Lady Behave!

because this film is full of commonly used themes from the 30s yet it turns out to be charming: There is the sister who's the goof-off, whose life is a mess and the older, proper but repressed sister who is called to bail her out. The sister returns the following morning married to a some millionaire after partying, then is sleeping it off under covers that remain unnoticed by a stranger in the room. There are the step-children who think they are smarter than the adults and are still clueless. There is an ex-husband who's sweet, charming, but loves the racehorses more than people. Finally there is the millionaire groom who must have been even more drunk than the bride.

Sally Eilers is part of this and more in this impostor identity romantic comedy with its share of confusion and "no good deed will go unpunished" bits slipping into slapstick now and then, as she tries to protect the reputation of erstwhile sister Patricia Farr. Grant Mitchell plays the meddling - but necessary to explain events - godfather to both women, and Neil Hamilton is the slightly befuddled bridegroom. Joseph Schildkraut is amazing as the pony-loving ex-to Farr, and it's hard to believe this movie was released at nearly the same time as "The Life of Emile Zola" in which Schildkraut gives his unforgettable performance as wrongfully convicted Dreyfus.

Sally Eilers is in New Orleans for Mardi Gras before she goes off to do medical relief work in Haiti. Her sister, Patricia Farr, comes to the hotel. She has just married Neil Hamilton while they were both sozzled. However, she is already married to penniless adventurer Joseph Schildkraut. To keep her sister out of jail for bigamy, Sally goes to Hamilton's home, pretending to be his wife, where his two children want to get rid of her. They hire Schildkraut to lure their 'new mother' to the ends of the earth.

It's the last movie that Lloyd Corrigan directed and it moves at a French Farce pace; with perpetual Long Island Butler Robert Greig lurking behind doors for lightning entrances, it is terrifically funny. Of course censor Joe Breen had problems with it. What they cut to get it past him is a mystery to me; perhaps Preston Sturges lent Corrigan those dirty pictures of Breen that he would later use to get his scripts past him. Whatever it was, Corrigan gave up directing, and spent the rest of his career acting and writing.

This is a fast-paced, enjoyable little family romantic comedy that has fine acting and direction. The plot is really clever. Sexually liberated sister Clarice Kindall (Patricia Farr) goes out partying, gets drunk and marries a millionaire. Since she is on vacation, awaiting a divorce from her first husband, she has committed bigamy, a crime punishable with ten years in jail. Her big sister, Paula (Sally Eilers)comes to the rescue. Since the millionaire was too drunk to know who he married, she will pretend to be her sister and get a divorce from the husband Stephen Cormack (Neil Hamilton), but only after sister Clarice annuls the first marriage.

A complication appears as millionaire Stephen Cormack has two young teenager children Patricia (Marcia Mae Jones) and Hank (George Ernest). They are none too happy about having a mother who they believe married their father for his money while "in a fog." The cast does a great job keeping this light and fluffy, with enough wink-like actions to remind the audience that its a comedy and not to take any of this too seriously. Eilers is a precursor to Doris Day in her late 50s sex comedies -- which this resembles. She's trying to stay a virgin, despite having to live with a new husband.

The kids are adorable. Marcia Mae Jones (the crippled girl in Shirley Temple's "Heidi") and George Ernest. They had each done dozens of film roles before this and they are very professional in their comic timing. Marcia had a long career, but George pretty much ended his career when he became an adult.

The husband/father, Neil Hamilton is quite sophisticated and comfortable.

I was sad to learn that Patricia Farr who charmingly played sister Clarice tragically died of cancer at age 35, eleven years after this film. This turned out to be the height of her career. She only had a couple of small roles after this film. She handles her part well and showed talent. She was apparently hanging out modeling with another startlet at the time of this film. That was Rita Hayworth and her career took off while Farr's career went nowhere.

Eilers was in the middle of a 15 year - 50 picture career when she made this film. She is quite professional with wonderful comic timing.

I watched this picture just after watching Frank Capra's Oscar winning "You Can't Take it With You"(1939). I liked that film, but I thought this one was minute to minute funnier.

Joseph Schildkraut made a career playing villains, including the most villainous of villains, Judas, betrayer of Christ.

In "Lady Behave!" he is a flamboyantly likable bad guy, giving one of his most charming and enjoyable performances.

Sally Eilers is the nominal star, and usually she is adorable and lovely. Here, though, there is something lacking. She looks more frazzled than the role calls for, and in her earliest scenes she is not quite believable.

On the other hand, her "sister," played by a mostly unknown (these days) Patricia Farr, is not only adorable but believable as the under-the-influence madcap.

Neil Hamilton, who had a long career, was another smooth and very good-looking leading man, and his performance here helps explain just why he was in demand from silent days through TV series.

As his two children, Marcia Mae Jones and George Ernst were simply outstanding, carrying off the not-entirely-believable roles with charm and energy.

There seem to be some holes in the script, and not all the attitude changes are well explained, but, so what? It's fun.

There is a fair print at YouTube and I do recommend "Lady Behave!" for an enjoyable hour.

Clarice comes home from a Mardi Gras party and announces that she's just been married; her sister Paula (Sally Eilers) quickly points out that, inconveniently, she's already married to somebody else. It's up to Paula and family lawyer Burton Williams (Grant Mitchell) to come up with a plan: noting that a person can get ten years for bigamy, they swiftly decide to work first on an annulment for marriage number one, and then to take on marriage number two.

Not surprisingly, all does not go as swiftly as planned, and soon Paula is posing as her sister and moving into a very ritzy new home, where she encounters the new hubby's two children, who do not exactly offer a warm welcome to the new stepmother they assume is just another gold digger.

When their dad (Neil Hamilton) eventually makes it home and meets his bride as if for the first time (which, of course, it actually is), the plot gets even thicker; meanwhile, Clarice's first husband (Joseph Schildkraut) is lurking, smelling a buck in this setup somewhere.

It's all very funny, and the actors have a field day with some pretty nutty roles. Schildkraut is especially hilarious as the would-be womanizer. Mitchell is also very funny as the quick thinking lawyer of practical mind but dubious morals. Hamilton is appropriately confused yet capable as the leading man; Sally Eilers is very good as the responsible older sister who is drawn into a crazy situation and finds herself unexpectedly falling for it all. The relationship between the two leads is never particularly surprising but they do carry if off with energy and style.

The two kids also do well—energetic do-it-yourselfers, they certainly are not hesitant to take a hand in managing family affairs. Their scenes with Schildkraut are super.

It's a cute movie that offers lots of easy laughs. Don't miss Robert Greig and Mary Gordon in small roles as—what else?—the butler and the cook.