''Miss Pacific Fleet'' is a 1935 American

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

Ray Enright Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...

. The film stars

Joan Blondell Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...

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

, and

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 ...

. The film was based on the short story of the same name by

Frederick Hazlitt Brennan Frederick Hazlitt Brennan (September 23, 1901 – June 30, 1962) was an American screenwriter of more than thirty films between 1929 and 1953 and the director of the ABC/Desilu western television series, ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp' ...

in the ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'' magazine. It was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

on December 14, 1935. Two stranded showgirls in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

enter a beauty contest "Miss Pacific Fleet" to win the fare back home to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. This is one of a series of five movies by Warner Bros. through the early 1930s, where Blondell and Farrell were paired as blonde bombshell comedy duo. The other films in the series are ''

Havana Widows ''Havana Widows'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Ray Enright, starring Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell. It was released by Warner Bros. on November 18, 1933. Two chorus girls travel to Havana in search of rich husbands. Th ...

'' (1933), ''

Kansas City Princess ''Kansas City Princess'' is a 1934 American comedy film starring Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell. The film was directed by William Keighley with a script written by Sy Bartlett and Manuel Seff. Warner Bros. sought to duplicate the success of ' ...

'' (1934), ''

Traveling Saleslady ''Traveling Saleslady'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell. It was released by Warner Bros. on March 28, 1935. It is one of five films by Warner Bros. where Farrell and Blondell we ...

'' (1935) and ''

We're in the Money "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" is a song from the 1933 Warner Bros. film ''Gold Diggers of 1933'', sung in the opening sequence by Ginger Rogers and chorus. The entire song is never performed in the 1933 movie, though it introduce ...

'' (1935). Four of the five movies were directed by

. They also co-starred in other Warner Bros. films in ''

Three on a Match ''Three on a Match'' is a 1932 American pre-Code crime drama released by Warner Bros. The film was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and stars Joan Blondell, Warren William, Ann Dvorak and Bette Davis. The film also features Lyle Talbot, Humphrey Boga ...

'' (1932), '' I've Got Your Number'' (1934) and ''

Gold Diggers of 1937 ''Gold Diggers of 1937'' is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, who were married at the time, with Glenda Farrell and Vi ...

'' (1936).

Plot

Gloria Fay (Joan Blondell) and Mae O'Brien (Glenda Farrell) are two former showgirls working in an amusement park. Sailor Kewpie Wiggins (Allen Jenkins) is in love with Gloria, when he wins all their prizes with his skill at tossing rings, he learns that Gloria and Mae are broke. Kewpie suggests that Gloria enters the Miss Pacific Fleet contest to win the cash prize. Kewpie then offers to enter a boxing match in order to win 5000 votes for Gloria. He introduces Gloria and Mae to his friend Sgt.Tom Foster (Warren Hull). Tom and Gloria fall in love. During the boxing match, Kewpie is losing the match until he sees that Gloria and Tom are cuddling together in the audience. Angered, he knocks out his opponent and decides to give his 5000 votes to another contestant Virgie Matthews (Marie Wilson). However, Gloria is still slightly ahead in the contest. Sadie Freytag (Minna Gombell) who is married to August Freytag, the creator of the beauty contest is jealous of Gloria and decides to kidnap her, so the prize will go to someone else instead. When Mae learns of her plans, she alerts Kewpie, who spots the kidnappers putting a woman in a small boat. Kewpie chases them to a ship where he frees the woman who ends up to be Sadie. At the last minute, Tom and Gloria arrive at contest headquarters with enough votes for her to win the contest. Gloria and Mae now have enough money to return home to New York.

Cast

as Gloria Fay *

as Mae O'Brien *

as Mr. J. August Freytag *

Allen Jenkins Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. Life and career Jenkins was born on Staten Island, New York, on April 9, 190 ...

as Bernard 'Kewpie' Wiggins *

Warren Hull John Warren Hull (January 17, 1903 – September 14, 1974), known professionally as Warren Hull, was an American actor, singer and television personality active from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was one of the most popular serial actors in t ...

as Sgt. Tom Foster *

Eddie Acuff Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in ...

as Clarence 'Dut, ch' * Marie Wilson as Virginia 'Vergie' Matthews *

Minna Gombell Minna Marie Gombell (''née'' Gombel; May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress. Early years She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father ...

as Sadie Freytag *

Guinn Williams Guinn Terrell Williams (April 22, 1871 – January 9, 1948) was an American banker and politician. A Democrat, he served in the Texas State Senate, and is most notable for his service in the U.S. representative from Texas. His son was the actor ...

as Nicholas 'Nick'

Release

''Miss Pacific Fleet'' was released in theatres on December 14, 1935.

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

has released a double feature DVD collection of ''Miss Pacific Fleet'' (1935) and ''Traveling Saleslady'' (1935) on April 5, 2012.

Reception

Frank S. Nugent of ''

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 ...

'' writes in his review: "As unimportant as a corkscrew at a W. C. T. U. convention. ''Miss Pacific Fleet'' should not have been impeded in its headlong flight for second place on a double-feature bill. Being placed alone on the Roxy's screen imposes too great a strain upon the picture and the audience, even conceding that the Roxy's faithful are ever anxious to absorb large doses of nautical comedy. This one has a complicated genealogy. The story is credited to Frederick Hazlitt Brennan; the screen play stems from Lucille Newmark and Peter Milne; there is additional dialogue by one Patsy Flick. From these no less than mountainous labors comes a mousey little photoplay about two stranded chorus girls whose only hope of getting their fare back to Broadway is by winning a popularity contest with the votes of the enlisted men of the Pacific Fleet. Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, upon whose comic talents the Warners are placing too much emphasis, are the girls; Allen Jenkins is Kewpie Wiggins, their lobbyist in the fleet; Hugh Herbert is August Freytag, president of the Better Business Bureau sponsoring the contest. There is an allegedly humorous prizefight; there is a kidnapping; there is a comedy chase. What more can one expect of a sub-Class B picture? If the first half of the film is endurable, credit it to Mr. Herbert. If the second half is a bore, debit the Warners' recourse to the Old Familiars of Picture-Making. What ''Miss Pacific Fleet'' needs is rearmament in all departments.

References

External links

* * {{Ray Enright 1935 films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Ray Enright Films set in California Warner Bros. films 1935 romantic comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films