''A Girl, a Guy and a Gob'' is a 1941

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

produced by

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

, directed by Richard Wallace and starring

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American actor and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to ...

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

and

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (; September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television, and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on th ...

Plot

Mild-mannered shipping magnate Stephen Herrick meets his new secretary, Dot Duncan. Recognizing Dot from a calamitous encounter the previous evening, he dismisses her, but after she explains the situation, Stephen relents. Dot's beau, wrestler Claudius J. "Coffee Cup" Cup, returns from the Navy. An incident on the street ends in a brawl in which Stephen is knocked unconscious, Coffee Cup takes him to the Duncan house to recover. Stephen awakens to the chaos of the Duncan household and is so delighted by Dot's boisterous family and friends that he accompanies her and Coffee Cup to a dance hall but forgets about his date with his fiancée, the snobbish Cecilia Grange. The next morning, Cecilia is infuriated and bursts into Stephen's office to find Dot, who has just fallen from a stepstool, in Stephen's arms. Cecilia's demands that he fire Dot, but Stephen ignores her. Coffee Cup wins a wrestling match and wants to use his winnings to fund his wedding to Dot. However, Dot's brother Pigeon admits to betting on Coffee Cup's opponent and losing all of their money. Coffee Cup wins a piano at a raffle and plans to pawn it for an engagement ring, but the piano is destroyed by a truck. Coffee Cup's next plan lands him in jail for inciting a riot. Stephen posts his bail and offers to buy his good-luck ring so that Coffee Cup to afford Dot's engagement ring. Stephen's partner Abel Martin encourages him to pursue Dot. However, Stephen concedes Dot to Coffee Cup, who asks him to be his

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

at the wedding. During the wedding rehearsal, Coffee Cup misplaces the ring, and when he leaves the room to search for it, his sailor friends suggest that Dot is marrying the wrong groom. When Dot bursts into tears as Stephen approaches to kiss her good luck, Coffee Cup realizes that his friends were right and sends Stephen to speak to Dot. Coffee Cup flees the chapel on his motorcycle and Stephen pursues him in a cab. The men fight over Dot before the cab speeds them back to the chapel, where Coffee Cup deposits the unconscious Stephen along with a note to Dot explaining that he is reenlisting in the Navy and that Stephen is in love with her.

Cast

as Claudius J. "Coffee Cup" Cup *

as Dorothy "Dot" / "Spindle" Duncan *

as Stephen Herrick *

Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor who specialised in portraying slightly bumbling but amiable and likeable older men. His best known ...

as Abel Martin *

Franklin Pangborn Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Inter ...

as Pet Shop Owner *

George Cleveland Grover "George" Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954. Career Cleveland was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first appearance on ...

as Pokey "Pop" Duncan *

Kathleen Howard Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884 – April 15, 1956) was a Canadian-born American opera singer, magazine editor, and character actress from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. Biography Howard was born in Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Cana ...

as Jawme Duncan * Marguerite Chapman as Cecilia Grange *

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

as Pigeon Duncan *

Mady Correll Mady Correll (1907 – 1981) was a Canadian-American actress. She made her screen debut in Midnight Madonna after years on Broadway theatre and later starred in Monsieur Verdoux. Career Correll acted in various Broadway theatre shows including '' ...

as Cora * Frank McGlynn, Sr. as "Panky" Pankington *

Doodles Weaver Winstead Sheffield "Doodles" Weaver (May 11, 1911 – January 16, 1983) was an American character actor, comedian, and musician. Born into a wealthy West Coast family, Weaver began his career in radio. In the late 1930s, he performed on Rudy Va ...

as Eddie *

Frank Sully Francis Thomas Sullivan (June 17, 1908 – December 17, 1975), known professionally as Frank Sully, was an American film actor. He appeared in over 240 films between 1934 and 1968. Today's audiences know him best as the dumb detective in the '' ...

as Salty *

Nella Walker Nella Walker (March 6, 1886 – March 22, 1971) was an American actress and vaudeville performer of the 1920s through the 1950s. Biography The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Walker, she was born and raised in Chicago. In 1910, she marrie ...

as Mrs. Grange * Richard Lane as Recruiting Officer *

Irving Bacon Irving Ernest Bacon (September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films. Early years Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar West Bacon (who was a teenager) and Myrtle Vane. He was born ...

as Mr. Albert Merney * Rube Demarest as Ivory * Charles Smith as Messenger *

Nora Cecil Nora Cecil (September 26, 1878 – May 1, 1951) was an English-born American actress whose 30-year career spanned both the silent and sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or soun ...

as Chairwoman * Robert McKenzie as Janitor *

Earle Hodgins Earle Hodgins (October 6, 1893 – April 14, 1964) was an American actor. Career Early in his career, Hodgins was active in stock theater, including working in the Ralph Cloninger troupe of Salt Lake City, Utah, the Siegel Stock company of ...

as Sylvester P. Wurple *

Steve Pendleton Steve Pendleton (September 16, 1908 – October 3, 1984) was an American film and television actor. He also went by Gaylord Pendleton as a Broadway performer. He was in more than 220 different films and television episodes. Pendleton appea ...

as Mr. Adams *

George Chandler George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the television ...

as Guy Making Bet * Carol Hughes as Dance Hall Girl

Release

The world premiere of ''A Girl, a Guy and a Gob'' was held at the

Hawaii Theatre The Hawaii Theatre is a theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Built in 1922, it is located at 1130 Bethel Street, between Hotel and Pauahi Streets, on the edge of Chinatown. It is listed on the State and National Register of Histor ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

on March 4, 1941.

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', critic

Theodore Strauss Theodore Strauss (December 27, 1912 – October 30, 2009) was an American writer and filmmaker. Biography Strauss was born in Oklahoma on December 27, 1912."In memoriam". ''Writers Guild of America West Journal''. Vol. 14, Iss. 1. p. 56. He w ...

called ''A Girl, a Guy and a Gob'' "a rib-ticklish little comedy" and wrote: "Maybe the film is a trifle overlong, but most of it is extremely funny. It is full of irrelevant notions. Practically anything can happen—and does. ... The cast is giddy as can be. ... All of them seemed to enjoy their foolish frolic. So did we." John L. Scott of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote: " 's full of laughs. The producer's touch is so apparent throughout the story that one expects him to appear at any moment. ... All the concomitants of the Lloyd sure-fire formula for good, clean humor are utilized, including the chase of motorcycle and taxicab." According to RKO records, the film returned a profit of $49,000.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girl, A Guy, And A Gob 1941 films 1941 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films scored by Roy Webb Films directed by Richard Wallace RKO Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language romantic comedy films Films produced by Harold Lloyd