Cross-Country Romance

To escape an arranged marriage, wealthy New York heiress Wendy Barrie (as Diane North) stows away in a long trailer belonging to impoverished doctor Gene Raymond (as Lawrence "Larry" Smith). Interestingly, she does this wearing her slip - so, we could say she slips away… There isn't as much wit in the script. You should expect, of course, the leading players to fall in love. Then, her true identity could threaten their future happiness. This might have been a big hit with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in the leads. As Mr. and Mrs. McGuillicuddy, a re-make might have starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The old formula includes Hedda Hopper (as a mother) and veteran comic Billy Gilbert

***** Cross-Country Romance (7/12/40) Frank Woodruff ~ Gene Raymond, Wendy Barrie, Hedda Hopper, Billy Gilbert

"Cross Country Romance" was an RKO studio rendition of the runaway heiress films that were especially popular during the Great Depression years. After Columbia Pictures had its smashing success at the box office and the Academy Awards with "It Happened One Night" in 1934, with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, other studios made one or more such films. For variety, they would combine other elements with the comedy and romance, including capers, adventures and even spying. One of the best of the latter was MGM's "Love on the Run" of 1936 with Gable, Franchot Tone and Joan Crawford.

Another plot theme that was used frequently over the first three decades of sound, was the traveling romance. Those too were usually comedies. They didn't have heiresses on the run, but usually were just about regular people or traveling entertainers, etc. Occasionally, one might have a wealthy male going incognito for some reason.

Well, this cross country romance has both the runaway heiress and the travel adventure across the U. S. Wendy Barrie is the rich bride-to-be on the run. Gene Raymond is a medical doctor who's on his way by car and trailer from Boston to San Francisco. From there, he plans to go to China to join a famous medical researcher looking for a cure for a type of leukemia.

Raymond and Barrie were in another cross-country film that was a very good comedy-romance and that involved a criminal element. That was an earlier RKO film, "Love on a Bet" of 1936. It had very good comedy in the dialog and with some hilarious antics and scenarios. Unfortunately, this film has much less of both. Raymond has a mostly straight man role here, and the few lines that he has that were probably meant for humor just aren't that good Barrie is okay with what she has, and the supporting cast in places provide some of the best humor.

The best comedy segments occur in the last quarter of the film, when they travel through Omaha and then return the same way a couple days later. A revised screenplay would have given this film a boost. The dialog doesn't get any funnier than this exchange between the Omaha police captain, G. G. Burke, and Raymond's Dr. Larry Smith, whom Barrie's Diane North had told was her husband, Dr. James McGillicuddy

Captain Burke, "Oh, I suppose the next thing you'll be telling me is that Miss North kidnapped herself." Dr. Larry Smith, "As a matter of fact, that's exactly what happened."

If there was one thing Hollywood had a bumper crop of it was movies about runaway heiresses. I think someone figured out that after It Happened One Night it was the wish of the American male to find some runaway heiress and romance and wed them so they could escape the grind of the Depression. I'm sure off the top of any reader's head they could think of at least ten films with runaway heiresses from A pictures right down to this one from RKO, Cross-Country Romance.

The heiress is Wendy Barrie who is feeling trapped by a marriage her mother Hedda Hopper has arranged with G.P. Huntley, Jr., one gigantic drip of a human being. Doctor Gene Raymond is on his way to San Francisco to catch a boat to China, but as his last official act for the hospital he's working he agrees to drop off a scroll thanking Hopper for her charitable contributions. Coincidentally on the day of Barrie's wedding.

Barrie takes the opportunity to sneak out and hitch a ride in the trailer that Raymond has. If you've seen It Happened One Night and a few dozen other films you know exactly where this is going.

Although this has all really been done before, I wouldn't be surprised if there were two or three other heiress pictures in release when Cross- Country Romance was in first run. The leads are easy to take and RKO did get them a nice supporting cast which also included Billy Gilbert in a part as a hash house cook, something he seems to be repeating from On The Avenue, Berton Churchill and Tom Dugan as a pair of conmen, and of course Hopper who was really hitting her stride as Hollywood's favorite gossip columnist as her movie career became more of a sideline.

Look quickly toward the end and you'll see Alan Ladd as the first mate of a China bound ship. Cross-Country Romance is not bad for the genre of heiress pictures.

Wendy Barrie plays Diane North, a wealthy heiress who is set to marry a dull man. Diane's mother has arranged the marriage because the stiff her daughter is to marry has even more money than they do. Diane decides to rebel and secretly hides in a trailer, driven by Dr. Smith (Gene Raymond). Dr. Smith is driving the trailer cross country to San Francisco. Dr. Smith is shocked to find her on the trailer, but Diane manages to convince him to let her stay for the ride. Of course, a romance slowly blooms.

Barrie's character is nutty, but likeable. Think of Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, but wealthy as well. Gene Raymond's character is a serious, somber fellow, who puts work before personal relationships. Diane continually tries to "help" Dr. Smith during their journey and continually gets him into some wild trouble.

Future super star, Alan Ladd, has a bit part as the First Mate near the end of the film. Frank Sully and Cliff Clark play not too bright policemen. And Billy Gilbert, billed forth, has a small role as a cafe owner. The two stars do most of the work here and perform a splendid job as one would expect.

I often shake my head on the rating scores here on IMDB. Every film made in the last 10 years seems to have an 8.2 rating. While older films seem harshly rated. This breezy little comedy is currently rated 5.7! I have been a film buff all my life. I enjoy silent films, foreign films, everything. The high watermark for me is the 1930's and 1940's. And if this solid little B' film only rates a 5.7, well give me a 1940's 5.7 all day long.

"Love on a Bet" was a cute movie about Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie falling in love during a cross-country chase. The public must have liked it too, because the studio decided to make it again--the same theme and the same leads. But they didn't bother this time to get an amusing script. How's this for a variation--at the beginning of "Love on a Bet," Gene Raymond has to appear in public in his underwear; at the beginning of this movie, Wendy Barrie does. And how's this for exposition--Barrie tells Raymond when they meet, "I'm an heiress. I have loads of money. I'm running away from a marriage that my mother arranged for me." Yes, there's a bit of "It Happened One Night" thrown in too.

Not only is the script uninspired and lame, the direction limps as well, holding a shot too long or starting one too early. Hedda Hopper is unpleasant and boring as Barrie's mother, and Barrie and Raymond have no chemistry--there is no justification, in the script or their acting, for either one to suddenly fall in love with the other.

This movie should have been titled "Let Well Enough Alone."