''The Golden Arrow'' (1936) is an 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 Alfred E. Green and starring

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...

and George Brent. The screenplay by

Charles Kenyon Charles Kenyon (November 2, 1880 – June 27, 1961) was an American screenwriter, who wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for more than 110 films between 1915 and 1946. He was married to actress Jane Winton from 1927 to 1930. Kenyon was born ...

is based on a story of the same title by Michael Arlen published in the September 14, 1935 issue of ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

''.

Plot

Johnny Jones (Brent) is a penniless newspaper reporter assigned to interview Daisy Appleby (Davis), heiress to the Appleby Facial Creams fortune and the target of numerous suitors anxious to latch onto her wealth. What neither they nor Johnny know is that she is really a cafeteria cashier hired by a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

team to impersonate the socialite. She proposes a marriage of convenience that will free her from the cads pursuing her so she can find her ideal man and allow Johnny leisure time to finish his novel. He agrees, and after they wed the company's board of directors try to place him under their control, as well. When Johnny rebels and begins dating oil heiress Hortense Burke-Meyers in retaliation, Daisy, who realizes she truly loves him, tries to win him back by having her brother-in-law Alfred Parker impersonate an old beau in an effort to make Johnny jealous.

Cast

as Daisy Appleby * George Brent as Johnny Jones *

Eugene Pallette Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946. After an early career as a slender leading man, ...

as Mr. Meyers *

Dick Foran John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. Early years Foran was born in Flemington, New Jer ...

as Tommy Blake * Craig Reynolds as Jorgenson * Carol Hughes as Hortense Burke-Meyers *

Hobart Cavanaugh Hobart Cavanaugh (September 22, 1886 – April 26, 1950 ) was an American character actor in films and on stage. Biography He was born in Virginia City, Nevada on September 22, 1886. Cavanaugh attended the University of California. He worked in ...

as DeWolfe * Earle Foxe as Alfred Parker

Production

Although audience reaction to the film, originally titled ''Cream Princess'', at a preview in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

was dismal, Warner Bros. rushed it into release to capitalize on the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

leading lady

recently had won for '' Dangerous''. The actress was upset with the publicity for the film, which she thought was ridiculous, and included mention of her Oscar win. "This film was the beginning of the end, temporarily, of my contract with Warner Bros.," she later recalled. "I was actually insulted to have to appear in such a ''cheap'', nothing story as ''The Golden Arrow'' after '' Of Human Bondage'', ''

The Petrified Forest ''The Petrified Forest'' is a 1936 American film directed by Archie Mayo and based on Robert E. Sherwood's 1935 Broadway drama of the same name. The motion picture stars Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. The screenplay was writ ...

'', and '' Bordertown''."

Critical reception

In his review in ''

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 ...

'',

Frank S. Nugent Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

observed, "With this and that device, with a deal of patterned dialogue and the transparent air of a man who recognizes the unimportance of what he has to say and yet prides himself on telling it so well that you will not mind, ''The Golden Arrow'' drifts rather pleasantly across the screen. It derives most of its slight strength as entertainment from the saucy performance of Miss Davis and the harried, but good-natured, expression of Mr. Brent." ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' described the film as "a minor comedy" and added "Although Miss Davis still can make her eyes pop and her lips droop, ''The Golden Arrow'' proves nothing more than that she is adept at nonchalance."''Time'' review
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Arrow, The 1936 films 1936 comedy films American comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Alfred E. Green Warner Bros. films Films based on short fiction Films produced by Samuel Bischoff 1930s American films 1930s English-language films English-language comedy films