Hot Saturday (1932)

Hot Saturday (1932)


Plot Summary

 Bank employee Ruth Brock (Nancy Carroll) has a reputation around town for being fast-and-easy but none of the panting suitors has made her yet. She disillusions them one after the other, but the Connie (Edward Woods) is a bad sport and starts a gossip scandal, among the hens and roosters, about her and millionaire playboy Romer Sheffield (Cary Grant) which causes Ruth to lose her job. Meanwhile old sweetheart Bill Faddon (Randolph Scott) arrives and town and she quickly tries to marry him but things don't go as planned.

Ah, gossip!

Yes this movie is pretty dated but the premise of gossip ruining one's reputation is a universal and timeless concept and it's played to great effect in this very good, though a bit too overwrought melodrama. This is also a case of a film where the two leads are going in opposite directions as Mary Carroll career as a star was on the wane while Cary Grant's star was on the rise. The rest of the cast was pretty solid and it was nice to see the ever present Jane Darwell as Carroll's mother. Now when I say the cast was solid I mean for the times the movie was made in. The acting was very theatrical by the younger actors while the older actors were more naturalistic as well as Cary Grant. Carroll and others seemed a bit stilted especially Carroll who came off as very stagey which is probably why her star was on the decline as more and more the movies were moving toward a more easygoing acting philosophy.

Notice I didn't mention Randolph Scott in the list of those with a more natural style because strangely his 3 big scenes varied greatly.  His first scene when he sees Carroll again for the first time he's talking in a country bumpkin/hick style. His 2nd scene sees him being more stilted and his last scene he's more in line with how he would speak throughout his acting career. It was very interesting seeing Scott in this as he was young and had longer hair than usual which made him look younger. He didn't really have much to do really as this was clearly Carroll and Grant's show.

Cary Grant was AWESOME in this movie as he played a cad but there was a goodness in him that belied some of his bad qualities. He's duplicitous in his actions as he invites the younger townsfolk to his estate for a "wet saturday" of drinking and partying but in reality it was a cover to woo Carroll. Even so, as he makes his advances on Carroll she rebuffs him physically and he acts like a gentleman. This is in sharp contrast to Connie who took her to the party and was ostensibly her date. Later on in the night when the gang goes to the Willow Springs lake club to party some more he takes Carroll for a boat ride and tries to get some action to which she rebuffs and actually ditches him for not listening to her protestations. Anyways, back to Grant, he had a cavalier and easygoing personality to him in this movie and yes, he was a cad but as I mentioned above while his personal ethics may not be the greatest he at least respects people enough not to offend them. Hell, when the party at his place breaks up and he catches one of the gang pouring liquor in a 4 quart liquor flask he actually gives the guy two more bottles to take with him! So he wasn't all bad.

Connie takes exception to this and one of the jealous girls sees Carroll go home in Grant's chauffeured car which begins the rumor(s) and the downfall of Carroll as a respectable person in the town to the point that her mother nearly disowns her in a scene that's pretty difficult to watch because I can't imagine a mother being so invested in her standing in society to not even listen to her daughter's explanation of everything.

I only wish this was a Barbara Stanwyck film as she was great at portraying offended/scorned women and yes she did make movies like this in her career but the frankness of the proceedings herein packed a harder punch than code era films did.

So this was a solid little movie but again I thought it was a bit overwrought with all the melodrama. It just seemed a bit heavy handed. That being said I enjoyed it enough and seeing Carroll's face as she decides her fate near the end of the movie is something to see what with the mix of determination, fear and uncertainty expressed by her without saying a word.

** 1/2 stars great to see a young and fresh Cary Grant just as he was about to become a huge star.