''The Naughty Flirt'' is a 1931 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
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 directed by
Edward Cline
Edward Cline (born October 22, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American novelist, essayist and an air force veteran. He is best known for his ''Sparrowhawk'' series of novels, which are set in England and Virginia before the American Rev ...
and starring
Alice White
Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...
,
Paul Page
Paul Page (born November 25, 1945) is an American motorsports broadcaster who is best known for serving as the play-by-play commentator for the Indianapolis 500 for a total of 27 years across radio and television. Page was the radio ''Voice of th ...
and
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
.
Plot
Attorney Alan Ward (
Paul Page
Paul Page (born November 25, 1945) is an American motorsports broadcaster who is best known for serving as the play-by-play commentator for the Indianapolis 500 for a total of 27 years across radio and television. Page was the radio ''Voice of th ...
) is fed up with the reckless behavior of spoiled heiress Kay Elliott (
Alice White
Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...
) – the daughter of the head of his law firm – who is in love with him. Stung by his rejection, she eventually tells him to "Go jump in the lake." Seeing a chance to make up the money they lost in the
stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especia ...
, a fortune-hunting brother and sister, Jack and Linda Gregory (Douglas Gilmore and
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
), get Kay to agree to marry Jack. At the altar, she announces that she still loves Alan, and he comes to his senses and realizes he loves her too.
Cast
*
Alice White
Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...
as Katherine Constance "Kay" Elliott
*
Paul Page
Paul Page (born November 25, 1945) is an American motorsports broadcaster who is best known for serving as the play-by-play commentator for the Indianapolis 500 for a total of 27 years across radio and television. Page was the radio ''Voice of th ...
as Alan Joseph Ward
*
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
as Linda Gregory
*
Robert Agnew
Robert Agnew (June 4, 1899 – November 8, 1983) was an American movie actor who worked mostly in the silent film era, making 65 films in both the silent and sound eras. He was born in Dayton, Kentucky.
A review of ''The Heart of Broadway'' i ...
as Wilbur Fairchild
*
Douglas Gilmore
Douglas Gilmore (June 25, 1903 – July 26, 1950) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and theater productions.
The University of Washington has a photograph of him from 1927.
Filmography
*''His Buddy's Wife'' (1925), his film d ...
as John Thomas "Jack" Gregory
*
George Irving as John Raleigh Elliott
*Sayre Dearing as Kay's Friend (uncredited)
*Geraldine Dvorak as Party Guest (uncredited)
*
Thelma Hill
Thelma Hill (born Thelma Hillerman; December 12, 1906 – May 11, 1938) was an American silent screen comedian and one of the Sennett Bathing Beauties.
Early life
Hill was born Thelma Hillerman on December 12, 1906, in Emporia, Kansas. ...
as Friend (uncredited)
*
Lloyd Ingraham
Lloyd Chauncey Ingraham (November 30, 1874 – April 4, 1956) was an American film actor and director.
Biography
Born in Rochelle, Illinois, Ingraham appeared in more than 280 films between 1912 and 1950, as well as directing more than 100 f ...
as Judge Drake (uncredited)
*
Jane Keckley
Jane Keckley (September 10, 1876 – August 14, 1963) was an American actress of the silent and sound film eras.
Biography
Keckley was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and went to school there and in Georgia.
Before she acted in films, Kec ...
as Office Cleaning Woman (uncredited)
*
Fred Kelsey
Frederick Alvin Kelsey (August 20, 1884 – September 2, 1961) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter.
Kelsey directed one- and two-reel films for Universal Film Manufacturing Company. He appeared in more than 400 films be ...
as Policeman in Paddy Wagon (uncredited)
*
Marian Marsh
Marian Marsh (born Violet Ethelred Krauth; October 17, 1913 – November 9, 2006) was a Trinidad-born American film actress and later an environmentalist.
Early life
Violet Ethelred Krauth was born on October 17, 1913, in Trinidad, British ...
as Kay's Friend (uncredited)
Production
The film features one of Myrna Loy's early roles. Loy was 26 at the time and this was her last Warner Bros. film before moving on to
Sam Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor an ...
, then
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
for a year, finally settling at
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
. Alice White, on the other hand, had already passed the prime of her career, which started in 1927.
Reception
Press reception to the film was not positive, with ''
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 ...
'' writing "It is as difficult to find something to praise as it is to find a needle in a haystack," and ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' echoing that the film "can be reduced to a dumb number falling for a guy that's hard to get and getting him... Four starting points and even more endings."
[Arnold, Jeremy]
"The Naughty Flirt"
on TCM.com
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
Preservation status
''The Naughty Flirt'' is preserved in the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
collection
Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation
The National Audiovisual Conservation Center, also known as the Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, is the Library of Congress's audiovisual archive located inside Mount Pony in Culpeper, Virginia.
Establishment
From 1969 to 1988, th ...
.
[''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', p. 125, c.1978 by the American Film Institute]
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naughty Flirt, The
1931 films
1931 romantic comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American black-and-white films
Warner Bros. films
Films directed by Edward F. Cline
1930s English-language films
1930s American films