Hi Nellie!
Hi, Nellie! | |
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Lobby card | |
Directed by | Mervyn LeRoy |
Produced by | Robert Presnell Sr. |
Written by |
Abem Finkel Sidney Sutherland |
Story by | Roy Chanslor |
Starring |
Paul Muni Glenda Farrell |
Music by | Bernhard Kaun |
Production company | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Hi, Nellie! is a 1934 American crime drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni and Glenda Farrell. A newspaper editor is demoted to writing an advice column for refusing to go along with the crowd in declaring a missing lawyer a thief.[1]
Plot
Newspaper editor Brad (Paul Muni) learns that the head of the governor's investigating committee, Frank J. Canfield, has disappeared, along with a large sum of money. He refuses to print the story on the front page of the newspaper, because there is no proof that Frank J. Canfield, a honest and prominent lawyer, fled with the missing funds. When every other newspaper in the city features the story, the newspaper's owner, Graham (Berton Churchill), reprimands Brad for the missing story and fires him. Brad says that his contract does not allow him to be fired, so Graham decides to keep him on the staff as the writer of the lonely hearts column.
Brad is furious, but has no choice but to accepted the position. He also decides to keep an eye on the Frank J. Canfield story. The current writer of the column, Gerry (Glenda Farrell), who herself was demoted to the position by Brad, is delighted by the news. When Gerry accuses him of having no guts because he cannot handle the job, Brad puts his skills to work, and the column becomes very popular.
One day, Rosa Marinello comes to the newspaper's office, looking for Nellie Nelson, Brad's pseudonym for the column. She ask Nellie to intervene on her behalf, because her undertaker father no longer wants her to marry her fiancé. When Brad learns that Canfield was last seen at the same address where Rosa lives, he agrees to go. Brad finds out that gangster Brownell (Robert Barrat) attended a funeral around the time of Canfield's disappearance. Brad later discovers that Canfield was framed and murdered by his rival. Brad advises Brownell to dig up Canfield's body and transfer it to another grave, and gets a photograph of the body and takes it to his newspaper. Brownell is arrested and tried for murder. Canfield is cleared, and Brad is reinstated as the newspaper's editor.
Cast
- Paul Muni as Brad
- Glenda Farrell as Gerry
- Ned Sparks as Shammy
- Robert Barrat as Brownell
- Berton Churchill as Graham
- Kathryn Sergava as Grace
- Hobart Cavanaugh as Fullerton
- Douglass Dumbrille as Dawes
- Edward Ellis as O'Connell
- Paul Kaye as Helwig
- Donald Meek as Durkin
Preservation status
A copy of the film is preserved by the Library of Congress.[2]
References
- ↑ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:..Hi Nellie!
- ↑ Catatlog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artist Collection at The Library of Congress p.79 c.1978 American Film Institute
External links
- Hi Nellie! at the Internet Movie Database
- Hi Nellie! at the TCM Movie Database
- Hi Nellie! at AllMovie