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Chance at Heaven is a 71 minute shortie from RKO with Marge ( Ginger Rogers) and Blacky (Joel McCrae), as the young locals in love. Rogers made all those dance flicks with Fred Astaire, while McCrae is mostly known for his Westerns. These two would also make Primrose Path together in 1940. Blacky runs a gas station, and flirts with Marge, planning the future, at least until Glory (Marian Nixon)comes along, then the showdown begins.....Look for Andy Devine and his raspy voice as the slightly slow but love-able co-worker. He's along for the comedy. Too bad they didn't give him a few more lines - he could have zinged things up a little more. The girls are remarkably cordial to each other, in light of the situation. They sure cram a lot into 71 minutes, dealing with some heavy issues for 1933. The Hays film code would start being enforced the next year, 1934. Fun film, with a serious plot of love between the classes, plus some comedy on the side for seasoning.

Well, this little Pre-Code Soaper without the sobbing builds around a triangular romance plot involving the lovely, cheerful, eager-to-please girl next door, Marjorie "Marje" Harris (Ginger Rogers), her fiancée, the clean-cut All-American Blackstone "Blacky" Gorman (Joel McCrea) in his starchy white service station uniform, and the irresponsible, spoiled, wealthy, but perky Glory Franklyn (Marian Nixon), who arrives on the cape (Cape Cod?) in search for fun.

Mrs. Harris (Ann Shoemaker) and Mr. Fred Harris (Lucien Littlefield), of modest means, rear their daughter to appreciate life's simple, everyday pleasures with a sense of responsibility, which Marjorie gleefully accepts, as she plans her forthcoming marriage with Blacky, content with the notion of creating with him domestic happiness.

Mrs. S.T. Franklyn (Virginia Hammond), on the other hand, oversees the maintenance of her summer residence, on the cape, along with a staff of "accents," or foreign-born servants, as she plans her daughter's, Glory, engagement to suitor Sid Larrick (George Meeker), whom Glory deems as somewhat stuffy.

Al (Andy Devine) attempts to support his employer and friend, by attempting to offer unheeded advice, but Blacky somehow suddenly becomes smitten with the tempting Glory, who cares little, if anything of the feelings of others, such as Blacky's fiancée or the suitor whom her mother has selected for her.

But when Marjorie discovers that Blacky considers jilting her for a position of wealth and society with another, she stands beside him, by pointing out that marrying Glory could represent Blacky's one "Chance at Heaven." Marjorie then encourages Glory to concentrate upon domestic tranquility to please Blacky, instead of painting stenciled floral patterns upon the woodwork of Blacky's bungalow.

Marjorie's role, thus, shifts from romantic interest to trustworthy, encouraging neighbor, as Glory defies her mother and social circle to pursue Blacky, who, along with Glory, needs Marjorie more than anyone realizes, for much encouragement behind the white Pickett fence.

So, the moral of the story would have to surround the decision regarding which path could offer the gentleman the greater "Chance at Heaven?" -- the carefree life of wealth even if Glory may find herself disowned by her mother for associating with a lowly mechanic, or the stable life of virtue and sincerity with the innocent one who would feel honored to cater to the every need of a handsome and capable mechanic?

CHANCE AT HEAVEN is a fairly low-key soaper even though near the end it makes some rather startling precode plot turns. Ginger Rogers stars as Marge, a small-town girl who has been a quasi-fiancée to gas station owner Blacky Gorman (Joel McCrea) for two years but he takes her so much for granted you would think they'd been married for decades. Although set in a small town, both of them are quite comfortable financially (Marge's dad owns a store we never see). "Practical" Blacky wants to wait however until he gets a chain of gas stations going before he takes a wife though one has to wonder how much of their engagement is merely Marge's presumption given his rather non-romantic friendship with her. Suddenly another woman enters the picture when New York heiress "Glory" Franklyn (Marian Nixon) and her socialite mother purchase a large estate in the area apparently as a summer home. Blacky is immediately bewitched by this new scenery despite his denials to Marge although this new face is a blatantly shallow and frivolous coquette. Glory awakens a passion in Blacky that true-hearted, sensible Marge really hasn't done and they quickly become an item, with Marge good-naturedly (if incredibly) pulling herself out of the race and wishing them the best.

