''The Perfect Snob'' is a 1941 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 McCarey Raymond Benedict McCarey (September 6, 1904 – December 1, 1948) was an American film director, brother of director Leo McCarey. Biography McCarey began working at Hal Roach Studios, where he did work on short films with Our Gang and L ...

and written by Lee Loeb and Harold Buchman. The film stars

Charlie Ruggles Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...

Charlotte Greenwood Frances Charlotte Greenwood (June 25, 1890 – December 28, 1977) was an American actress and dancer. Born in Philadelphia, Greenwood started in vaudeville, and starred on Broadway, movies and radio. Standing almost six feet tall (some sour ...

Lynn Bari Lynn Bari (born Marjorie Schuyler Fisher, December 18, 1919 – November 20, 1989) was a film actress who specialized in playing sultry, statuesque man-killers in roughly 150 films for 20th Century Fox, from the early 1930s through the 1940s. ...

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

and

Alan Mowbray Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. Early life Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in W ...

. The film was released on December 19, 1941, by

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 ...

Plot

Small town veterinarian Edgar Mason (Charles Ruggles) discovers from a news-reporter that his just-graduated daughter, Chris (Lynn Bari), is set to marry much older and wealthy Freddie Browning (Alan Mowbray) under the guidance of his gold-digging wife, Martha (Charlotte Greenwood). Mason, disapproving of Browning, comes across young Mike Lord (Cornel Wilde) and bribes him to romance Chris in order to get her away from Browning. Although initially hesitant, Lord begins to genuinely pursue Chris and although she rebuffs him, his persistence manages to successfully break the engagement between Browning and Chris. Lord shows up the next day and reveals the scheme between him and Dr. Mason. Chris, who had begun to fall for Lord, is hurt by the revelation and assumes Lord's affections were all an act. In reality, Lord has genuinely fallen for Chris and, unbeknownst to the Mason family, is wealthy. Although he wants to marry Chris and is certain she feels the same, Lord is concerned that if he reveals his wealth now, he will never know if Chris loves him or his money. In order to get "proof" that Chris isn't just after money, he asks his friend Alex Moreno (Anthony Quinn) to pose as a wealthy sugar plantation owner and romance Chris. At Martha's insistence, the Mason family visit the sugar plantation, which in reality Lord owns. The latter shows up posing as the plantation foreman, much to the Chris' chagrin. Lord continues to pursue Chris as the supposedly "poor but proud lad with nothing to offer but his heart," in the hopes that she will rebuff the advances of the ostensibly wealthy Moreno. However, as he gets to know her, Moreno begins to genuinely fall for Chris himself. After brief tension, the two men come to an agreement to let the "best man win" while maintaining the pretense that Moreno owns the plantation. This is until Moreno announces his intentions to propose to Chris, wherein Lord fakes a telegram that Moreno is bankrupt. Later that night, Lord encourages Chris to marry the bankrupt Moreno, which Chris angrily says she will do. Now that Chris has shown herself to not be a gold-digger but believing she is in love with Moreno, Lord arranges for another call to say the previous telegram was a mistake and Moreno isn't bankrupt. However, even knowing Moreno is still wealthy, Chris realizes she doesn't care about money and chases after Lord, who is leaving. Chris and Lord marry. As her parents and Moreno see them off on Lord's boat, Moreno reveals to Martha and Dr. Mason that Lord is wealthy, causing Martha to faint. On board, Lord continues the pretense, claiming the boat to be Moreno's, but stops himself before revealing everything as Chris declares her contentment at being a poor couple, stating jokingly that she's divorce him if he were to suddenly come into money. Cheerful music plays as a concerned Lord and an oblivious but happy Chris sail away.

Cast

as Dr. Edgar Mason *

as Martha Mason *

as Chris Mason *

as Mike Lord *

as Alexander Moreno *

as Freddie Browning *

Chester Clute Chester Lamont Clute (February 18, 1891 – April 2, 1956) was an American actor familiar in scores of Hollywood films from his debut in 1930. Diminutive, bald-pated with a bristling moustache, he appeared in mostly unbilled roles, consi ...

as Nibsie Nicholson *

LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fir ...

as Witch Doctor *Jack Chefe as Waiter *Biddle Dorsey as Boat Driver

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Snob 1941 films 20th Century Fox films American comedy films 1941 comedy films Films directed by Ray McCarey American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films