Suzy (film)

Suzy

Theatrical release poster
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Produced by Maurice Revnes
Written by Herman Gorman (novel)
Dorothy Parker
Alan Campbell
Horace Jackson
Lenore J. Coffee
Starring Jean Harlow
Franchot Tone
Cary Grant
Music by William Axt
Cinematography Ray June
Edited by George Boemler
Distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Release dates
  • July 20, 1936 (1936-07-20)
Running time
 93 min
Country United States
Language English

Suzy is a 1936 drama film starring Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, and Cary Grant. The film was partially written by Dorothy Parker and directed by George Fitzmaurice, based on a novel by Herman Gorman. The Oscar-nominated theme song, "Did I Remember?", was sung by Virginia Verrill (uncredited).[1]

Plot

In 1914, American showgirl "Suzy" Trent (Jean Harlow) is in London, looking for romance, and meets and marries Irish engineer and inventor Terry Moore (Franchot Tone). The couple stumble on a German plot and her husband is shot by Madame Diane Eyrelle (Benita Hume), a mysterious spy. Fearing she will be implicated in Terry's death, Suzy flees to Paris as World War I begins.

In the cabaret where she works, Suzy meets famed French ace Capt. Andre Charville (Cary Grant) who immediately falls in love with her. Their sudden marriage is not welcomed at first by his aristocratic father, Baron Edward Charville (Lewis Stone) but Suzy cares for him as her husband goes to the front. After he is wounded, Suzy goes to his side but finds Terry, who survived his shooting, is delivering new British fighters to Andre's squadron. She also learns that Andre has been unfaithful, and that German spy Diane Eyrelle has been caring for him. In a confrontation with the spy and her henchman, Andre is killed.

Terry flies his dangerous mission, taking revenge on Eyrelle and the German fighters who had planned to ambush Andre. His crash landing at Eyrelle's chateau ends with Andre's dead body being placed next to his aircraft. At the funeral that follows, even German flyers pay homage and Terry is ordered to see the ace's widow back home to Paris.

Cast

Production

Dorothy Parker was notable as one of the screenwriting team, with much of the early scene's witty dialogue attributed to her. Harlow's cabaret song, Walter Donaldson and Harold Adamson's "Did I Remember (To Tell You I Adored You)" was dubbed by vocalist Virginia Verrill who also had dubbed for her in Reckless (1935). Grant, who replaced Clark Gable as the third lead, also sang a few bars of the song.[2] Other songs included: "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose" and "Under the Bamboo Tree", uncredited but sung by Verrill.[1]

In order to film the aerial sequences, footage was leased from Howard Hughes and one scene was directly lifted from Hell's Angels (1930), which had been Harlow's break-through film.[3] A number of aircraft were prominently seen, including Andre's S.E.5 fighter, German Fokker D.VII and Thomas-Morse S-4 fighters as well as a rare Sikorsky S-29-A airliner filling in as a German Gotha bomber.[4]

Reception

Although Harlow dominates the film, it is not considered one of her finest with a mundane plot and only the Grant and Tone roles being notable.[2] Critic Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times considered it hackneyed, "...it plunges across the screen, creates some mild excitement and careens out again, leaving us with a few esthetic bruises and a feeling that a little fresh air would do no harm." [5]

Accolades

Walter Donaldson (music) and Harold Adamson (lyrics) were nominated in the category, Best Music, Original Song for the song "Did I Remember" at the 1937 Academy Awards.

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 "Did I Remember, Lyrics." International Lyrics Playground. Retrieved: March 30, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Wollstein, Hans J. "Suzy (1936)." AMG Review. Retrieved: March 30, 2011.
  3. ↑ Farmer 1990, p. 84.
  4. ↑ Farmer 1990, pp. 15, 23.
  5. ↑ Nugent, Frank S. "Suzy (1936): 'Suzy' at Capitol Clears Spelvin Mystery." The New York Times, July 25, 1936. Retrieved: March 29, 2011.
Bibliography
  • Farmer, James H. "Howard & Hell's Angels." Air Classics, Volume 26, No. 12, December 1990.
  • Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies." The Making of the Great Aviation Films, General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.
  • Wynne, H. Hugh. The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. ISBN 0-933126-85-9.
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