''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 (

) is fed up with the reckless behavior of spoiled heiress Kay Elliott (

) – 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

), 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

as Katherine Constance "Kay" Elliott *

as Alan Joseph Ward *

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