''Beauty for Sale'' is a 1933 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 ...

film about the romantic entanglements of three

beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Massage for the body is a ...

employees. Based on the 1933 novel ''Beauty'' by

Faith Baldwin Faith Baldwin (October 1, 1893 – March 18, 1978) was an American writer of romance novels and other forms of fiction,

, it stars

Madge Evans Madge Evans (born Margherita Evans; July 1, 1909 – April 26, 1981) was an American stage and film actress.Obituary ''Variety'', April 29, 1981. She began her career as a child performer and model. Biography Child model and stage actress B ...

Alice Brady Alice Brady (born Mary Rose Brady; November 2, 1892 – October 28, 1939) was an American actress who began her career in the silent film era and survived the transition into talkies. She worked until six months before her death from cancer in ...

Otto Kruger Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor, originally a Broadway matinee idol, who established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as Hitchcock's ''Saboteur''. He also appeared in CBS's ''Perry Mason'' a ...

and

Una Merkel Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...

Plot

Small town woman Letty Lawson (

) moves to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and lives in a boarding house run by Mrs. Merrick (

May Robson Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19t ...

). Eventually she asks her friend and Mrs. Merrick's daughter, Carol (

), to get her a job at her workplace, an exclusive

owned by Madame Sonia Barton (

Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...

). Though both Carol and her brother Bill (

Edward J. Nugent Edward James Nugent (February 7, 1904 – January 3, 1995) was an American film and stage actor. Biography Born in 1904 in New York City, Nugent appeared in more than 80 films between 1928 and 1937. He subsequently had a second acting career ...

), who is in love with her, warn her that it is not a fit place for a young woman of good character, Letty insists she knows what she is getting into. After proving herself, Letty is sent on a house call to attend to spoiled, scatterbrained, chatty Mrs. Sherwood (

). When she leaves, she discovers her hat has been chewed up by Mrs. Sherwood's

Pekingese The Pekingese (also spelled Pekinese) is a breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by royalty of the Chinese Imperial court as a companion dog, and its name refers to the city of Peking (Beijing) where the Forbidden City i ...

. Lawyer Mr. Sherwood (

) returns home and is quite fond of Letty and offers her to go and buy her an expensive replacement. By chance, she meets him again when they both seek shelter from a rainstorm in the same place. Sherwood is delighted when a fear of lightning makes Letty reflexively seek the comfort of his arms several times. They start seeing each other, though nothing very improper occurs. Meanwhile, Carol has a rich, older, indulgent boyfriend, Freddy Gordon (

Charley Grapewin Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville and circus performer, a writer, and a stage and film actor. He worked in over 100 motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, most notably port ...

), while Jane (

Florine McKinney Florine McKinney (December 13, 1909 – July 28, 1975) was an American actress. McKinney was the daughter of a druggist in Fort Worth, Texas. She gained early acting experience in Little Theatre productions and plays at Central High School in ...

), another salon employee, is secretly seeing Burt (

Phillips Holmes Phillips Raymond Holmes (July 22, 1907 – August 12, 1942) was an American actor. For his contributions to the film industry, he was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Early life, education and career Born in ...

), Madame Sonia's mining engineer son. Finally, Sherwood asks Letty to take the next step in their relationship. She asks for a week to think it over. Carol convinces Freddy to take her along on his business trip to Paris. While seeing her off aboard the ocean liner, Letty runs into the Bartons. When Letty later mentions that Burt is leaving on the same ship as Carol, Jane becomes very upset. It turns out that Burt had promised to marry her the next day after she told him she was pregnant. Though Letty tries to comfort her, late that night Jane leaps from her window to her death. Influenced by the examples of both Jane and Carol (after her first and only love turned out to be a married man who eventually went back to his wife, she became calculating and cynical), Letty turns Sherwood down. Then, she reluctantly agrees to marry Bill. Specifically requested by Mrs. Sherwood, Letty is forced by Madame Sonia to go to her home. When her client notices her engagement ring, she reveals that she is getting married soon. Mr. Sherwood coolly congratulates her. However, on the wedding day, she cannot go through with it. The next day, Mrs. Sherwood asks her husband for a divorce so she can marry Robert Abbott ( John Roche), the architect of the new country mansion she had commissioned. She tells him that she will ask for no

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial sup ...

