Professional Sweetheart

source: Careless

Professional Sweetheart

Just SO many big, awesome hollywood names in this one. ginger rogers, fank pangborn, zasu pitts, alan jenkins, frank mchugh. Glory (Rogers) is selected as the perfect, wholesome Ipsey Wipsey girl, which means she has to live the clean, pure life of a "good" girl, but she gets so bored, she wants out of that agreement. everyone else is in here for comic relief. the plot takes twists and turns. Rogers had only been in the biz for a couple years, but she does ok. she hadn't yet turned into the shrew she played for all the Fred Astaire films, and it was still before the "real" film code, so it's still a little naughty. it's pretty good... nothing spectacular, but not so bad.

The only reason I was interested in watching this obscure movie was because an obscure black actress named Theresa Harris was in this. She plays Ginger Roger's maid, considered a friend by her employer as this maid has fun in Harlem which Ginger envies since she plays a singing radio star whose image is goody-goody but who wants to be bad! Unfortunately, the pace seemed uneven and the characterizations are inconsistent. Harris herself does a nice dance at the beginning and looks glamorous when she's picked to sub for Ginger on the radio though when Ginger or Theresa are supposed to sing, they're dubbed by Etta Moten! I wish I could say I liked Professional Sweetheart but all I could think during the nearly 90-minute running time of this picture was "Huh?!"

Glory Eden (Ginger Rogers) is the "Purity Girl" of the Ippsie Wippsie Hour radio program. Her public persona is the epitome of the All-American submissive good girl. In reality, she is a willful girl who wants to live her life. The sponsor comes up with the idea to pair her off with a wholesome pure Anglo-Saxon fan. They pick a fan letter written by Jim Davey from Kentucky. Ginger Rogers is great. She is a star. Jim Davey does need to be more charismatic even if the character is not supposed to be flashy. He needs to be the charismatic everyman. Instead, he's literally a wife beater. It's not a good look and the audience needs to like him. At least, Ginger is able to play it off as a joke. That saved him but he should be more than that. This is all about Ginger Rogers and she is great.

Lovely Romantic /Pre~Code Comedy. Watching Ginger dance in her lingerie was a sweet pre~code treat. Run time 69 min. Excellent cast features: Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster, ZaSu Pitts, Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, Edgar Kennedy.A fun movie. I definitely recommend.Enjoy

This wonderful cast interacts with absolute precision, whether walking around a room or interrupting each others' wisecracks. The script and direction meld into an enjoyable film. What's best is that not one character ever removes his tongue from his cheek. They know it's not serious and so do we. It's just pure fun. Some reviewers say the film is heavily gay; I beg to differ. While Pangborn gives a few swishes, it's not entirely clear which side of the street he walks on until near the end. There Pitts see him in his underwear, feigns surprise and then walks into his room and closes the door. The rest is left to our imagination, but gay isn't part of it. This is a film to see again and again to appreciate great plotting and directing.

Mostly boring pre-code comedy with some nice direction and very few laughs. With a cast like this, it really should be better. The story is about a radio star (Ginger Rogers) known as America's Sweetheart who wants to live it up and go dancing, drinking, having sex, etc. So her PR team compromises by getting her a husband: a rube from Kentucky (Norman Foster). Some slightly saucy pre-code dialogue seems to be the main selling point for many. But it's still pretty tame stuff. Ginger dancing around in her underwear and one scene where she gets spanked are the movie's racier moments. Funniest scene is when Frank McHugh cons the rube into proposing. Ginger gives it her best but the script just isn't strong. Only a must for hardcore Ginger fans.

Ginger Rodgers shines in a role that might have been written for Jean Harlow. She cracks wise, hurls insults, and dances around in her underwear. Zazu Pitts is priceless as the gushing and gullible small town reporter. Franklin Pangborn is more blatantly gay here than we normally get to see him. This movie touches on many aspects of celebrity that remain true to this day. The manipulation of a public image and the team of professionals that that requires. The all important "product", the selling of which is the reason for everything. This movie is also amazingly tolerant and socially progressive for it's time. The attractive black housekeeper's character is more of a friend to Ginger, who's footloose lifestyle she envies. Pangborn's character as one of her handlers is made obviously gay without degradation or judgement. Don't expect "Dinner at Eight", but "Professional Sweetheart" is sparkling and breezy pre-code fun!

This is a very early film in the career of Ginger Rogers. It is somewhat saucy and always goofy. It portays people in radio show business and the press that covers it as both overly ambitious and naive. There are several character actors such as Zazu Pitts that are totally hilarious. The plot is basicly girl wants fun and freedom rather than fame, and boy wants girl. After several very funny misadventures they both get what they want and each other. Sexuality is very frank in this movie even though the characters are very innocent. For the naughty in us there is even a spanking scene. Ginger Roger's voice is dubbed in a couple of songs because the producers did not think she was good enough. A very funny film worth repeated viewings. It can be seen occaisionly on the Turner Movie Channel. In the final scene there is a reference to television long before it would become available as if it was just around the corner.