''Free, Blonde and 21'' is a 1940 American

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Ricardo Cortez Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career. Early years Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...

and written by Frances Hyland. The film stars

Lynn Bari Lynn Bari (born Marjorie Schuyler Fisher, December 18, 1919 – November 20, 1989) was an American film actress who specialized in playing sultry, statuesque man-killers in roughly 150 films for 20th Century Fox, from the early 1930s through t ...

, Mary Beth Hughes,

Joan Davis Josephine "Joan" Davis (June 29, 1912 – May 23, 1961) was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy '' I Married Joan'', Davis had a successful ea ...

Henry Wilcoxon Henry Wilcoxon (born Harry Frederick Wilcoxon; 8 September 1905 – 6 March 1984) was a British-American actor and film producer, born in the British West Indies. He was known as an actor in many of director Cecil B. DeMille's films, also ser ...

, Robert Lowery, Alan Baxter and

Kay Aldridge Katharine ("Kay") Gratten Aldridge (July 9, 1917 – January 12, 1995) was an American actress and model, best known for playing feisty and imperiled heroines in black-and-white serials during the 1940s. Life and work Aldridge was born on July ...

. The film was released on March 29, 1940, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

Plot

Gerry Daly and Carol Northrup are residents of a New York City hotel for women. Gerry fakes a suicide out of anger for her married lover spurning her. At the hospital, administrator Dr. Hugh Mayberry takes a liking to Carol, while young surgeon Dr. Steve Greig falls for Gerry. Carol and Hugh hit it off and end up marrying. Gerry, however, two-times Steve with a thief, Mickey Ryan, who robs and murders a tavern owner and is wounded in the process. Gerry pleads with Steve to operate on Mickey, who dies anyway. After police suspicions point them toward Hugh as an accomplice, Steve confesses that he was the doctor in question. He doesn't inform on Gerry, but the cops trick her into an admission of guilt and take her away.

Cast

as Carol Northrup * Mary Beth Hughes as Gerry Daly *

as Nellie *

as Dr. Hugh Mayberry * Robert Lowery as Dr. Stephen Greig * Alan Baxter as Mickey Ryan *

as Adelaide Sinclair *Helen Ericson as Amy McCall *

Chick Chandler Fehmer Christy "Chick" Chandler (January 18, 1905 – September 30, 1988) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 130 films from 1925 through the mid-1950s. Chandler was known for his starring role as Toubo Smith in ...

as Gus * Joan Valerie as Vickie * Elyse Knox as Marjorie * Dorothy Dearing as Linda * Herbert Rawlinson as John Crane * Kay Linaker as Mrs. John Crane * Thomas E. Jackson as Inspector Saunders *Richard Lane as Lieutenant Lake * Frank Coghlan Jr. as Sammy *Jerry Fletcher as Hotel clerk *Edward Cooper as Butler

References

External links

* 1940 films 20th Century Fox films American drama films 1940 drama films American black-and-white films Films scored by Samuel Kaylin Films directed by Ricardo Cortez 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language drama films {{1940s-US-drama-film-stub