, as she is independently wealthy. Sherwood is furious, as it is after Letty's supposed wedding, but is quite willing to let his wife go. Carol, having finally gotten Freddy to propose, goes house hunting. The real estate agent takes them to see the Sherwood mansion. When he reveals that it is being sold because the couple are divorcing, Letty rushes over to the real estate office to stop the sale and be reunited with her love.

Cast (in order of appearance)

as Bill Merrick *

as Mrs. Merrick *

Louise Carter Louise Carter (born Betty-Lee Carter; March 17, 1875 – November 10, 1957) was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1924 and 1940, mostly in maternal supporting roles. Among her roles were the mother of Paul Muni i ...

as Mrs. Lawson *

as Letty Lawson *

as Carol Merrick *

Isabel Jewell Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were '' Ceiling Zero'', ''Marked Woman'', ''A Tale of Two Cities (1935 film), A Tale ...

as Hortense, the salon manager *

Florence Auer Florence Auer (March 3, 1880 – May 14, 1962) was an American theater and motion picture actress whose career spanned more than five decades. Life and career Born in Albany, New York, Auer began her career on East Coast stages at the turn ...

as Mrs. Milsner (uncredited) *

as Jane * Maidel Turner as Mrs. Gillespie, a Customer (uncredited) *

Lillian Harmer Lillian Harmer (September 8, 1883 – May 14, 1946) was an American character actress. Biography Born in Philadelphia in 1883, Harmer had a brief film career during the 1930s. During her short career she would appear in over 60 films, mos ...

as Customer in Curling Machine (uncredited) *

Claire Du Brey Claire Du Brey (born Clara Violet Dubreyvich, August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films between 1916 and 1959. Her name is sometimes rendered as Claire Du Bray or as Claire Dubrey. Ear ...

as Wife (uncredited) *

as Madame Sonia Barton *

as Burt Barton *

as Mrs. Henrietta Sherwood *

as Mr. Sherwood *

as Freddy Gordon (as Charles Grapewin) * John Roche as Robert Abbott, the architect further: *

Symona Boniface Symona Ferner Boniface (March 5, 1894 – September 2, 1950) was an American film actress, most frequently seen in bit parts in comedy shorts, mostly at Columbia Pictures, particularly those of '' The Three Stooges''. She appeared in 120 fi ...

as Mrs. Fletcher (uncredited) *

Elise Cavanna Elise Alyse Cavanna (January 30, 1902 – May 12, 1963) was an American film actress, stage comedian, dancer, and fine artist. She went by the following names: Elise Seeds, Alyse Seeds, Elise Armitage, Elise Cavanna, and Elise Welton. Stage an ...

as Hat Saleslady (uncredited) *

Nell Craig Nell Craig (June 13, 1891 – January 5, 1965) was an American actress. Partial filmography * '' The Triflers'' (1920) * ''The Desperate Hero'' (1920) * ''Passion's Playground'' (1920) * ''Her First Elopement'' (1920) * ''The Queen of Sheba'' ...

as Miss Farrell, Sherwood's Secretary (uncredited) *

Catherine Doucet Catherine Doucet (born Catherine Green; June 20, 1875 – June 24, 1958) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1915 and 1954. Her film debut came in ''As Husbands Go''. Doucet's work on Broadway began with ''B ...

as Mrs. Gardner (uncredited)

Reception

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 ...

'' critic Frank Nugent had a mixed reaction, calling ''Beauty for Sale'' "a strange composite of good and bad." "The story is reminiscent of so many others", but "the cast works miracles and Richard Boleslavsky, the director, has displayed considerable acumen" so that "at times, therefore, one is happily deluded into the feeling that the picture has freshness and a certain originality."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beauty For Sale 1933 films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films directed by Ryszard Bolesławski 1933 romantic drama films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films American romantic drama films Films based on works by Faith Baldwin 1930s American films