I've Got Your Number

I've Got Your Number casts Pat O'Brien and Joan Blondell as a pair who make their living with the phone company. O'Brien is a line repairmen and Blondell is a switchboard operator. O'Brien is a roughneck, but as Blondell learns he grows on you after a while.

O'Brien gets Blondell a job with Henry O'Neill's brokerage house, but she's suspected of being part of a gang that robs the place of six figures of negotiable securities. It's up to O'Brien and sidekick Allen Jenkins to clear her.

I've Got Your Number is fast and breezy and entertaining. The film has a good pace to it and doesn't let up, My favorite scenes are with Glenda Farrell and a phony spiritualism racket she's got going. Farrell steals the film in her scenes.

You'll also like Eugene Pallette in his scenes as O'Brien's overwrought boss.

One good product from Warner Brothers.

With Warners pre-code you win some and lose some but it's only takes an hour or so. The dark flat cinematography, the salty dialogue, the best actors in the world, Blondell in close-ups.

The cad played by O'Brien doesn't deserve her, but he risks his life, mobilizes his networks, beats the odds. Those there to see Blondell can appreciate that O'Brien loves her as much as we do and on the plus side that he is employed and possesses telephonic super-skills. It must be love as Blondell and O'Brien can both rap at Warners-level supersonic speeds. With Jenkins, Pallette, Farrell, et al, this is the murderers row of pre-code.

A harried switchboard operator & a ditzy medium get involved with a couple of brash telephone repairmen & a dangerous gang of thieves...

I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER was the sort of ephemeral comic frippery which the Hollywood studios produced almost without effort during the 1930's. Well made & highly enjoyable, Depression audiences couldn't seem to get enough of these popular, funny photo dramas.

Joan Blondell & Glenda Farrell are perfectly cast as the fast -talking female leads. Although Joan gets both top billing and the romantic scenes, - and they share no screen time together in this early pairing - both gals are as talented & watchable as they are gorgeous.

Pat O'Brien, obnoxiously cocky & self assured, appears as Blondell's persistent suitor. Whether tapping wires or tackling crooks, he is equally jaunty. Behind him comes a small parade of character actors - Allen Jenkins, Eugene Pallette, Henry O'Neill, Hobart Cavanaugh, Louise Beavers - all equally adept at delighting an audience.

Much of the dialogue & plot development indicates this film made it just under the wire before the imposition of the Production Code.

While never stars of the first rank, Joan Blondell (1906-1979) & Glenda Farrell (1904-1971) enlivened scores of films at Warner Bros. throughout the 1930's, especially the eight in which they appeared together. Whether playing gold diggers or working girls, reporters or secretaries, these blonde & brassy ladies were very nearly always a match for whatever leading man was lucky enough to share equal billing alongside them. With a wisecrack or a glance, their characters showed they were ready to take on the world - and any man in it. Never as wickedly brazen as Paramount's Mae West, you always had the feeling that, tough as they were, Blondell & Farrell used their toughness to defend vulnerable hearts ready to break over the right guy. While many performances from seven decades ago can look campy or contrived today, these two lovely ladies are still spirited & sassy.

While I must admit that I enjoyed watching "I've Got Your Number", I must also admit that the film had serious flaws. First off, Pat O'Brien's character was a real pig--a sexual harassing jerk. Second, the plot was a bit silly.

This film begins with O'Brien working as a telephone repair man. He is good at his job but he's also a pig--and sexually harasses his clients repeatedly. With one woman, he slaps her on the behind. With another (Joan Blondell), he's a bit of a stalker--a guy who won't accept 'no' for an answer. Back in 1934, he might have been seen as a cute fellow--today he would have been arrested! And, true to the ridiculous attitudes of the day, he was the hero--a guy who really was NOT very heroic. To make it worse, after sexually harassing Bondell repeatedly, she responded by falling in love with the guy!!! Today, it's a seriously screwed up relationship to say the least.

Overall, this is a film that IS enjoyable but also seriously flawed and stupid. Worth seeing if you love classic Hollywood--otherwise it might just seem trivial and silly.

This one looks like it was originally planned as another inexpensive vehicle for Cagney, like THE PICTURE SNATCHER (in which he played a photographer) or TAXI!: ordinary Joe roles that the men in the audience could identify with, and when Jimmy snaps into action, they can imagine themselves doing it. After all, what's he got that I don't? But he again threatened to walk, so they tried O'Brien out in the role. He's an Irish sort of actor too. Maybe the audience won't notice.

Unfortunately, I noticed and it became something of a chore to make my way through this movie when the top-billed actor doesn't get much screen time. As often happens in lesser Warner Bs, it's the supporting players that kept me watching, particularly Eugene Palette. But you can skip this one.