That Girl from Paris

That Girl from Paris
French poster
Directed byLeigh Jason
Screenplay byJane Murfin
Joseph Fields
Based on
Viennese Charmer
1928 story in Young's Magazine
by W. Carey Wonderly
Produced byPandro S. Berman
StarringLily Pons
Jack Oakie
Gene Raymond
CinematographyJ. Roy Hunt
Edited byWilliam Morgan
Music byNathaniel Shilkret
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • December 31, 1936 (1936-12-31) (New York City)[1]
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$534,000[2]
Box office$1 million[2]

That Girl from Paris is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Leigh Jason and starring Lily Pons, Jack Oakie, and Gene Raymond.[3] The film made a profit of $101,000.[2] John O. Aalberg was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Sound Recording.[4]

Plot

Nikki Martin, a Parisian opera star, takes off in search of adventure and true-love leaving her arranged husband to be at the altar. While hitchhiking, Nikki meets handsome American musician, Windy McLean and his band, the McLean Wildcats. Windy immediately spites her, but Nikki falls in love with him and follows him to New York by stowing away on the ship his on. The steward finds her hiding in Windy and the Wildcats room. She is locked up by authorities and Windy and the band are fired. When the ship reaches New York, Nikki escapes off the ship and finds out the Wildcats apartment. They demand her to leave, fearing being implicated but she refuses. Clair, Windy girlfriend shows up with Hammacher, and offers the band a low paying job at a roadhouse in another city. Anxious to depart, they accept. Nikki becomes the bands singer. Clair becomes jealous and reports her to the authorities, causing the band to flee again.

Cast

Critical reception

In their March, 1937 edition, Modern Screen gave the film a three-star review mainly on the basis of the performances and commented, "As a comedienne the diminutive star (Lily Pons) comes through in a big way, though responsibility for most of the laughs rests on the shoulders of Jack Oakie. Gene Raymond provides the heart interest and shares blonde honors with Lucille Ball, who is comely and capable in a minor role. Frank Jenks provides some excellent comedy, while Mischa Auer swipes every scene, as usual, when he comes within camera range." The reviewer was less impressed by the storyline and described it as "rather feeble" and concluded that overall "the picture falls short of the mark in several instances."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Frank Nugent (January 1, 1937). "The Screen In Review; That Girl from Paris". The New York Times. The final impudent gesture of the 1936 cinema is RKO Radio's tossing of Lily Pons to a swing band.
  2. 1 2 3 Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56
  3. ↑ Tracie Cooper (2012). "That Girl from Paris". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  4. ↑ "The 9th Academy Awards (1937) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  5. ↑ "That Girl From Paris". Modern Screen. Vol. 14, no. 4. March 1937. p. 131.
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