''Lady Behave!'' is a 1938 American film directed by

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

. The sophisticated comedy was released by Republic Pictures.

Plot

Prior to leaving for Haiti, two sisters and their godfather/legal advisor are having a holiday in New Orleans. The fun loving Clarice goes out for a night on the town for Mardi Gras, as sensible conservative Paula and godfather Burton Williams remain home and prepare for their journey. Clarice comes back drunk in the morning. Before she passes out, she reveals she married the equally drunk wealthy playboy Stephen Cormack during the night. Clarice has forgotten that she is already married to

gigolo A gigolo () is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship, often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call. The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifes ...

Michael Andrews. Cormack's solicitor shows up and mistakes Paula for Clarice. Used to Cormack's matrimonial antics, he offers Paula $5000 to divorce Cormack. Burton and Paula confer on the matter and discover that Clarice faces a minimum of ten years in prison for

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

if the marriage is revealed. Paula has to impersonate Clarice until Burton can have the marriage of Clarice and Michael

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

. Burton and Paula travel to New York City, where Cormack, his two children, and Michael live. Burton hatches a plan with Michael for him to portray a lover of Paula posing as Clarice to anger Cormack. The scheming Michael demands payment for his efforts, then on meeting Cormack's spoiled two children who wish to break up their father's marriage, tells them he will break up the marriage if they pay him $30,000, with $15,000 up front. Skilled in financial matters, Paula is able to acquire the $15,000 the children want without asking what the amount is for. Over time, Paula keeps her virtue and the secret of her real identity intact, but Cormack's children begin to like her and want her to be their mother. Cormack gets into a brawl with Michael over Paula, posing as Clarice. However, the real Clarice arrives back with the news that her marriage with Michael is annulled. Clarice sues Cormack and asks for a divorce, thus leaving Cormack and Paula to be together.

Cast

Sally Eilers Dorothea Sally Eilers (December 11, 1908 – January 5, 1978) was an American actress. Early life Eilers was born in New York City to a Jewish-American mother, Paula (or Pauline) Schoenberger, and a German-American father, Hio Peter Eilers ( ...

as Paula Kendall * Neil Hamilton as Stephen Cormack *

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for ...

as Michael Andrews * Grant Mitchell as Burton Williams *

Patricia Farr Patricia Farr (born Arleine Rutledge Farr; January 15, 1913 – February 23, 1948) was an American film actress who appeared in films of the 1930s and 1940s. Despite being billed as leading lady in at least one (''Lady Luck'') of the films in w ...

as Clarice Kendall Andrews Cormack *

Marcia Mae Jones Marcia Mae Jones (August 1, 1924 – September 2, 2007) was an American film and television actress whose prolific career spanned 57 years. Early years Jones was the youngest of four children born to actress Freda Jones. All three of her ...

as Patricia Cormack *

George Ernest George Ernest (born George Ruud Hjorth; November 20, 1921 – June 25, 2009) was an American actor and Office of Strategic Services (OSS) combat photographer/cameraman during World War II. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1930 a ...

as Hank Cormack *

Warren Hymer Edgar Warren Hymer (February 25, 1906 – March 25, 1948) was an American theatre and film actor. Early life He was born in New York City. His father, John Bard Hymer (1875/1876 – 1953) was a playwright (with nine Broadway plays to ...

as Butch *

Robert Greig Robert Greig (December 27, 1879 – June 27, 1958) was an Australian-American actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1930 and 1949, usually as the dutiful butler. Born Arthur Alfred Bede Greig, he was the nephew of Australian pol ...

as Alfred * Charles Richman as Howell *

Spencer Charters Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles. Biography Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until ...

as Innkeeper * Mary Gordon as Cook

Production

The film began with the title ''The Lady Misbehaves'' but Production Code Administration (PCA) director

Joseph Breen Joseph Ignatius Breen (October 14, 1888 – December 5, 1965) was an American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America who applied the Hays Code to film production.Staff report (December 8, 1965). Joseph I ...

strongly disapproved of the film's premise of "dealing with so serious a subject as a bigamous marriage, where the treatment is set for comedy." The

Hays Office The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

told Republic Pictures that in these times ladies do not misbehave; the dropping of "mis" would still give the desired undesirable impression.p. 8 ''The Daily News'' (Perth, WA) Wednesday 2 February 1938 The PCA approved the film when several changes were made to the script and the title was changed.

References

External links

* * {{Internet Archive film, lady_behave 1938 films 1938 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films Films directed by Lloyd Corrigan 1930s English-language films 1930s American films