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For her second time in a James M. Barrie role, Katharine Hepburn starred in a remake of Quality Street. Hepburn had previously played a little Scot's minx in The Little Minister also for RKO.

Barrie did right by her again, she was well cast as one of the Throssel sisters of Great Britain of the Napoleonic Era. She and sister Fay Bainter look like they're doomed to be spinsters. Bainter has resigned herself to that fate, but Hepburn still has hopes.

But when she thinks Franchot Tone might be popping the question, he's only around to tell her he's doing what Admiral Nelson expects of every man, his duty to England. In 1805 he enlists in the army and Hepburn and Bainter go on teaching school.

Ten years go by and when Tone doesn't at first recognize Hepburn when he returns, she thinks her prime has passed. But she'll teach Tone a lesson by impersonating her own made up niece. And what a niece, a naughty flirt who entrances all the young blades returned from the wars and doing a job on Tone's ego as well.

Quality Street has a quality history, it was first performed on Broadway by the immortal Maude Adams in 1901 and then made a silent film in 1927 starring Marion Davies and Conrad Nagel. I can certainly see why William Randolph Hearst thought this a good role for Davies. She could be both a crinolined heroine and also use her comic talents as well. Hepburn also gets to use her full talents playing one role straight and imitating a fictitious person at the same time.

Quality Street got an Oscar nomination for Best Musical Score. If it sounds familiar the theme was recycled later on for the frontier film Rachel And The Stranger. It was even given words that were sung on record by that film's star Robert Mitchum.

And George Stevens after doing Alice Adams with Hepburn was assigned this one as well. He'd do even better the third and last time he worked with Hepburn in Woman Of The Year.

Quality Street is a good film, but I'm sure that Depression Era audiences found a Victorian Era comedy a bit dated.

Delightful comedy of errors. Pheobe (Hepburn) is in love with the dashing Dr. Brown, but alas her love is unrequited. They meet again 10 years later on his return from the Napoleonic Wars. She has wilted under the strain of teaching little children and is self-conscious about her age. On a whim she decides to dress in her former radiant style, and ends up being mistaken by Dr. Brown for Pheobe's niece. They start to court, and from there it's all silly and predictable, but... sparkling dialogue, great acting and wonderful supporting parts (especially the nosy old spinsters at the windows)

On Quality Street, women occupy their time by either witnessing or passing gossip about their friends and neighbors. Whenever there's a gentleman caller, all the neighbors peer out their windows and stare, taking note of how he was dressed, if he brought flowers, and how long he stayed. What else is there to do in 1805?

Katharine Hepburn and her old maid sister Fay Bainter live on Quality Street, and while they primarily socialize with other old maids and gossipers in town, Kate has one particular friend she treasures: the dashing Franchot Tone. She's known Franchot for a year, and when she thinks he's going to propose, the rumor gets spread all over town. It turns out he enlisted in the army instead, and Kate feels humiliated. Ten years later, Franchot comes home from the war. He's a little gray at the temples, and Kate is no longer the blushing beauty he remembers. Can they fall in love again or is it too late?

While it has an intriguing premise, the rest of the film is pretty silly. In order to get him back, Kate throws caution to the wind and acts like a harlot with all the other men in town, and her mischief-making gets a little long in the tooth after a few scenes. It is great fun to see Kate all dolled up, though. She's more beautiful than she's ever looked in her movies, and her flirtations are charming and sweet. I'm fans of both Kate and Franchot, but Fay Bainter was my favorite character in the film. She was unselfish and a wonderful sister, and I wish she'd taken some screen time away from Kate's silliness.

The original play was set in the early 1800s during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. This is a very cute, funny comedy if you understand that it describes a time when a woman's future was defined by her looks, youth, fertility, and chastity. With the destruction of monastic life in England, the only future for a woman at the time of the play was marriage.

The witty cast and script made the film a lot of fun. Seem to recall reading that the Hollywood actresses of that era wanted to be in this movie, and I can see why - it was a hoot. Especially Eric Blore, who always turned in a good performance.

Western culture at the time of the play valued fertility in marriage highly, and men tended to want wives who were rounder than Miss Hepburn. Other than that, her performance was wonderful as always.

I was about to go to bed one night and was watching a movie on TCM. The movie I was watching had just ended and Quality Street started to play. I was so charmed by this movie that I had to stay up quite late and finish watching it. I just couldn't make myself push the off button on my remote:) Katharine is quite charming as Phoebe and plays her niece quite well too. I honestly don't think Katharine looks too old, as other reviews have stated. Franchot Tone is very handsome as the gullible soldier. A good supporting cast as well. It is a light, entertaining romantic comedy. Just as long as you think this while the movie plays, it won't disappoint.