The couple elopes and Mrs. Franklyn reaches for the smelling salts, horrified that her daughter has married down. Glory attempts to step into the new role as small town wife of a small business owner but she is as dependent on new friend Marge (still hanging in there as a buddy) now as much as she was on her mother in her past life. Eventually Glory becomes pregnant and the news is not especially welcomed by this little shallow flirt who knows Mother will be an even harder role than Wife. Mrs. Franklyn takes her back to New York supposedly for a short rest but as the months past, Blacky begins to wonder just when she is going to return.

Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea are two very appealing players and do what they can with this story although it's hard to have much sympathy for "nice guy" Blacky when he's been so inconsiderate throughout the picture to Marge, who despite being his "girl" for the first part of the film he treats with little more passion than a buddy. Marge, on the other hand, seems to be a male fantasy of the era, perfect, devoted, and always there no matter what kind of crud you throw at her and it is a bit disheartening to see the delicious spitfire that is Ginger Rogers restrained to this level. Marian Nixon was a fairly popular starlet/second tier star of the era, a minor rival to Janet Gaynor at Fox Films, but here she is miscast as a flighty flirt although she is quite credible in capturing her character's shallowness. Acting honors that are here may belong to character actress Virginia Hammond as Nixon's control freak of a mother.

In this charming little film, Joel McCrea plays Blacky Gorman, owner of a service station with big plans for owning more stations. Ginger Rogers plays his girlfriend, Marge Harris, a wonderful young woman without a selfish bone in her body. Blacky does not appreciate what he has and his attention is diverted to a flirtatious girl with social connections and family wealth---Glory Franklyn, played by Marian Nixon.

The acting is worthy of notice, but the story is fairly uncomplicated. As a result, the film is not substantial enough to warrant a higher score than "6".

This precode production offers only a couple concessions to impropriety, but it provides a nostalgic look at life in the thirties, including kitchen operations.

The film wraps up too neatly and too quickly, but it is, nonetheless, endearing. It might have served as a cautionary tale in its day, but it remains a comforting tale of ceaseless fidelity and virtue.

Caught this on TCM this morning - a bit disturbing, really, considering the light-hearted tone in the early going. A poor sap mechanic (McCrea) is stolen from his girlfriend (Ginger Rogers) by a wealthy heiress. Can a marriage involving such a gap in class succeed?

Although McCrea and Rogers are charming enough to watch, there are some upsetting elements in this yarn that would be readily discernible by modern audiences: hence, I assume that the screenplay slightly pre-dates the crackdown of the Production Code. However, you might find the movie interesting if you like to delve into the evolution of 'mature subject material' during this era. TCM has championed this pastime. 6/10

Neither Joel McCrea or Ginger Rogers was particularly fond of Chance At Heaven where nobility borders on the idiotic. They would have to wait until Primrose Path to get a decent film together.

Good natured Joel is a garage mechanic and even in the Depression folks have to get their cars repaired. So he's making a good living and he and Ginger Rogers are planning to marry. But along comes heiress Marian Nixon and she sees sweaty Joel repair her car, she eyes him like a slab of beefcake.

Before you know it they're married and the heiress who tries everything for a lark, decides to settle down and be a simple domestic housewife.

Meanwhile Ginger who should have whacked Marian upside the head with a two by four is positively saintly in her approach. Positively saintly and positively ridiculous.

Everybody involved has certainly done better. Make sure to see Primrose Path for a good film with the leads.

A small-town mechanic (Joel McCrea) leaves his girlfriend (Ginger Rogers) for an heiress (Marian Nixon).

