boston. The father asks if Kay is a friend of
Priscilla, Bob’s fiancé. Bob and Priscilla were supposed to be married in two weeks. Bob walks out of the room and Kay breaks down and tells the parents that they were married the night before. Bob asks his father if he can the whole matter and have the marriage annulled. The father says he has fixed many his problems in the past this time he is not taking any action because it would look like exactly what happened. Bob tells Kay that they will stay married for six months then get divorced. Kay says she will do that because she likes his parents. The press comes to the house. He tells the reporters that he has known Kay for months and that Priscilla was the one who broke their engagement.

            To keep up appearances Bob and Kay go on a honeymoon on his family’s yacht. Priscilla comes to see them off only to take a look at Kay and see that she is not a threat to her and Bob getting back together. Kay is a little hurt because she does really like Bob. The unhappy couple play nice with each other in front of the crew but once the crew are gone they are cold as ice to each other. One night the rough ocean gets the best of Kay and she goes to bed sick as can be. Bob is a doctor and tells her she will feel better if she goes out on deck to get some fresh air. Kay does not want to listen to him so instead she suffers in bed. Bob has enough of her complaining, grabs Kay, and carries her outside. The next day Bob comes down with a cold. Kay tries to help him even though he does not want her help. Kay makes a remedy of hot water and lemons. Bob reluctantly drinks her remedy since he is too sick not to. As she takes care of him Bob tells Kay that he is tired of being  grouch and from then on they are nicer to each other.

            Back in Boston, Bob is always away at the clinic at the hospital. Kay really loves Bob and is upset that he is always away and always talking about Priscilla. They go to a party at the hospital one night. The head doctor of the clinic is there. The doctor is not very nice to Bob to begin with and to make matters worse he sees Bob talking to Priscilla all night instead of being with his wife. That night Bob tells Kay that he is going down to the clinic when he is really going to Priscilla’s. A few hours later the clinic calls looking for Bob. One of his patients, a little boy with a metal plate in his head, is in trouble and needs to be operated on right away. Kay calls at Priscilla’s. The woman just tells Kay that Bob cannot go to the clinic and that she should make an excuse for him. Kay has come to know Bob’s patient and knows the boy would be very let down if Bob was not there for him. She goes to Priscilla’s apartment and drags her husband to the clinic. Bob performs some of the surgery but feels like he does not have what it takes right then and there to complete it.

            In the morning Kay goes to Bob’s father and tells him that she is going back home. She admits it is because Bob is still in love with Priscilla and she cannot compete with that love. The father lets Kay know that he and the mother wished it would have worked out between her and their son. He also tells her that if she ever needs anything to come to them since she has become like a daughter to them.

            Kay goes home and realizes her family is not as bad as she thought they were. They still have the same conversations and still talk the same way and live the same way but she knows how to deal with it. Kay gets the paper for her father and sees headlines on the front page about Bob goes to Reno to get a divorce. She goes out for a walk and crossing the street she is almost hit by a car. It is the same and the same driver. Only this time he could not seem to find his way to Reno.

            Small Town Girl started off well and then just went in a completely different direction. What happened was the character of Bob Dakin became a complete jerk. He was so nasty to Kay. The ending kind of did not make sense to me because the whole time Bob acted like he did not love Kay and then right at the end he comes in like a knight in shining armor wanting her back. I guess you could say he was mean to her because he did not want to fall in love with her but you would never guess he was. Robert Taylor and Janet Gaynor were adorable together. I cannot never get enough of Gaynor in her films she was so adorable. Small Town Girl started off great, as I mentioned. It was as if I was seeing my dream being played out on the screen. I wished it had stayed that way instead it turned into a kind of moral lesson for women of 1936 to not dream so big and to not take advantage of drunken men and marry them or you will have a miserable life. Watch Small Town Girl only if you are a fan of either Janet Gaynor or Robert Taylor. 

Ladies in Love (1936)

“The trouble with us is all we talk about is love.”

            I am not a romantic girl at all. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to be totally in love with someone and have someone be totally in love with me. But those thoughts are usually thought of after I watch a romantic or rom com movie. The next day I am usually so busy thinking of just me with school and work the last thing I want to think about is that someone else in my life. At this moment in my life I cannot handle a boyfriend. Never mind all the drama that usually goes into having one! Two of my best friends have boyfriends. When we are all together they talk about their boyfriends. I do not mind though because I like their boyfriends and they are not the only thing they can talk about. I cannot imagine having friends that all they do is talk about their boyfriends more than I can imagine me having one right now. Thank god! In the 1936 film Ladies in Love all three friends can talk about is love.

            Susie Schmidt (Loretta Young) and Yoli Hayden (Constance Bennett) move into their new apartment. When they walk into the building they find their third roommate and their other friend Martha Kerenye (Janet Gaynor) has already made herself at home by taking a shower. Martha tells the girl an old superstition her gypsy nurse told her: they have to count all the corners in the room then sit down and make a wish. Susie and Yoli count eight and then sit down: Susie wants a hat shop like the one she used to work in and Yoli wants to marry a rich a husband. Martha in the bathroom counts four and wishes for a real home, a husband, and kids.

            One of Martha’s many odd jobs is taking care of experimental rabbits for a Dr. Rudi Imre (Don Ameche). On that particular day Martha was late to take care of the rabbit. Rudi is not too happy with her because the rabbits need to be on a strict schedule for their medicine. She tells him that she moved into a new place a little farther away so it took her extra time to get there. Rudi is upset with her and lets her go.

