''Ladies in Love'' (1936) is a

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film based upon the play by Leslie Bush-Fekete. It was directed by

Edward H. Griffith Edward H. Griffith (August 23, 1888 – March 3, 1975)F ...

and stars

Janet Gaynor Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later ...

Constance Bennett Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid ...

and

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

. The film revolves around three roommates (Gaynor, Bennett, and Young) in exotic

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and their comical romantic adventures. Gaynor, Bennett, and Young were billed above the title, with Gaynor receiving top billing. The movie also featured

Simone Simon Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1910 or 1911 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931. Early life Born in Marseille, France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Clair Simon, a French J ...

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...

Paul Lukas Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; 26 May 1894 – 15 August 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance in the film ''Watc ...

, and

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include '' Jesse James'', ...

. Supporting player

co-starred with

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

the following year in '' Seventh Heaven'', a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the 1927 film of the same name, playing one of

's greatest roles from the silent era.

and

made such an impact in this movie that they were quickly paired by the

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

in several more films, including '' Love Is News'' (1937), ''

Cafe Metropole ''Cafe Metropole'' is a 1937 American romantic comedy film directed by Edward H. Griffith, released by 20th Century Fox and starring Loretta Young, Tyrone Power and Adolphe Menjou. Plot In Paris in 1937, Victor Lobard owns the very exclusive C ...

'' (1937), '' Second Honeymoon'' (1937), and ''

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

'' (1938).

is generally acknowledged by critics as having the best role in the film, but her career went into a steep decline within a few years. Top-billed

elected to leave films a couple of years later while still at her height, shortly after '' A Star Is Born'' and ''

The Young in Heart ''The Young in Heart'' is a 1938 American comedy film produced by David O. Selznick, directed by Richard Wallace (director), Richard Wallace, and starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Paulette Goddard. The supporting cast features Rol ...

'', in order to travel with her husband, Hollywood costume designer

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

Plot

Three women move in together in

: Martha, a necktie salesperson and part time bunny-feeder for Dr. Rudi Imre; Yoli, a callous denier of love; and Susie, a dancer and hopeless romantic. Martha suggests they perform a ritual she heard about in which they count the corners of a room, sit down, and make a wish. The women each wish for different things. Susie wishes to "be independent of men", Yoli for "a rich husband", and Martha for "a good home, a man, and maybe children." Two men visit the women’s new place. Yoli’s love interest, John Barta, and Susie’s love interest, Karl Lanyi. Susie falls head over heels for the man she just met and Yoli pretends to have no feelings toward the man she already knows. Susie confesses her love to him shortly thereafter and runs away before he can respond. Then Susie has to perform a dance before a magic show. Martha asks Susie to introduce her to the magician, Sandor, in hopes she can sell some of her ties to him. The magician dismisses her, saying she must wait until after the show to get an autograph. Susie performs and then the magician goes on stage and asks for a volunteer. He spots Martha in the crowd and invites her up. She brings along her case of neckties to keep it safe. The magician plays many disappearing tricks on her case and some of the ties. Then, he pays her for the ties, only to magically take the money back from her. Later, the magician is struggling with his shirt and calling out for an assistant whom he fired. Martha is there to help, and she suggests she take over as his new assistant. However, things do not work out because the magician wrongfully assumes Martha is in love with him and kisses her. She quits and runs away. Yoli’s man, whom she claims to not love, falls in love with a very young woman, Marie. He could not love Yoli because he does not believe her when she tells him she loves him because she had pretended to be callous for so long. Susie is eventually rejected by the man she loves and learns he is marrying another woman. One night she gets drunk and decides to end her misery by poisoning herself. Martha accidentally drinks the poison. The women call the doctor Martha was feeding bunnies for/kind of dating, and they are able to save her. Martha and the doctor end up together. The women move on with their lives and out of the apartment.

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 Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

wrote, "Love and Love alone is the theme of the Ladislaus Bus-Fekete play on which Twentieth Century has based its picture, and love and love again is the dimpled puppet-master controlling the destinies of the film's four (4) leading ladies...Edward direction has been smooth and the entire production has a satiny texture. It is still a woman's film" According to the ''

Chicago Daily Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are ...

'' review, "The feminine element are glamorously portrayed by their four capable delineators. Loretta Young and Simone Simon ring true. Janet Gaynor does at times. Constance Bennett is believable in her snooty moments, but quite the reverse when she essays sincerity"

Cast

as Martha Kerenye *

as Yoli Haydn *

as Susie Schmidt *

as Marie Armand *

as Rudi Imre *

as John Barta *

as Karl Lanyi *

Alan Mowbray Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. Early life Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in W ...

as Paul Sandor * Wilfrid Lawson as Ben Horvath *

J. Edward Bromberg Joseph Edward Bromberg (born Josef Bromberger, December 25, 1903 – December 6, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American character actor in motion picture and stage productions dating mostly from the 1930s and 1940s. Knowledge of his past as a membe ...

as Franz Brenner *

Virginia Field Virginia Field (born Margaret Cynthia Field; 4 November 1917 – 2 January 1992) was a British-born film actress. Early years An only child, born in London, her father was Sir John Field. He was the judge of Leicester County Court Circuit. H ...

as Helena Grabitz

References

External links

* * {{Edward H. Griffith 1936 films 1936 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films 1930s English-language films Films set in Budapest Films scored by Louis Silvers 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Edward H. Griffith 1930s American films