An early role for Ginger, Chance at Heaven is an enjoyable little bauble, coming in at just over 70 minutes. Ginger doesn't get much to do, but is very good as always, while Joel McCrea is a competent leading man. Marian Nixon is good as the heiress; however, her character is so scatterbrained it makes Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey look like Einstein!

The film itself is a little depressing, and it's hard to sympathize with McCrea because his character is such a sap. There's also a thinly veiled reference to abortion, one of the worst screen mothers in history and Andy Devine as McCrea's friend. Overall, it's nothing very memorable, but it's enjoyable.

Small-town mechanic Joel McCrea keeps putting off marrying his sweetheart Ginger Rogers. Then flighty rich girl Marian Nixon shows up at Joel's gas station and he drops Ginger for her. Disappointing drama about how the grass looks greener on the other side or some such. The characters are poorly written, especially McCrea's. Ginger isn't the right fit for her role. Yes she could play wholesome girl next door types but here she's a doormat. Also, it's hard for me to buy any guy who has Ginger Rogers looking for someone else. On the plus side, one of the little things I love about watching older movies is soaking up all the pieces of history on display. The clothes, the cars, the architecture -- it's all pretty fascinating to me. In this movie, for example, I really enjoyed seeing the old gas station with the pumps and stuff. This isn't a very good movie but it's watchable due to the actors' personalities transcending their crappy parts.

If you ever wanted to examine a case study of what it was like to be a contract player at RKO in the early 1930s, check out Chance at Heaven (CAH). Ginger Rogers had just made her breakout movie Flying Down to Rio with Fred Astaire. Both of their roles supported featured players Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond, but Astaire-Rogers are the actors who are best remembered from that film today. Their dance routine of The Carioca is the principal reason why Flying Down to Rio is recalled at all now. It was sensational!

What does RKO do to showcase Rogers as an emerging star who had just completed a hit movie? They immediately cast her in a relatively thankless part as Joel McCrea's long suffering martyr of a girl friend in CAH! The character Rogers plays is so good--so understanding---so generous in her self-sacrifice---that it defies belief and almost becomes a complete caricature. When she loses McCrea to ditzy rich girl Marian Nixon, we are asked to accept as perfectly normal that Rogers is willing to morph into a glorified domestic servant---and thrives at essentially becoming their "door mat.." Rogers had a naturally charming and often spirited screen personality that remained totally invisible in CAH. What a pity!

While Rogers, McCrea and Nixon gave the film their best effort, in the end---they were severely challenged by the overly familiar storyline and its many cliches. In the case of Ginger Rogers, she would have to labor at RKO for one more year and make five more undistinguished movies before she and Astaire starred in their seminal musical The Gay Divorcee and thus attained screen immortality.

The Studio System provided an excellent basis for neophyte performers to develop necessary skills and achieve interesting and popular screen personalities. They often went from one unsatisfactory part to another, and had little to say about the process. It often produced frustration and disappointment--but a contract was a contract! Out of all this stress occasionally emerged some truly unique movie talent. Particularly in the case of Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea---both went on from the rather inconsequential CAH to become movie stars of the first rank---and accordingly reached major success with top notch careers. As the saying goes---the longest journey begins with the first step (even if it is a minor one)!

Blacky Gorman (Joel McCrea) owns a gas station in Silver Beach, Massachusetts which is a resort town for the rich. He plans to marry his girlfriend Marge Harris (Ginger Rogers) and buy more gas stations. Rich careless driver Glory Franklyn (Marian Nixon) is new in town. She befriends Marge. She flirts with Blacky and comes between the couple.

I'm not enamored with the couple but I don't want them to split up either. I don't ship anybody in particular in the movie and that's a problem. I'm not actually rooting for any actual outcome. I just become a passenger. There is a home makeover and sister wives situation. Non of it is that compelling. Also somebody needs to stop that guy's annoyingly fake laughing. I don't care that much about the ending going one way or the other.