Our Blushing Brides
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHarry Beaumont (uncredited)
Written byBess Meredyth
John Howard Lawson
Edwin Justus Mayer
Helen Meinardi (uncredited)
Produced byHarry Beaumont
StarringJoan Crawford
Anita Page
Dorothy Sebastian
Robert Montgomery
CinematographyMerritt B. Gerstad
Edited byGeorge Hively
Harold Palmer (uncredited)
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • July 19, 1930 (1930-07-19)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$337,000[1]
Box office$1,211,000[1]

Our Blushing Brides is a 1930 American pre-Code society comedy/romantic melodrama directed and produced by Harry Beaumont and starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Anita Page and Dorothy Sebastian.

The film follows Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and Our Modern Maidens (1929), which also starred Crawford, Page and Sebastian, though they portray different characters in each film.[2] Although the two previous installments in the series were silent films, Our Blushing Brides is a sound film, a relatively new technology at the time.

Our Blushing Brides is Crawford's 31st film (of 86 total), and her fourth sound film. In her first "shopgirl-Cinderella" role, Crawford plays the role of Gerry, a department store model who falls in love with the wealthy son of her boss.[3] The role was a departure from Crawford's flapper-girl persona of the silent area as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer began to develop a more sophisticated image for her.[4]

Plot

Fellow department store shopgirls and roommates Gerry March, Connie Blair and Franky Daniels take different paths in New York City but all seek to marry wealthy men. Connie pursues an affair with David Jardine, the youngest son of the store's owner. Franky meets the slick-talking Marty Sanderson when he comes into the store to buy $500 worth of blankets. However, when he comes to meet Franky, he makes advances toward Gerry instead.

Gerry has been constantly courted by the dashing Tony Jardine, the older son of the store owner. He is used to having his way, but when he invites only Gerry to visit his estate, Gerry, who believes that virtue will be her only reward, rebuffs Tony and intimates that he is childish.

Franky falls in love with Marty, who spoils her with diamonds and silk. Gerry is suspicious, especially when she finds them both drunk. The girls do not know that Sanderson is the leader of a criminal gang that steals from department stores such as the one where the women work. The police arrive to apprehend Franky, believing that she is a member of the gang, but she knows nothing of it.

Connie is very happy with David and intends to marry him. However, she reads in the newspaper that David intends to marry the high-society Evelyn Woodforth. She listens to the wedding reception as it is broadcast on the radio and ingests poison in a suicide attempt. Gerry finds her and then asks Tony to persuade David to leave the reception to visit Connie.

In a contentious conversation, Tony forces David to visit Connie, a selfless act that attracts Gerry and convinces her that Tony is a good man. However, despite David's visit, Connie dies.

Cast

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $874,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $337,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $412,000.[1]

Home media

Warner Archive Collection released the film as a Region 1 DVD on March 4, 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ↑ Chandler, Charlotte (2008). Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford, a Personal Biography. Simon and Schuster. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-416-56478-2.
  3. ↑ Barrios, Richard (1995). A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film. Oxford University Press. p. 310. ISBN 0-195-08811-5.
  4. ↑ Háy, Peter (1991). MGM: When the Lion Roars. Turner Publishing, Inc. p. 72. ISBN 1-878685-04-X.
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