Posted by vp19 on 2012.08.01 at 00:01

Current mood: sympathetic

The portraits of Carole Lombard (seen above in Paramount p1202-1070) and other stars of classic Hollywood proved so popular that New York photographer Irving Klaw made a discovery at the movie bookstore he owned.

“He noticed that kids were tearing out the pictures of the movie stars, so he decided to sell their pictures rather than the books,” said Ira Kramer, Klaw’s nephew. So in 1939, Klaw did something largely unheard of at the time — he contacted the New York offices of the Hollywood studios and arranged to obtain original publicity prints, negatives…any surplus they had.

And Movie Star News was born. It died in July at age 73, as Kramer decided to close up shop, a victim of changing technology. “Today, if you want a picture of a star you can go on the computer and download it,” he commented. “So what do you need me for?”

Over the years, it developed a devoted clientele of fans, from New York schoolgirls wanting pics of their favorites to servicemen seeking the latest pinup (the store did a considerable mail-order business). Not only did Klaw sell photos of film stars, but of risque models, notably a lady he regularly photographed named Bettie Page. The store even sold its own catalogs, featuring cover girls such as Vera-Ellen and Marilyn Monroe:

The store had several locations in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, most recently on West 18th Street:

I visited the store several times, and purchased a few Lombard portraits, none of them originals. The atmosphere was lively, the employees knowledgeable.

But there is a happy ending, or will be, for memorabilia collectors. Entertainment Collectibles of Las Vegas has purchased its entire inventory of film stills, negatives and posters — nearly 3 million items in all — for a multi-million dollar price. Early next year, the collection gradually will be sold off by Guernsey’s auction house.

Guernsey’s president Arlan Ettinger (shown above) said he plans to group photos of each of the 5,000 film stars in their own lots — and one would think Lombard would be included. How many photos of her might there be in the Movie Star News collection? Hard to say. For comparison’s sake, Ettinger said there are 680 originals of Betty Grable, and about 750 from the early career of Monroe, Grable’s “How To Marry A Millionaire” co-star.

According to Entertainment Collectibles co-owner Stuart Scheinman, there are 1,000 photos of Gary Cooper and 400 of Bette Davis. He added, “This could literally take five to 10 years to go through it all.” So one would think Carole’s items run at least into triple digits.

For more on the demise of this famed store and what will happen to its equally famous collection, visit http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/movie-star-news-pin-up-collection-auctioned-famed-store-closes-article-1.1125052#ixzz22GFl5a1w and http://www.wtop.com/541/2969007/NYC-movie-pin-up-collection-slated-for-auction. (And you can still buy online from the store, at http://www.moviestarnews.com/; search for Lombard and you will find some photos and replica posters available for purchase.)

If you don’t see entries at “Carole & Co.” over the next few days, please don’t panic; I’m taking another vacation and expect to return by the weekend. In the meantime, either peruse our archive of more than 2,000 entries or, better yet, contribute something yourself pertaining to Lombard, her life and times, and people she knew and worked with.

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.31 at 00:00

Current mood: excited

…and we’re not referring to that Andy Williams December perennial, either.

No, we are referring to August, which to classic movie fans is Christmas in July (a Preston Sturges in-joke). It’s been that way since 2003, when Turner Classic Movies first instituted its Summer Under The Stars promotion — honoring 31 stars in as many days with 24-hour blocks of their films.

Last year, Carole Lombard received the honor for the second time, enabling fans to watch the likes of “No More Orchids” (seen above). This year’s lineup has a fine blend of SUTS regulars and newcomers, covering a wide array of the cinema spectrum. Several August anniversaries are also being commemorated. Here’s the schedule (SUTS first-timers are marked with an asterisk):

1. John Wayne
2. Myrna Loy
3. Johnny Weismuller*
4. Marilyn Monroe*
5. Claude Rains
6. Van Heflin*
7. Sidney Poitier
8. Rita Hayworth
9. Toshiro Mifune*
10. Lionel Barrymore*
11. James Mason
12. Ginger Rogers
13. Deborah Kerr
14. James Cagney
15. Lillian Gish*
16. Elvis Presley
17. Katharine Hepburn
18. Freddie Bartholomew*
19. Eva Marie Saint*
20. Anthony Quinn*
21. Kay Francis*
22. Jack Lemmon
23. Gene Kelly
24. Irene Dunne
25. Tyrone Power*
26. Gary Cooper
27. Jeanette MacDonald*
28. Ava Gardner
29. Ingrid Bergman
30. Warren William*
31. James Caan*

(Caan and Bergman’s days have been switched since when we first learned of the lineup in early May. You’ll soon learn why.)

