''Affairs of a Gentleman'' is a 1934 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Edwin L. Marin Edwin L. Marin (February 21, 1899 – May 2, 1951) was an American film director who directed 58 films between 1932 and 1951, working with Randolph Scott, Anna May Wong, John Wayne, Peter Lorre, George Raft, Bela Lugosi, Judy Garland, E ...

and written by

Cyril Hume Cyril Hume (March 16, 1900 – March 26, 1966) was an American novelist and screenwriter. Hume was a graduate of Yale University, where he edited campus humor magazine ''The Yale Record''. He was an editor of the collection ''The Yale Record ...

, Peter Ruric and

Milton Krims Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Fre ...

, adapted from the play by

Edith Ellis Edith Mary Oldham Ellis (née Lees; 9 March 1861 – 14 September 1916) was an English writer and women's rights activist. She was married to the early sexologist Havelock Ellis. Biography Ellis was born on 9 March 1861 in Newton, Lancash ...

and

Edward Ellis (actor) Edward Mayne Ellis (November 12, 1870 – July 26, 1952) was an American actor. He is best known for playing the title role in ''The Thin Man'', as well as in ''A Man to Remember''. Early life Ellis was born in Coldwater, Michigan, the sec ...

. The film stars

Paul Lukas Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; 26 May 1894 – 15 August 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance in the film '' Wat ...

Leila Hyams Leila Hyams (May 1, 1905 – December 4, 1977) was an American film and stage actress, model, and vaudevillian, who came from a show business family. Her relatively short film career began in 1924 during the era of silent films and ended in 19 ...

Patricia Ellis Patricia Ellis (born Patricia Gene O'Brien; died March 26, 1970) was an American film actress of the 1930s. Early years Born in Birmingham, Michigan, most likely in 1915 (although she gave her year of birth to the Social Security Administration ...

Phillip Reed Phillip Reed (born Milton LeRoy; March 25, 1908 – December 7, 1996) was an American actor. He played Steve Wilson in a series of four films (1947–1948) based on the '' Big Town'' radio series. Early years Reed was a star athlete at Er ...

Onslow Stevens Onslow Stevens (born Onslow Ford Stevenson; March 29, 1902 – January 5, 1977) was an American stage, television and film actor. Early years Born in Los Angeles, California, Stevens was the son of British-born character actor Houseley St ...

and

Dorothy Burgess Dorothy Burgess (March 4, 1907 – August 20, 1961) was an American stage and motion-picture actress. Family, education Born in Los Angeles in 1907, Burgess was a niece of Fay Bainter. On her father's side, she was related to David C. Montgome ...

. The film was released on May 1, 1934, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Plot

The gentleman of the title is Victor Gresham, a popular novelist. He has loved many women, and has been loved back by many of them. Several of these ladies have left the domestic security provided by their husbands in order to further pursue a relationship with Gresham, despite Gresham's own advise to the contrary. As his lovers compete over him, Gresham uses his love life as inspiration for a series of cynical novels. Each of his novels described the events of one of his love affairs. Early in the film, Gresham is found dead at his own writing desk. The rest of the film explores the events which led to his death, covering the last twelve hours in Gresham's life. Gresham dies in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, while working on his latest novel, called ''Frailty''. There is a note with Gresham's signature nearby, which suggests that the novelist committed suicide. However, Inspector Quillan, who investigates the death, suspects murder to be more likely. Gresham's former lovers are now suspects and six of these women are found to have been present at Gresham's apartment, the night before his death. The circumstances of their presence are soon explained. One of the women, Carlotta Barbe, had organized a surprise party for Gresham. She invited the

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

s of Gresham's novels to attend. Gail Melville attended the party to officially end her relationship with Gresham, before marrying her fiancé. Gladys Durland had been Gresham's lover for two years, and attended the party to explain her plans to finally leave her husband. Foxey Dennison is also married, but still wanted to have an affair with Gresham. Nan Fitzerald was the inspiration for Gresham's first novel and wanted to see him again. The sixth woman at the party, Jean Sinclair, was apparently never Gresham's lover. Sinclair is a female illustrator, and her relationship with him was professional. She hoped to illustrate ''Frailty'', once the novel was finished. She arrived at the party with Carter Vaughan, her boyfriend. The events following the party are depicted in flashback. All the guests leave for the night, except for Fitzgerald who is drunk and sleeping. She spends the night at the couch of Gresham's apartment. The following morning, Gresham has yet to decide on an ending for his novel. He discusses the matter with Fletcher, his

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...