            At the apartment Yoli boyfriend John comes by with his friend Count Karl Lanyi (Tyrone Power). Susie opens the door and is immediately in love with Karl. Karl asks Yoli to take Susie to a party that night. Susie hears Karl ask Yoli about her going to the party. Yoli tells her that Karl is engaged to another woman already but that does not bother Susie too much. At the party Yoli’s friend Ben tells her he can see that Susie in love it is all over her face. He talks to Yoli about the night she met John. Ben had been talking to her before John walked in. Ben is upset that Yoli is upset about John going away. John and Yoli go to leave the party but happily decide to stay.

            The following day Martha goes to see Susie in the stage show she is in. Martha asks Susie if she knows any men she might be able to sell a tie to. Susie tries to introduce her friend to a magician named Sandor but the magician just brushes Martha off. Martha gets seated in spot very close to the stage. During one of his tricks Sandor calls Martha up on stage. She tries to sell him a tie not realizing she is in the act. Sandor tricks her about buying a tie and giving her money. After the show Sandor needs help getting his shirt off. He fired his help so Martha helps him. He needs a tie too. Martha makes a deal with Sandor to buy a tie for a smaller price and she can become his maid. That day Susie had told Karl she was in love with him. After the show Karl is backstage waiting to take her out to dinner.

            Meanwhile, Yoli and John are at his place. They see legs dangling on the arm of one of his chairs. When they go over a young girl is there. The girl’s name is Marie (Simone Simon) and she is kind of related to John by marriage. Marie tells them that she ran away from. Her mother was trying to make her do something she did not want to do. John is nervous about her staying there and what it might look like to people.

            Martha has been working for Sandor for three weeks. She bosses him around. She tells him to stop drinking and he gives her a bull story that he has a nervous disorder that makes his hand shake just to get her sympathy.

            Susie goes to Karl’s apartment. He is not there but she waits. She sees a note from his fiancé on the table. She reads the letter. The fiancé wrote that they can be married at the end of the week just like he wanted. Beyond crushed Susie leaves the apartment in a hurry.

            Martha goes to see Rudi. She tells him she is working for Sandor and Rudi gets a little jealous thinking she is in love with Sandor. She gets mad at him and leaves in a huff.

            That night Susie goes out with John and Yoli. She sees Karl walk into the club. A man who gossips sees Susie and talks to him about Karl. To avoid speaking to Karl she goes off with the man when Karl comes up to her.

            Rudi waited for Martha outside the theater. He apologizes to her and takes her out to dinner. He gets jealous of Sandor again when Martha mentions the magicians. Martha gets very upset with Rudi for analyzing her when he cannot analyze himself. She storms out of the restaurant.

            Marie has run away from her boarding school. She confesses to him that ever since he had taken her out to lunch when she came sever years ago with her mother for vacation she has been in love with him. That is the reason she ran away from home. Marie manages to get John to marry him and take her to South America. John is truly happy around Marie.

            Sandor admits to Martha that he hired her because he was lonely and he was hoping she would fall in love with him. Martha does not love Sandor in any way. He kisses her and then says he thought he was losing his grip. Martha runs out of the apartment.

            Susie watches from a café Karl walking into a church with his bride to be married. At the apartment Susie drinks too much champagne. Martha shares in a bit of Susie’s misery and drinks some champagne as well. Susie is so depressed she puts sleeping syrup in her drink to kill herself. She put the glass down near Martha’s and Martha winds up picking Susie’s glass.

            Yoli goes to the train station to see John. She sees Marie going with him. Yoli walks off of the platform and Ben is there waiting for her. When Yoli comes home Rudi is there trying to keep Martha awake. Susie feels awful she cannot believe she just almost killed her best friend. Rudi comes to check on Martha and Sandor comes in at the same time. Sandor thinks Martha tried to kill herself because of him. She starts laughing and cannot stop when he says that. Rudi plays some game with Sandor to get him out of the apartment. Rudi tells Martha he got a real job and wants to marry her.

            The ladies move out of their apartment. Susie got her store thanks to some help from Yoli and Ben. Yoli marrying Ben who has really loved her. They all cannot believe all that has happened to them since they had moved into their apartment.

            The cast was fantastic. I loved seeing Janet Gaynor, Loretta Young, and Constance Bennett together. Gaynor was so adorable I could not take it. She looked and sounded like such a little kid she was perfect as Martha because Martha was in so many ways a dreamy little girl. Young was gorgeous and wonderful. I liked how Susie could not stop talking when they first moved in she was so excited. Bennett is a great actress. It seemed like she did not want to be making the film though. Maybe it was the character but it looked like Bennett was not giving the part her all. Don Ameche did not have his mustache and I could not believe how much more handsome he was without it! I loved him and Gaynor together they were so cute. Tyrone Power is actually listed in the credits as Tyrone Power, Jr. His father was an actor so I guess to distinguish the young from the old they put Jr. at the end. Not too long later they dropped the Jr. Power is not really in the film that much. This was mostly likely one of his very early films for Fox.

            Ladies in Love was a cute film. Although I am far from the romantic type I did like the story.  The story was good because Susie did not really get what she wanted. All the ladies had to go through heartbreak and silly things (in Martha's case) to get to where they wanted and what they wanted. Secretly sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be in love. For now I just live vicariously though film characters which is all I have time for right now! Haha. Ladies in Love is definitely worth watching especially if you like any of the cast members.