The Girl Downstairs

The Girl Downstairs is yet another film where MGM gave Franchot Tone another opportunity to wear a tuxedo. Tone was well typecast as a debonair playboy by this time. His leading lady was Franciska Gaal borrowed from Paramount when Luise Rainer refused to play the part.

Said part was that of a poor peasant girl from the Hungarian countryside come Budapest to work in Walter Connolly's house to earn enough money to buy a replacement cow for the family farm.

Connolly doesn't think wastrel Tone is fit for his daughter Rita Johnson. But as a ruse Tone pretends he's courting Gaal. And Gaal thinks he's a storybook prince.

This kind of romantic frou-frou was popular in Europe and in some cases well in America. Gaal in her three American films always played the innocent as she does here. Tone had the playboy parts that MGM kept casting him in down in his sleep.

Highlight of the film for me is garage owner Billy Gilbert palming off a wreck of an old taxicab on Gaal. She throws her cow money away on it so that Tone whom she thinks is a chauffeur can work on his own. It's funny yet wistfully sad.

Good if old fashioned movie.

Franciska Gaal came to stardom in Europe for her portrayal of Katharina in a much darker though no less romantic German film called Katharina Die Letzte -- Catherine the Last (a pun on Catherine the First, Empress of all the Russias). In the German version, Gaal as the schlub of a scullery wench is much dirtier, more clumsy, and totally believable as an overlooked bumpkin skivvy. Her metamorphosis through loving the blackguard cad is, therefore, more amazing and heartrending. Dear Franchot Tone is hardly believable as a immoral seducer, out to marry an heiress only for her money and willing to betray the innocent country girl to obtain his black ends. His German counterpart oozes villainy and smarminess, forced by Katherina's utter belief in his goodness to mend his ways until the ultimate scene. All the same jokes are there in the Hollywood version, scene for scene, but the morphing of the villain into a hero in the German version is what makes that film an exalting and memorable experience, traveling from dark cynicism to -- yes -- a happy Hollywood ending!

A case of mistaken identity (impersonation) drives this fluffy piece of frippery. The Girl Downstairs did not make much of an impression on me until Franciska Gaal, as Katerina, came on screen. I found her to be charming.

This comedy does not delve very deeply into darker feelings or emotions (distrust, self-doubt, fear, disappointment, sadness), though they have a place in the story. Instead, the character of Katerina provides a disarmingly optimistic view of life that overrides all negativity.

I found the supporting cast to be more than adequate. Especially Franklin Pangborn, whose character adds a level of levity that is not overdone.

I recommend this film not despite its simplicity, but because of its simplicity, which allows the performance of Ms. Gaal to shine through.

When the story begins, Paul Wagner (Franchot Tone) is trying to woo a rich young lady. However, in the process he manages to completely alienate her father and he is so infuriated with Paul that he instructs all his household staff to keep him off the property...all but the lowly scullery maid, Katerina (Franciska Gaal). So, Paul pretends he's a chauffeur and begins romancing Katerina in order to also be able to sneak into his girlfriend's house late at night. In other words, Paul acts like a jerk and antagonizes a lady's father. To get around this, he uses a maid and strings her along. Wow...what a piece of work!! In fact, this is a big problem with the story...Paul is just too unlikable and it's hard to watch a romance where you dislike one of the leads.

An additional problem with the story is Gaal's character. While she's in her mid 30s, here she is dressed and acts like a teenage and simple-minded version of Heidi...and it comes off as a bit weird.

So is this worth seeing? Not especially. It's not so much terrible...more fatally flawed from the outset.

I loved this movie because it was about two people in love - nothing else mattered! They were equal even though she was a maid and he was a "gentleman" I wish the world loved like this ❤