Okay, so Carole’s not participating this year…but my second all-time favorite actress is, and moreover, Myrna Loy (seen above in a racy scene from “The Barbarian,” one of her films scheduled to be shown) is being honored on the 107th anniversary of her birth! Another birth anniversary — a centenary, in fact — will take place Aug. 23, as famed dancer (and underrated actor) Gene Kelly is celebrated. (What a glorious feeling!)

Conversely, anniversaries of several screen stars’ deaths are also being noted. While Marilyn Monroe (as seen in “Niagara” above) left us 50 years ago Aug. 5, TCM gives Monroe her first SUTS salute the day before. (As we wrote in May, most of Marilyn’s films were made for Fox and thus heretofore unavailable for TCM.) Aug. 16 marks the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s passing, and he will be honored. And it was 30 years ago Aug. 29 that Ingrid Bergman died, and that led TCM to switch her SUTS date with first-timer Caan.

Other days worth noting include Ginger Rogers (seen above with David Niven in “Bachelor Mother”) on Aug. 12; the always-engaging James Cagney on Aug. 14; silent-era legend Lillian Gish on Aug. 15; Kay Francis on Aug. 21, including two back-to-back gems with William Powell, “Jewel Robbery” at 8:15 a.m. (Eastern) and “One Way Passage” at 9:30; and the king of pre-Code cads, Warren William, on Aug. 30. He’s seen below in “The Mouthpiece” (1932), one of his best vehicles, which will be shown at 9:45 a.m.:

For more observations on this year’s edition of SUTS, visit http://hollywoodrevue.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/whats-on-tcm-august-2012/ and http://immortalephemera.com/21049/august-2012-tcm-summer-under-the-stars-preview/; see the complete schedule at http://immortalephemera.com/20865/tcm-summer-under-the-stars-2012-complete-schedule/. TCM’s own SUTS site, http://www.tcm.com/summer/, will kick in on Aug. 1.

As the star of day one might say, not a bad lineup, partner.

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.30 at 00:03

Current mood: hungry

…or at least furnish you the recipe.

Yes, it’s time for another look at the culinary Carole Lombard. Over the years, we’ve given you her recipes for barbecue spareribs (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/204782.html), spinach and lettuce soups (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/469753.html), even recently an appetizer called “angels on horseback” (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/526001.html). Now we have one more for the list — and we’ll supply it. But first, some background:

One of the items I discovered while looking through Picture Play magazine, now online from the early 1930s (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/528880.html), was a story in the July 1933 issue called “Sunday Supper With Harlow,” which featured several stars’ recipes for Sunday evening supper, so often then deemed an afterthought following the afternoon dinner. (Families’ dining habits may have changed in the ensuing eight decades or so.) As author Whitney Williams wrote, in Hollywood:

“…Sunday-night supper is the informal event of the week. It is the night that people go calling, relaxing around the supper table after the affairs of the week, the one evening in which worries and troubles are temporarily laid aside for the enjoyment of one’s friends.

“Restaurants, of course, are patronized, but you will find the majority of the picture great in homes, partaking of some delicious concoction for which the hostess is famous.”

Williams described several of those concoctions in the article. (When one considers how the industry worked in those days, with actors, directors, writers and technical personnel often working long hours five days a week — and sometimes six — it’s no wonder that Sunday was deemed a vital respite before returning to the figurative chain gang Monday morning.)

Among the notables contributing recipes were Miriam Hopkins, Lilyan Tashman, Kay Francis, Sylvia Sidney, Norma Shearer…and Carole Lombard, with something she called “chicken mousse”:

Looks like an intriguing recipe (though I’m pretty certain the “gelatine” refers to brands such as Knox for cooking use, not dessert gelatin such as Jell-O). Hope someone here will try it and supply a report.

Here’s the irony: the story is headlined “Sunday Supper With Harlow,” and discusses her “cottage meat-pie,” I can’t supply the recipe from the magazine because the jump page is missing! But a search reveals a recipe for the dish at http://drednm-dinnerandamovie.blogspot.com/p/ben-lyon-hells-angels-and-harlow.html, though I have no idea whether this was taken from the magazine. Here it is, and Jean, I hope this is similar to what you came up with:

Cottage pie

2 tablespoons good olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 rib celery, sliced
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 pound ground meat (beef or lamb)
1/4 cup canned low sodium beef stock
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
Freshly ground black pepper
4 cups mashed potatoes
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic, half the salt, and oregano. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until mushrooms are soft and tomato paste has turned brick red, about 8 minutes more. Stir in the meat (beef or lamb), the broth, the remaining salt, the Worcestershire, and some pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 3 minutes.

Transfer the meat and vegetables to a 2-quart casserole dish and spread the mashed potatoes over the top, leaving a 1/4-inch boarder around the edge. Sprinkle with cheese and dot with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake until potatoes are brown and the juices bubble around the edge, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Hope that’s as tasty as the chicken mousse.

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.29 at 09:00

Current mood: optimistic

Carole Lombard played a Boston girl, Jane (who marries to become Jane Mason — we never do find out her maiden name), in 1939’s “Made For Each Other.” It’s possible her character attended one of the many colleges in the Boston area, but if she did, it certainly wasn’t Harvard, which at the time didn’t admit women as undergraduates. (She might have attended Radcliffe, its associate college for women, which decades later would be gradually absorbed into Harvard.)

Why are we bringing this up? Because next Sunday, Lombard’s “going” to Harvard…or, should I say, the Harvard Film Archive. And the movie she’ll appear in won’t be “Made For Each Other,” but…

The film will be shown as part of a double feature at 7 p.m. Aug. 5; it will follow another comedy directed by Mitchell Leisen, “Midnight” from 1939, starring Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Mary Astor and John Barrymore:

The films are part of the archive’s centennial salute to Paramount Pictures, a series largely focusing on the studio’s urbane 1930s period (the event began July 13 with “Trouble In Paradise,” from Ernst Lubitsch, and 1948’s “A Foreign Affair,” from Lubitsch disciple Billy Wilder) and its 1970s revival under Robert Evans.

The Harvard Film Archive’s 200-seat theater is at 24 Quincy Street in Cambridge, not far from the Harvard stop on MBTA’s Red line (since parking in the area is difficult, public transportation is recommended). If you’ll be in the Boston area next Sunday and have always wanted to see a Lombard film on the big screen, here’s your chance.

For further information on the theater, go to http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/general_info.html; for more on the Paramount series, visit http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2012julsep/paramount.html.

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.28 at 01:08

Current mood: productive

Meet the latest member of the family of Carole Lombard Paramount p1202 portraits. It’s p1202-537 to be precise, from 1933, showing Carole in what might be described as a feminized version of a doughboy hat. You can see part of a diamond brooch at the bottom.

Think you may have seen this before? Perhaps you did, but in a different pose. At least five other p1202s of Lombard in that outfit are circulating, beginning (numerically) with p1202-526, which we know was taken by Otto Dyar:

Others include p1202-527, 528, 529 and 536:

The seller of p1202-537 notes that a snipe on the back “describes it as near the time of her role in the 1934 movie ‘She Made Her Bed,’ which interestingly she did not appear in.” We pointed that out in “Looking back: June 1933” (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/518165.html), where Film Daily had reported she would play the lead:

The seller says this 8″ x 10″ original “has some creasing of the corners and a crease/scratch in the background over the hat.” Nevertheless, it’s in pretty good shape. If you’d like to own p1202-537, here’s the info: the opening bid is $39.95, and bidding ends at 9:27 p.m. (Eastern) next Thursday. Still interested, or just curious? Then visit http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAROLE-LOMBARD-Great-Orig-1934-Portrait-Photo-in-Doughboy-Cap-and-Diamond-Brooch-/380458195619?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5895135aa3 to learn more.

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.27 at 01:09

Current mood: mellow

Welcome to “The Great Recasting” blogathon, where the object is to take a movie from after 1965, the de facto close of the studio system, and re-imagine it as a classic era movie. Specifically, the ground rules are this:

1. Pick a movie that was made in between 1966 and today.
2. Change the year of production.
3. Choose new leads from classic Hollywood.
4. Choose a new director from classic Hollywood.

Naturally, my recast film would star Carole Lombard, and since I’ve long deemed Goldie Hawn one of the heirs to the Lombard comedic tradition, I’ve chosen to put Carole in a Goldie role. I’ve already announced my selection…”Housesitter,” from 1992 (the Hawn photo above is from that movie):

You may have remembered that if you’re a regular to this site — but you don’t know the rest of the Lombard version, so I’m going to tell you. But first, let’s recap the film in case you’ve never seen it. Here’s the storyline from the Internet Movie Database:

Newton Davis (Steve Martin) builds his dream house and presents it to Becky Metcalf (Dana Delany) with a proposal of marriage. She turns him down. He leaves the house, still with a ribbon running around it and returns to the city, terribly smitten with Becky. He meets Gwen Phillips (Goldie Hawn), who has an interesting relationship with the truth. He spends the night with her, but leaves while she is sleeping. She takes his description of the house, searches it out, and moves in. The residents of Davis’ hometown become curious and she invents a marriage, a courtship, and and an entire history. Davis’ parents (Julie Harris, Donald Moffat) meet Gwen and are immediately taken with her. By the time Davis finds out what has happened, two things have happened: The whole town thinks he’s married, and Becky tells him that Gwen has made her see him in a whole new light. Gwen and Davis agree that she can pretend to be his wife and get free rent while Davis works on Becky until they can announce a divorce…

See why this would work as a Lombard vehicle? Gwen Phillips is essentially a ’90s version of Helen Bartlett of “True Confession” (if Helen wasn’t already married); both like to stretch the truth just a bit. And to capitalize on the success of “True Confession,” this film will be made in 1938 (in our alternate universe, Carole doesn’t go to Warners — at least not for “Fools For Scandal” — and makes this picture her Paramount swan song).

Newton Davis, played in 1992 by Steve Martin, this time is portrayed by…Cary Grant (who else, and shouldn’t the actor and actress most closely identified with the screwball genre co-star in one?):

In the ’92 “Housesitter,” Becky Metcalf, who turns down Newton’s marriage proposal, is played by Dana Delany; our version will feature that era’s archetypal “other woman”…none other than Gail Patrick:

Donald Moffat and Julie Harris play Newton’s upper-crust parents in the real-life “Housesitter”; its 1938 counterpart will feature two superb character actors who, like Patrick, both previously worked with Lombard — Walter Connolly and Alice Brady:

Brady and Connolly would leave us in 1939 and 1940, respectively.

Finally, a director. Frank Oz (born Richard Frank Oznowicz), whose forte is comedy, did a fine job on the 1992 “Housesitter”; the ’38 version will be helmed by Paramount’s stylish director of romantic comedy, among other genres, Mitchell Leisen (someone also no stranger to working with Carole):

.

I think this film (modified a bit for Hays code standards — you couldn’t show Newton and Gwen having a one-night stand, for instance) would work for a few reasons:

* As noted earlier, this is right up Lombard’s alley. No one else in her era could play a deceiver and both do it beautifully and have the audience on your side.

* Carole and Cary proved to have solid dramatic chemistry in the ’39 drama “In Name Only.” Team them in a romantic comedy, and sparks would fly.

* The storyline would work as well in 1938 as in 1992.

* With Leisen’s eye for design, the house Lombard “sits” in would be suitably attuned to the public mood in 1938. And in Carole’s “Hands Across The Table,” as in 1939’s “Midnight” and 1940’s “Remember The Night,” Leisen showed his deftness in romantic comedy.

