''A Woman of Distinction'' is a 1950 American screwball

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Edward Buzzell Edward Buzzell (November 13, 1895 – January 11, 1985) was an American film actor and director whose credits include ''Child of Manhattan (film), Child of Manhattan'' (1933); ''Honolulu (1939 film), Honolulu'' (1939); the Marx Brothers fil ...

and starring

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, model, comedian, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in ...

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

and

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

Plot

Born to a wealthy and well-respected New England family, Susan Manning Middlecott excelled at school from a young age. Earning her bachelor's, master's and doctorate, she became a teacher, then enlisted during WWII, staying afterwards to care for French orphans. Shortly after her return, Susan becomes dean of a

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

school called Benton College and it is her whole life, apart from living with dad Mark and raising her adopted daughter Louisa. Featured on the cover of

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

for her accomplishments, a French department colleague is interested in her, but she insists she has no time for a relationship. British

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

professor Alec Stevenson, arrives to the US to present at his lecture-tour. The event's

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

Teddy Evans is told he has a

locket A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a lock of hair. Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine's Day and occasions such as christenings, weddin ...

belonging to Susan that he wants to deliver to her. Locating the jeweler the necklace is from, Alec is able to get her Connecticut address. For publicity's sake, as she fears people might not be interested in an astronomy lecture, Teddy invents a story that Alec and Susan are involved in a romance. Upon seeing the article, the miffed Susan boards a train to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to confront him. Unaware that Alec has been to her campus and is now on the same train, Susan inadvertently meets him on it. A photographer snaps their picture getting off the train as a livid Susan hits Alec with her purse, and Teddy makes sure their spat makes the newspapers. Susan immediately boards a train back to Connecticut, and Alec follows. Believing that Alec is a publicity seeker, she rejects his attempts to explain, but he does manage to tell her the locket was given to him by a concentration camp prisoner named Benoit during the war. Alec tells her how he merely was attempting to bring it to her at the soldier's request. When he calls her cold for not responding appropriately, she again hits him with the bag as they disembark and a photo is taken. Once the photos are printed in the paper, Susan's dad invites Alec over and takes a shine to him. As she has not been with anyone, he encourages her to find time for a love life. To get away, Susan takes her daughter to the family's cabin, but Mark also invites Alec, as his private observatory is there. In the morning, Susan has arranged to go riding with a group of women friends. Alec insists on joining them, expecting horses, but it is a bicycling outing. He then has some mishaps with the bike; stopping by a lake, Susan falls into plants he insists are poison ivy. Alec insists on applying mud to avoid itching. Alec and Susan attend a college dance, but another misunderstanding prompts her to leave with a student. The student then promptly gets Susan in trouble by drag racing with another car. Teddy plants a story that Alec is the real father of Susan's little girl. Susan's job is now in jeopardy from the continuing bad publicity. Alec tries to cover for her, claiming he and Susan are actually married, but a professor colleague does likewise, complicating Susan's situation further. In the end, Susan is forced to decide what is important to her, her professional life or her personal one. Frustrated that the board would rather believe idle gossip, she resigns and then hurries to catch Alec at the train station.

Cast

as Susan Manning Middlecott *

as Prof. Alexander "Alec" Stevenson *

as Mark "JM" Middlecott * Janis Carter as Teddy Evans *Mary Jane Saunders as Louisa Middlecott *

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

as herself (uncredited) *

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor who was Lucille Ball's longtime television foil, particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J ...

as Railway Station Clerk (uncredited) *

Jean Willes Jean Donahue (born Jean Willes; April 15, 1923 – January 3, 1989) was an American film and television actress. She appeared in approximately 65 films in her 38-year career. Early years Born Jean Willesin Los Angeles to William Simmons Willes ...

as Pearl, Switchboard Operator (uncredited)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woman of Distinction, A 1950 films Films directed by Edward Buzzell American romantic comedy films 1950 romantic comedy films Films with screenplays by Frank Tashlin Columbia Pictures films 1950s English-language films Films set in Boston American black-and-white films 1950s American films English-language romantic comedy films Films scored by Werner R. Heymann