''She Had to Choose'' is a 1934 American

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 ...

crime drama film directed by

Ralph Ceder Ralph Carl Ceder (February 2, 1897 – November 29, 1951)"California, Death Index, 1940-1997," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPZK-W5H : accessed 24 Nov 2014), Ralph Carl Ceder, 29 Nov 1951; Department of Public H ...

and starring Buster Crabbe, Isabel Jewell and Sally Blane. Distributed by

Majestic Pictures Majestic Pictures was an American film production and distribution company active during the 1930s. Under the control of Larry Darmour the company specialized in low-budget production, and was one of the more stable Poverty Row outfits during the p ...

, it is set 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 ...

during The Depression.

Plot

Sally Bates ( Isabel Jewell) leaves

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, headed for

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, in the 1930s. She is tempted to take a job as a mechanic, with Pop (

Arthur Stone The Artognou stone, sometimes erroneously referred to as the Arthur stone, is an archaeological artefact uncovered in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was discovered in 1998 in securely dated sixth-century contexts among the ruins at Tintagel ...

), on the highway, but presses on in to town. She's going to sleep in her old " Tin Lizzie". But after she saves Bill's neck ( Buster Crabbe) with her old

six-shooter A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

during a botched hold-up, Bill takes her home to live with his mom (

Maidel Turner Maidel Turner (May 12, 1888 – April 12, 1953) was an American movie actress featured in almost 60 films between 1913 and 1951, beginning as the leading lady of ''The Angel of the Slums'' (1913) and becoming a comical character actress as she a ...

), and gives her a job at his drive-in restaurant. Sally's friendly and easy going manner is very popular with the customers, but Bill gets jealous when Jack ( Regis Toomey), the reckless younger brother of his well-to-do girlfriend Clara ( Sally Blane), starts paying Sally attention, following her around in his roadster. Sally is so humiliated when Clara rips off the dress Jack gave her, at a nightclub, she ends up at his hotel room, married to Jack, after an ill-conceived night of drinking. Bill arrives in the morning to confront the drunken Jack and take Sally home, but Jack trips and smashes his head, killing himself. Bill is under investigation for murder of the wealthy socialite.

Cast

* Buster Crabbe as Bill Cutler * Isabel Jewell as Sally Bates * Sally Blane as Clara Berry * Regis Toomey as Jack Berry *

as Mrs. Cutler * Fuzzy Knight as Wally *

as Pop * Edward Gargan as Higgins *

Huntley Gordon Huntley Ashworth Gordon (October 8, 1879 – December 7, 1956) was a Canadian actor who began his career in the Silent Film era. Profile Gordon was born in Montreal, Quebec, educated in both Canada and England. He had various jobs including w ...

as Attorney * Wallis Clark as District Attorney *

Kenneth Howell Kenneth Howell (February 21, 1913 - September 28, 1966) was an American actor. He is best remembered for roles in films such as ''Pardon My Pups'' (1934), '' The Wrong Way Out'' (1938), '' Pride of the Bowery'' (1940) and ''Ball of Fire'' (194 ...

as Announcer *Eddie Fetherston as Hold-Up Man * Max Wagner as Hold-Up Man

References

External links

* * 1934 films 1930s crime comedy-drama films 1930s romantic comedy-drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by Ralph Ceder American romantic comedy-drama films American crime comedy-drama films Majestic Pictures films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Romantic crime films {{1930s-crime-drama-film-stub