I hope this entry persuades some of you to rent the Hawn “Housesitter”; like Goldie herself, it’s a charmer. And the very idea of a Lombard version of the tale makes one wish you could wrap it up with a ribbon, go back to 1938 and present it to Paramount officials as their parting gift to Carole:

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.26 at 00:24

Current mood: contemplative

That’s how Carole Lombard appeared on an inside page of the January 1940 issue of Photoplay, accompanying Claude Binyon’s story “Subject: Lombard” (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/112285.html). Today, we’re going to examine how 1940 looked from a Photoplay article written little more than five years before Binyon’s.

Seeing how the past imagines the future — and trying to determine its batting average — is plenty of fun, including a mid-thirties prediction of fashion in 2000 (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/230950.html). This time, let’s look at past seeing the future from a cinematic perspective.

The concept was really nothing new, as this story from the Aug. 3, 1930 Syracuse Herald makes evident:

While replacing staff with robots in retrospect seems like something out of 1930’s “Just Imagine,” the over-the-top movie musical that foresaw 1980 Manhattan as Venice with highways, much of the rest of the article is remarkably thoughtful and prescient:

Some four years later, Photoplay decided to try its hand at the future game, as its December 1934 issue included an article entitled, “Let’s Go To Tomorrow’s Movies.” Author William F. French kicks things off with a decision by a hypothetical 1940 to watch a fight at home, by ordering it and having it transmitted by phone (how 1997!). That’s right…a prediction of pay-per-view because, as French sensibly notes,

“You see, they couldn’t television on the air until they found out a way to collect for their services. That held them up several years. They could have gone ahead with programs back in 1931 if it hadn’t been for that.”

Technology and profit, partners. Was it ever thus.

However, this 1940 person changes his or her mind and decides to see a movie, and what a cast — Eddie Cantor, Greta Garbo, Will Rogers and Anna Sten in “Try And See Them.” (Of course, Rogers wouldn’t be around in 1940, and while Sten was alive that year, she was cinematically invisible.) While that’s one of the few false notes of this piece, the rest of it is as informative as the Syracuse article — and, thanks to the Media History Digital Library, a heckuva lot easier to read. So here it is; go read it:

It’s fascinating, factual (the section pertaining to the development of color film is excellent), and propels the 2012 reader into how an expert envisioned the moviegoing experience in 1940. Much of it eventually came true, although not by 1940; technology didn’t advance quite as fast as expected, and a little thing that grew into World War II also got in the way. Save for digital technology, the result French foresaw isn’t all that different from what we see in theaters today.

Other than CGI effects, superhero films and bombastic soundtracks, of course.

As Photoplay was required reading for many in the film industry, there’s a good chance Lombard read this story. And while she never got to experience much of this (aside from three-strip Technicolor in “Nothing Sacred”), it probably conjured up much in her fertile imagination.

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.25 at 00:36

Current mood: optimistic

So nice to see Carole Lombard and William Powell out on the town, isn’t it? What a wonderful couple they are. But there’s just one hangup, as folks might have said some three decades later: they’re not a couple. In fact, they’re not even married anymore, as the back of this photo makes clear:

Can’t read that snipe? Then let’s isolate and enlarge it:

The photo is from a “barn dance” party hosted by Kay Francis (who starred with both of them in 1931’s “Ladies’ Man”) at the Vendome Cafe, owned by Hollywood Reporter publisher Billy Wilkerson and taken on Sept. 2, 1933 –– just 15 days after Lombard had divorced Powell in Carson City, Nev.

This was their first public appearance since the split, and their chummy presence at the party (“much absorbed in each other’s company”) may have led some attending to believe the two might turn around and remarry. That never happened, of course; Bill and Carole had discovered they made better friends than lovers, and that’s how it stayed for the rest of Lombard’s life. Bill helped Carole land perhaps her signature role, as Irene Bullock in “My Man Godfrey”; when Powell fell seriously ill in late 1937, Lombard was among a group of close friends who guided him back to health.

