''Miss Pacific Fleet'' is a 1935 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Ray Enright Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...

. The film stars

Joan Blondell Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, estab ...

Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classic Hollywood films. