''Personal Maid's Secret'' 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

Arthur Greville Collins Arthur Greville Collins (September 5, 1896 - September 1, 1980) was a British-born film director. Career Collins was born in London, and began directing for the stage, including productions of ''Fata Morgana'', ''No Man's Land'', and ''Tarnish'' ...

and written by

Lillie Hayward Lillie Hayward (born Lillian Olenda Auen, September 12, 1891 – June 29, 1977) was an American screenwriter whose Hollywood career began during the silent film, silent era and continued well into the television, age of television. She wrot ...

and

F. Hugh Herbert Frederick Hugh Herbert (May 29, 1897 - May 17, 1958) was a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, short story writer, and infrequent film director. Biography Born in Vienna, Austria, Herbert was educated at the University of London. He emigrated in ...

. The film stars

Margaret Lindsay Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies; September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was noted for her supporting work in successf ...

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 ...

Anita Louise Anita Louise (born Anita Louise Fremault; January 9, 1915 – April 25, 1970) was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1935), ''The Story of Louis Pasteur'' (1935), ''Anthony ...

, Ruth Donnelly, Arthur Treacher and Frank Albertson. The film 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 October 26, 1935. A print is held by the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', p. 140, The American Film Institute

Plot

Lizzie, a longtime servant of an upperclass Park Avenue family, quits because she has not been paid for months. At an employment agency, she encounters Joan Smith and her young son. Joan is looking for a maid. Lizzie takes a liking to Joan and her child Bobby and negotiates a salary that is higher than what Joan was hoping to pay, but much lower than what she was getting before. Joan's husband, struggling insurance salesman Jimmy, is initially appalled at Lizzie's salary, but Joan gets him to reconsider. Lizzie repeatedly persuades Joan to upgrade her family's lifestyle so they can mingle with the elite and Jimmy can make valuable business contacts. Joan then talks her husband into paying for it all, despite his strong reservations. It works. Jimmy is able to sell large policies to his new acquaintances. Meanwhile, Joan's inventor brother, Kent Fletcher, meets and falls in love with Diana Abercrombie, newly returned from a European finishing school. She, however, is infatuated with married womanizer Warren Sherrill, though she does like Kent. When Lizzie finds Diana and Warren together late one night, she tries to separate them. When that fails, she insists on speaking to Diana alone. She then reveals that she is Diana's mother. She secretly married Diana's father the day before he left for World War I. When he was killed, Lizzie agreed to let his wealthy parents raise Diana as their own, as she, then their upstairs maid, could not provide what they could. At first, Diana is hostile to Lizzie, but as time goes on, she comes to love her mother, breaks up with Warren and warms to Kent. Meanwhile, Lizzie finds love again, with Owen, the former butler of her former employer.

Cast

as Joan *

as Jimmy *

as Diana * Ruth Donnelly as Lizzie * Arthur Treacher as Owen * Frank Albertson as Kent Fletcher *

Henry O'Neill Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years He was born in Orange, New Jersey. Career ...

as Mr. Wilton Palmer *Ronnie Cosby as Bobby Smith *

Wild Bill Elliott Wild Bill Elliott (born Gordon Nance, October 16, 1904 – November 26, 1965) was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B Westerns, particularly the Red Ryder series of films. Early life Elliott was born Gor ...

as Warren Sherrill *

Claude King Claude King (February 5, 1923 – March 7, 2013) was an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for his million selling 1962 hit, "Wolverton Mountain". Biography King was born in Keithville in southern Caddo Parish south ...

as Mr. Abercrombie * Etta McDaniel as Maid

References

External links

* * * {{allmovie, 105947, synopsis 1935 films 1935 comedy films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by F. Hugh Herbert Warner Bros. films Films directed by Arthur Greville Collins 1930s English-language films 1930s American films