The photo is a vintage silver gelatin news press wire photo measuring 7″ x 9″. It was part of the collection from United Press International’s Chicago office at Tribune Tower (though I’m uncertain whether it originated from United Press or Hearst’s International News Service; the two merged in 1958). There is a crease in the bottom left corner, but it’s in reasonably good shape for a photo nearly 79 years old.

The pic is being auctioned at eBay; the minimum bid is $9.99, and bidding closes at 10 p.m. (Eastern) Sunday. If this is of interest to you, bid or learn more about it at http://www.ebay.com/itm/1933-Movie-Stars-Carole-Lombard-William-Powell-Divorced-but-Best-of-Frieds-Photo-/150864876314?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23203f531a. It might make a nice gift for any couple you know who’s planning to divorce. Heck, it might persuade them to get back together again…or at least be on friendly terms following the split.

Oh, and if the photo looked familiar, it’s because we ran something similar earlier this year:

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.24 at 00:24

Current mood: aggravated

Pretty lovely image of Carole Lombard, isn’t it? Well, guess who took it, in one of his rare forays into color photography — none other than the fabled George Hurrell:

It’s from the January 1939 Photoplay, an issue that wasn’t one of Lombard’s favorites despite the pic. That’s because the issue also ran one of the most notorious articles in the magazine’s history — “Hollywood’s Unmarried Husbands And Wives,” by Kirtley Baskette.

While we’ve run the story before (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/104986.html), it wasn’t as it originally appeared in the magazine. Now that the entire 1914 to 1940 run of Photoplay is available online, we thought it would be good to let you see this controversial piece the way the magazine’s readers saw it when it hit newsstands midway through December 1938:

The Hollywood establishment was up in arms over the article, and there was debate over how the industry should react (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/184775.html). Lombard, who rarely held grudges, probably never again spoke to Baskette for the rest of her life.

But the January 1939 Photoplay had other Lombard goodies to offer fans, such as this pic of Carole with a burro she received as a gag gift at the “Made For Each Other” wrap party:

There’s also a closeup of three Hollywood designers, two of which had definite ties to Lombard — Irene of Bullocks Wilshire (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/445941.html) and jewelry expert Joseff.

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Posted by vp19 on 2012.07.23 at 08:35

Current mood: impressed

“Fast And Loose” was the only film Carole Lombard made in New York, and it afforded her nearly two months in the city (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/444609.html). It also gave her exposure to the New York press — not only newspapers, but the eastern branch of many fan magazines.

That includes Picture Play, much of whose output from 1929 to 1933 is now available online (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/528880.html). One of its writers, Malcolm H. Oettinger, interviewed her at Paramount’s Astoria Studios in Queens and came up with a story, “Another Three Cheers!”, which ran in the December 1930 issue.

From reading it, I’m guessing either Oettinger made up some of her quotes or that Lombard — trying to cover some of her past tracks and reinvent herself — altered some of her history. We know she did not jump directly from Fox to Mack Sennett, for instance. Nevertheless, this is a nice snapshot of a star on the rise:

The first page of the article even had a portrait of Lombard facing it — her first after being signed as a Paramount player, p1202-1, taken by Herman Zerrenner in New York (http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/488287.html). Carole Sampeck of The Lombard Archive once described it “as being full of joy, hope, unlimited possibilities,” a mood the article certainly shares:

Picture Play’s people must have liked Lombard so much that they wanted her to stay in town, or at least make plenty of movies there; at least that’s the impression you get from another part of that December 1930 issue. One of its regular features was a New York-based gossip column called “Over The Teacups,” credited to “A Bystander,” who had “conversations” with an equally fictitious person called “Fanny the fan.” Part of that month’s column featured this exchange:

It’s entirely possible Lombard might have made more films in New York — but in 1931, the bottom fell out of the U.S. economy (turning the October 1929 crash into a full-fledged depression), and Paramount found it best to consolidate its feature film operations out west. By this time, most of the top performers and writers had already left for southern California.

As for the film, Picture Play reviewed it in its March 1931 issue and gave it restrained approval…though it believed one of its players was miscast:

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