''Hideaway Girl'' is a 1936 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 o ...

directed by

George Archainbaud George Archainbaud (May 7, 1890 – February 20, 1959) was a French-American film and television director. Biography In the beginning of his career he worked on stage as an actor and manager. He came to the United States in January 1914, and st ...

and written by David Garth and

Joseph Moncure March Joseph Moncure March (July 27, 1899 New York City - February 14, 1977 Los Angeles, California) was an American poet and essayist, best known for his long narrative poems '' The Wild Party'' and '' The Set-Up''. Life After serving in World Wa ...

. The film stars Shirley Ross,

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as '' The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in ...

Martha Raye Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored ...

, Monroe Owsley, Elizabeth Russell and Louis Da Pron. The film was released on November 20, 1936, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Plot

Cast

* Shirley Ross as Toni Ainsworth *

as Mike Winslow *

as Helen Flint * Monroe Owsley as Count de Montaigne * Elizabeth Russell as Cellette *

Louis Da Pron Louis Francis DaPron (February 13, 1913, in Indiana – July 21, 1987, in Agoura, California) was an American dancer, choreographer and dance instructor. He worked often with tap dancer Donald O'Connor. Early days His parents were Elizabeth ...

as Tom Flint * Ray Walker as Freddie *

Robert Middlemass Robert Middlemass (September 3, 1883 – September 10, 1949) was an American playwright and stage actor, and later character actor with over 100 film appearances, usually playing detectives or policemen.(13 Feb 1937)Mrs. Susan C. Middlemass ...

as Capt. Dixon *

Edward Brophy Edward Santree Brophy (February 27, 1895 – May 27, 1960) was an American character actor and comedian, as well as an assistant director and second unit director during the 1920s. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he frequently ...

as Bugs Murphy *James Eagles as Birdie Arnold *Bob Murphy as Capt. MacArthur *

Lee Phelps Lee Phelps (born Napoleon Bonaparte Kukuck; May 15, 1893 – March 19, 1953) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 600 films between 1917 and 1953, mainly in uncredited roles. He also appeared in three films that won the Acade ...

as Police Sgt. Davis *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types. Early life Harlan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and ac ...

as Lead steward *Jimmie Dundee as Detective *Marten Lamont as Sailor *Frank Losee Jr. as Sailor *A.S. 'Pop' Byron as Dock watchman * Chester Gan as Chinese cook * Harry Jordan as Chauffeur *Allen Pomeroy as Chauffeur * James Barton as Motorcycle cop *Donald Kerr as Cameraman *

Bert Moorhouse Bert Moorhouse (sometimes incorrectly billed as Bert Moorehouse) (November 20, 1894 – January 26, 1954) was an American character actor whose career began at the very tail end of the silent era, and lasted through the mid-1950s. Biography Bor ...

as Cameraman *Wilma Francis as Muriel Courtney

Production

Cummings was cast when

Lew Ayres Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film ''All Quiet on the Western Fro ...

refused to play the role.

Reception

Frank Nugent of ''

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 ...

'' said, "Miss Martha Raye, the lusty lark of Paramount's roster of curiosa, has her starring moment in ''Hideaway Girl'', current at the Rialto. Some one in our circle has suggested that the explosive Miss Raye has but one opportunity left—to swallow a stick of dynamite and light the fuse, distributing her animated self over a Paramount set. In ''Hideaway Girl'' Miss Raye falls sadly short of this mark, contenting herself, in her own peculiar form of vociferation, with expressing her preference for "Liszt, Beethoven or Bach" over the current manifestation of vo-de-o-do. She expresses this preference with swing dance gestures." The '' Picturegoer's'' Lionel Collier wrote "it all wears very thin and becomes distinctly boring towards the end. This sense of boredom is not helped by the singing of Miss Raye, the lady who rivals Joe E. Brown in mouth appeal. Shirley Ross sings pleasingly as a contrast, and Bob Cummings makes a passable hero.

References

External links

* 1936 films Paramount Pictures films American comedy films 1936 comedy films Films directed by George Archainbaud American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub