''Hi, Nellie!'' is a 1934 American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

film directed by

Mervyn LeRoy Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. During the 1930s, he was one of the two great practitioners of economical and effective film directing at Warner Bros., Warner Brothers studios, ...

and starring

Paul Muni Paul Muni (born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor from Chicago. He started his acting career in the Yiddish theater and during the 1930s, he was considered one of ...

and

Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classic Hollywood films. Her career spanned more than 50 years, and she appeared in numerous Broadwa ...

. A newspaper editor is demoted to writing an

advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are w ...

for refusing to go along with the crowd in declaring a missing lawyer to be a thief.

Plot

Newspaper editor Brad learns that Frank J. Canfield, the head of the governor's investigating committee, has disappeared, along with a large sum of money. He refuses to print the story on the front page of the newspaper because there is no proof that Canfield, an honest and prominent lawyer, fled with the missing funds. When every other newspaper in the city features the story, the newspaper's owner Graham reprimands Brad for the missing story and fires him. Brad says that his contract does not allow him to be fired, so Graham decides to make him write the lonely hearts column. Brad is furious, but has no choice but to accept the position. He also decides to keep an eye on the Frank J. Canfield story. Gerry, the current writer of the column, who also was demoted to the position by Brad, is delighted by the news. When Gerry accuses him of having no guts because he cannot handle the job, Brad puts his skills to work, and the column becomes very popular. One day, Rosa Marinello comes to the newspaper's office, looking for Nellie Nelson, Brad's pseudonym for the column. She ask Nellie to intervene on her behalf because her undertaker father no longer wants her to marry her fiancé. When Brad learns that Canfield was last seen at the same address where Rosa lives, he agrees to go. Brad finds out that gangster Brownell attended a funeral around the time of Canfield's disappearance. Brad later discovers that Canfield was framed and murdered by his rival. Brad advises Brownell to dig up Canfield's body and transfer it to another grave, and gets a photograph of the body and takes it to his newspaper. Brownell is arrested and tried for murder. Canfield is cleared, and Brad is reinstated as the newspaper's editor.

Cast

as Brad *

as Gerry *

Ned Sparks Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian character actor of the American stage and screen. He was known for his deadpan expression and comically nasal, monotone delivery. Life and career Spark ...

as Shammy *

Robert Barrat Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor. Early years Barratt was born on July 10, 1891 in New York City, and educated in the public schools there. He left ...

as Brownell *

Berton Churchill Berton Churchill (December 9, 1876 – October 10, 1940) was a Canadian stage and film actor. Early years Churchill was born in Toronto, Ontario. After his family moved to New York City, he graduated from high school there, studied law at nigh ...

as Graham * Katharine Sergava as Grace *

Hobart Cavanaugh Hobart Cavanaugh (September 22, 1886 – April 26, 1950 ) was an American character actor in films and on stage. Biography Cavanaugh was born in Virginia City, Nevada, on September 22, 1886. He attended the University of California, then worked ...

as Fullerton *

Douglass Dumbrille Douglass Rupert Dumbrille (October 13, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s. Life and career Douglass Dumbrille ( ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed ...

as Dawes * Edward Ellis as O'Connell * Paul Kaye as Helwig *

Donald Meek Thomas Donald Meek (14 July 1878 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish-American actor. He first performed publicly at the age of eight and began appearing on Broadway in 1903. Meek appeared in the films '' You Can't Take It with You'' (1938) a ...

as Durkin *

John Qualen John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Early years Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

as Steve (uncredited)

Preservation status

A copy of the film is preserved by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

.''Catatlog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artist Collection at The Library of Congress'' p.79 c.1978 American Film Institute

Other notes

The story on which the screenplay was based, written by Roy Chanslor, was remade into the movie ''

The House Across the Street ''The House Across the Street'' is a 1949 American comedy film directed by Richard L. Bare and written by Russell S. Hughes. The film stars Wayne Morris, Janis Paige, Bruce Bennett, Alan Hale, Sr., James Mitchell and Barbara Bates. The fil ...

'', albeit with a different screenwriter, in 1949.

Box office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $407,000 domestically and $240,000 internationally.

References

External links

* * * {{Mervyn LeRoy 1934 films 1934 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Films about journalists Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy Films set in New York City Warner Bros. films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films scored by Bernhard Kaun Films about missing people English-language crime drama films