, and asks Fletcher to think of an ending. Fitzgerald wakes with a hangover and Gresham instructs her to get some proper sleep in his apartment. He soon discovers that there is a handgun hidden in her purse. Meanwhile, the morning newspaper reports the death of actress Peggy Fanning. Fanning was Gresham's latest lover and the inspiration for ''Frailty''. She had divorced her husband, a fellow actor, in hopes of marrying Gresham. However, Gresham rejected her and had no interest in marrying her. The newspaper reports that Fanning committed suicide in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The flashback continues. Durland visits Gresham to warn him of danger. Her husband has read Gresham's novel about her and recognized his wife in it, due to a "detailed description of her sexual idiosyncrasies". Her husband wants to kill Gresham, and Durland tries to convince Gresham to flee with her to escape his wrath. Gresham rejects her offer and her love. He is no longer interested in her. Gresham is next visited by Barbe, who tries to renew her love affair with him. He rejects her and throws her out of his apartment. The next arrival is Sinclair, eager to show her sketches to Fletcher and get an agreement about the illustration of ''Frailty''. Gresham hires her for the illustration of the novel, though he has another motive for the act. He has fallen in love with Sinclair and hopes to pursue a relationship with her. Lyn Durland, Gladys' husband, arrives and threatens to kill Gresham. Sinclair manages to convince the furious Lyn that Gresham is her own lover, and that they are going to marry. Lyn leaves, and the supposed couple embraces. There is a genuine attraction, but Sinclair does not trust Gresham. She flees the apartment, unwilling to become the topic of his next novel. Fitzgerald witnesses the scene and realizes that Gresham has fallen in love with another woman. She decides to leave him, and leave the United States for good. Gresham does not protest, but offers to purchase her handgun first. He is now the owner of the weapon. Trying to finish the novel, Gresham has the idea to end it with a suicide. He discusses the matter with Fletcher, and the conversation turns into the matter of suicide in general. Fletcher informs his employer about Fanning's suicide in Paris, and accuses Gresham of having killed the woman. Fletcher then has a confession for Gresham. He is not a valet, but an actor. "Fletcher" is the husband which Fanning cheated on and deserted. He entered Gresham's service in order to get close to him and plot his revenge. Following his confession, "Fletcher" kills Gresham. Gresham finally has an ending for his novel. But he is dead and can not write it down.

Cast

as Victor Gresham *

as Gladys Durland *

as Jean Sinclair *

as Carter Vaughn *

as Lyn Durland *

as Nan Fitzgerald *

Lilian Bond Lilian Bond (January 18, 1908 – January 25, 1991) was an English-American actress based in the United States. Life and career Bond was born in London and made her first professional stage appearance at the age of 14 in the pantomime ''Dic ...

as Carlotta Barbe *

Joyce Compton Olivia Joyce Compton (January 27, 1907 – October 13, 1997) was an American actress. Biography Compton was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Henry and Golden Compton. (Despite frequent reports to the contrary, her name was not ...

as Foxey Dennison *

Murray Kinnell Murray Kinnell (24 July 1889 – 11 August 1954) was a British-born American actor, recognized for playing smooth, gentlemanly, although rather shady characters. He appeared in 71 films in the USA between the pre-code era of 1930 and 1937. He wa ...

as Fletcher *Dorothy Libaire as Gail Melville *

Richard Carle Richard Carle (born Charles Nicholas Carleton, July 7, 1871 – June 28, 1941) was an American stage and film actor as well as a playwright and stage director. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1915 and 1941. Carle was born in Som ...

as Paul Q. Bindar *

Sara Haden Sara Haden (born Catherine Haden, November 17, 1898 – September 15, 1981) was an American actress of the 1930s through the 1950s and in television into the mid-1960s. She may be best remembered for appearing as Aunt Milly Forrest in 14 entrie ...

as Frances Bennett * Charles C. Wilson as Inspector Quillan *Marcia Remy as Bindar's Secretary

Production

According to the American Film Institute, the film is an adaptation of the theatrical play ''Women'' (1928), also known as ''Women in His Life''. The play was co-written by Edward Ellis and

. The exterior scenes of

used in this film, were filmed in Fifth Avenue and

Madison Square Madison Square is a town square, public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway at 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The square ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The American Film Institute has noted an error in the copyright records of this film. The records name the director as "Edward" L. Marin. His actual name was

Reception

A 1934 review of the film by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted several perceived flaws in it. Gresham and his female lovers spend much of the film exchanging "leaden-footed dialogue". Lead actor

gives "a tired and listless performance". The story of the film is dull and trivial. The same review considered the film inferior to the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

released alongside it, '' The Glory of the Kill'' (1934). The other film was a negative depiction of

big-game hunting Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for meat, commercially valuable by-products (such as horns/antlers, furs, tusks, bones, body fat/oil, or special organs and contents), trophy/taxidermy, or simply just for recreation ("s ...

, with a would-be sportsman killing wild animals for fun. Due to certain plot elements deemed objectionable by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the film was publicly condemned as "immoral and indecent" in July 1934 by the

National Legion of Decency The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was a Catholic group founded in 1934 by Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content in motion pictu ...

References

External links

* {{Edwin L. Marin 1934 films 1934 drama films Films about adultery in the United States American black-and-white films American drama films 1930s English-language films Films about actors Films about fictional painters Films about murder American films about revenge Films about writers American films based on plays Films directed by Edwin L. Marin Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Cyril Hume Universal Pictures films Films scored by Edward Ward (composer) 1930s American films