''He Knew Women'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, 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 censorshi ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Hugh Herbert Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Career Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell Univers ...

, from a screenplay by him and William B. Jutte, which was adapted from S. N. Behrman's 1927 play ''The Second Man''. It starred

Lowell Sherman Lowell J. Sherman (October 11, 1888 – December 28, 1934) was an American actor and film director. In an unusual practice for the time, he served as both actor and director on several films in the early 1930s. He later turned exclusively to d ...

and

Alice Joyce Alice Joyce Brown ( Joyce; October 1, 1890 – October 9, 1955) was an American actress who appeared in more than 200 films during the 1910s and 1920s. She is known for her roles in the 1923 film '' The Green Goddess'' and its 1930 remake of ...

, in her second to last film role. The film broke even.

Plot

Geoffrey Clarke is a poor poet, who has his eyes on the fortune of a rich widow, Alice Frayne, in order to keep him in the lifestyle he feels he deserves. Geoffrey is pursued, however, by the young and lovely, yet poor, Monica Grey. Monica, in turn, is pursued by the chemist, Austin Lowe. When Geoffrey tells Monica that she would be better off with Austin, she is disdainful of the suggestion. Undaunted, he sets the two of them up to have dinner at Geoffrey's apartment. During the dinner, Monica is completely unimpressed with Austin, but when she discovers that Alice has been financially supporting Geoffrey, out of spite she agrees to marry Austin. Regretting her decision, later, when she learns that Alice intends to marry Geoffrey, Monica becomes desperate and falsely accuses Geoffrey in front of the others of having ruined her. This causes Alice to break off her engagement with Geoffrey. However, it has a drastic effect on Austin, who gets a pistol and takes a very poorly aimed shot at Geoffrey. Standing up for her honor causes Monica to re-evaluate her feelings for Austin, and she agrees, this time for real, to marry him. When the falsity of Monica's claim is revealed, Geoffrey and Alice reconcile as well.

Cast

as Geoffrey Clarke *

as Alice Frayne *

David Manners David Joseph Manners (born Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom; April 30, 1900 – December 23, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor who plays John Harker in Tod Browning's 1931 horror classic '' Dracula'', which stars Bela Lugosi in the title role.Pac ...

as Austin Lowe *

Frances Dade Frances Pemberton Dade (February 14, 1907 – January 21, 1968) was an American film and stage actress of the late 1920s and 1930s. Family Dade was born in 1907 to Frances Rawle Pemberton and Francis Cadwallader Dade, Jr. in Philadelphia, Penn ...

as Monica Grey (cast list as per the AFI database)

Reception

Variety gave the film a positive review, complimenting the direction of Herbert, as well as the acting of Sherman and Dade, and saying of the overall production: "This is virtually a four-character picture and as near a play transcription for the screen as has been done. Despite all that and the four walls set up around the action, it holds the interest reasonably well, providing a few outstanding kicks."

Notes

S. N. Behrman's play, ''The Second Man'', on which this screenplay is based, played from April through September in 1927 at The Guild Theater. It starred

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and We ...

and her husband,

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End thea ...

, the Tony Award-winning Lunt and Fontanne duo. A copy of this film is kept at the Library of Congress.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0020953 American romantic comedy films American films based on plays 1930 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films 1930 films 1930s American films