''Cross-Country Romance'' is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by

Frank Woodruff Frank Woodruff (1906–1983) was an American film director of the 1940s.Fetrow p.400 He also produced and directed a number of episodes of the television show '' The Bigelow Theatre'' in the early 1950s. Filmography * '' Curtain Call'' (1940) * ...

and starring

Gene Raymond Gene Raymond (born Raymond Guion; August 13, 1908 – May 3, 1998) was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a singer, composer, screenwriter, director, producer, and decorat ...

and

Wendy Barrie Wendy Barrie (born Marguerite Wendy Jenkins; 18 April 1912 – 2 February 1978) was a British-American film and television actress. Early life Barrie was born in London to English parents. Her father, Francis Charles John Graigoe Jenkin KC ...

. With the huge success of ''

It Happened One Night ''It Happened One Night'' is a 1934 pre-Code American romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed and co-produced by Frank Capra, in collaboration with Harry Cohn, in which a pampered socialite ( Claudette Colbert) tri ...

'', the 1934 American romantic comedy film directed by

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

and starring

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictur ...

and

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

, every studio in Hollywood attempted to cash in with a similar storyline. In addition to this film, there was also '' Love on the Run'' (1936) from

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

, '' The Bride Came C.O.D.'' (1941) by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

; even

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...

, which had made ''It Happened One Night'', produced the musical remake '' Eve Knew Her Apples'' (1945).

Plot

High-profile heiress Diane North (

) stows away in the trailer of a bacteriologist Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Smith (

) to escape from her own wedding. Larry has to drive cross country to San Francisco to catch a ship to China, where he will work with an eminent expert on a cure for a serious disease. When he discovers his stowaway, Diane tells him she is poverty-stricken Maggie "Jonesy" Jones, making her way to a slightly less poor uncle. Larry tries to get rid of his passenger at every opportunity, but she falls in love and uses every wile to stay with him. Meanwhile, her wealthy, ditsy mother (

Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committe ...

) offers a reward for her safe return, fearing she has been kidnapped, but her fiance Walter Corbett remains remarkably blase about the whole thing. At a lunch counter, two grifters recognize Diane, and sneak aboard the trailer, but not before conning Orestes (

Billy Gilbert William Gilbert Barron (September 12, 1894 – September 23, 1971), known professionally as Billy Gilbert, was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects a ...

), the diner's cook, into giving them two $10 bills for $5. Orestes finally figures out he has been conned and telephones for the police. All four are taken to the Omaha police station. Police Captain G. G. Burke finally sorts things out and lets Larry and Diane go. They get married. Then, at one stop, Diane secretly calls her mother and asks her to do something to stop Larry from going to China (which he insists on doing alone). Larry hears on the radio that the famous doctor has found a cure, so he no longer has a reason to go. He also discovers Diane's true identity, and promptly dumps her. On his way back through Omaha, he is arrested. Captain Burke is sure he kidnapped and possibly murdered Diane, and is frustrated when the alleged victim shows up looking for her husband. Diane confesses to Larry that the news story was faked by her mother. He leaves once more for San Francisco, by air as time is running short. On board the ship, Larry is delighted to be invited to dine with the captain, until he discovers that the guest of honor is one of the owners of the shipping line: Diane. He storms out, but she persuades him to take her back.

Cast

as Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Smith *

as Diane North, aka Maggie "Jonesy" Jones *

as Mrs. North *

as Orestes * G.P. Huntley as Walter Corbett *

Berton Churchill Berton Churchill (December 9, 1876 – October 10, 1940) was a Canadian stage and film actor. Early years Churchill was born in Toronto, Ontario. After his family moved to New York City, he graduated from high school there, studied law a ...

as Col. Conway *

Tom Dugan Thomas or Tom Dugan may refer to: *Thomas Buchanan Dugan Thomas Buchanan Dugan (July 27, 1858 – April 27, 1940) was a United States Army officer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Biography Dugan was born in Baltimore on July 27, 1858 ...

as Pete *

Edgar Dearing Edgar Dearing (May 4, 1893 – August 17, 1974) was an American actor who became heavily type cast as a motorcycle cop in Hollywood films. Biography Born in 1893, Dearing started in silent comedy shorts for Hal Roach, including several with Lau ...

as Sweeney *

Frank Sully Francis Thomas Sullivan (June 17, 1908 December 17, 1975), known professionally as Frank Sully, was an American film actor. He appeared in over 240 films between 1934 and 1968. Today's audiences know him best as the dumb detective in the ''Bost ...

as Mike *

Cliff Clark Cliff Clark (June 10, 1889 – February 8, 1953) was an American actor. He entered the film business in 1937 after a substantial stage career and appeared in over 200 Hollywood films. In the last years of his life, he also played in a numb ...

as Police Capt. G.G. Burke * Dorothea Kent as Millie *

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lak ...

as Mr. Williams, first mate (uncredited) *

Esther Dale Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress of the stage and screen. Early years Dale was born in Beaufort, South Carolina. She attended Leland and Gray Seminary in Townshend, Vermont. In Berlin, Germany, she st ...

as Mrs. McGillicuddy *

Bess Flowers Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an American actress best known for her work as an extra in hundreds of films. She was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in more than 350 feature films and numerou ...

as Mrs. North's secretary *

Herbert Rawlinson Herbert Banemann Rawlinson (15 November 1885 – 12 July 1953) was an English-born stage, film, radio, and television actor. A leading man during Hollywood's silent film era, Rawlinson transitioned to character roles after the advent of sound f ...

as Ship's Capt. Brawley *

Landers Stevens John Landers Stevens (1877–1940) was an American stage and film actor. A character actor he appeared in prominent screen roles in the early 1920s before switching to smaller supporting parts, often authority figures, in the following decade. ...

as Bishop at Wedding Cast notes *This was one of Hedda Hopper's final roles before leaving the screen to work full time at her influential

gossip column A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal l ...

, which she'd started in 1938. This is also one of the many bit parts for

before his 1942 breakthrough.

References

Notes

External links

* * * * {{AFI film, 5081 1940 films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films American romantic comedy films 1940 romantic comedy films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Frank Woodruff 1940s American films