''Blond Cheat'' is a 1938

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 typic ...

film directed by

Joseph Santley Joseph Mansfield Santley (born Joseph Ishmael Mansfield, January 10, 1890 – August 8, 1971) was an American actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, and producer of musical theatrical plays motion pictures and television shows. He adopte ...

and starring

Joan Fontaine Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...

Derrick De Marney Derrick Raoul Edouard Alfred De Marney (21 September 1906 – 18 February 1978) was an English stage and film actor and producer, of French and Irish ancestry. Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of ...

, and

Cecil Kellaway Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 – 28 February 1973) was a South African character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1948) and '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ...

. The film was produced by

William Sistrom William "Billy" Sistrom (19 March 1884 – March 1972) was an English film producer who worked in the United States. Biography Sistrom was born in Lincolnshire, England. He began work with Universal Pictures. Later he joined RKO Pictures in ...

, and originally released by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

. The original story is by Aladar Lazlo. The screenplay is by

Harry Segall Harry Segall (April 10, 1892 – November 25, 1975) was an American playwright, screenwriter and television writer. Segall was born in Chicago. Harry Segall's writing career spans 1933 to 1959. Segall's plays, including '' Lost Horizons'', a ...

, Charles Kaufman, Paul Yawitz, and Viola Brothers Shore. The tagline for the movie was: "A happy blend of blackmail, robbery, treachery, and love!" The film was known as ''The Muddled Deal''.

Plot

Michael Ashburn (

) is the chief assistant to Rufus Trent (

), a wealthy London loan broker. Michael is socially prominent, but works for a living. He is engaged to Trent's daughter, Roberta (

Lilian Bond Lilian Bond (January 18, 1908 – January 25, 1991) was an English-American actress based in the United States. Life and career Bond was born in London and made her first professional stage appearance at the age of 14 in the pantomime ''Dic ...

). The match had been engineered primarily by the socially-ambitious Mrs. Trent (

Cecil Cunningham Edna Cecil Cunningham (August 2, 1888 – April 17, 1959) was an American film and stage actress, singer, and comedienne. Early years Cunningham started her working life as a switchboard operator in a commerce bank and did some sittings as a ...

). As Michael is closing the shop late one afternoon, a man named Douglas (

Olaf Hytten Olaf Hytten (3 March 1888 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish actor. He appeared in more than 280 films between 1921 and 1955. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack, while sitting in his car ...

) takes out a large loan, using earrings worn by his niece, Julie (

), as a deposit. He scurries right off with the money but, to his dismay, Michael finds that the earrings are fastened to Julie's ears and cannot be removed. He now has to keep guard of her until Douglas returns with the money. Julie wants to go somewhere warm for the night. He hails a policeman to have her put in a jail cell so that she's kept somewhere safe, but when the cop arrives, she tricks him into arresting Michael instead. She manages to swipe Michael's house key and spends the night at his house. The next morning, the butler finds Julie in Michael's bed. Michael arrives home with a cold after his night in jail. He doesn't realize that Julie's at his house. When Roberta arrives, angry, he calms her down, until she discovers Julie in Michael's pajamas and in his bedroom. Roberta breaks off her engagement to Michael. Julie slips away in the confusion and arrives at a theatrical agency. Her "uncle" runs the agency and she quickly removes the earrings as he praises her night's work. In reality, Julie is an actress and, with her successful work breaking the engagement between Michael and Roberta, is offered a leading role in a new production. Roberta arrives at home and tells her parents that the engagement is off. Trent is thrilled. It is revealed at this time that Trent hired Douglas's agency to break the engagement. At work Michael is being called to the carpet by Trent for loaning money without collateral when Mrs. Trent arrives and fixes everything so that Roberta and Michael are engaged again. Trent, upset that the wedding is still on, goes back to Douglas and tells him he won't pay until the engagement is broken for good. Gilbert (

Robert Coote Robert Coote (4 February 1909 – 26 November 1982) was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of ''My Fai ...

), Trent's assistant, dislikes Michael. He works with Julie by bringing in a box for Michael at work. Inside are Michael's pajamas. Roberta is there when the box arrives and she isn't happy to see the contents. Michael hurries her off when he sees Julie inside the shop vault. Michael takes Julie to her hotel room and stays with her when she pretends to be sick after her night outside. He arrives late for dinner with Roberta and her friends. When she questions him, he admits to being with Julie, but he reassures her that Julie is very sick in bed. At that instant Julie shows up looking glamorous. Fed up, Roberta leaves, but Michael insists on staying because he has to keep an eye on the earrings. Alone with Michael, Julie confesses that she was trying to break up his engagement on purpose that night because she didn't think he should be married simply because he comes from a prominent family. As they share a cozy ride in a carriage, Michael makes overtures to having feelings for Julie. She tries to explain about the earrings when they are held up by robbers. They want the earrings. Michael explains that they cannot be removed, but one of the robbers threatens to cut Julie's ears off to get to them. She takes the earrings off easily and gives them to the robbers. Furious, Michael admits to being a fool. He leaves her. Trent doesn't want to pay Douglas, so he gets a note at dinner asking Trent to meet Douglas in Julie's dressing room. Mrs. Trent follows Trent, demanding an explanation. Since Trent had finally paid up, Douglas lies and says that he had a scheme to break up Michael and Roberta's engagement, but that Trent paid him off. The truth comes out accidentally when Julie refuses to continue with the plan. The police arrive when Michael recognizes one of the robbers—the one who threatened to cut off Julie's ears—as a waiter at the club. The waiter tells the police that Roberta paid him to rob Julie and Michael. He breaks into Julie's show and tells her he loves her.

Cast

as Juliette 'Julie' Evans *

as Michael 'Mike' Ashburn *

as Rufus Trent *

as Genevieve 'Gennie' Trent *

as Roberta Trent *

as Gilbert Potts *

as Paul Douglas * John Sutton as Fred Percy * Gerald Hamer as Piccadilly Club Waiter

References

External links

* * * * {{Joseph Santley 1938 films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films Films directed by Joseph Santley RKO Pictures films 1938 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Films set in London 1930s American films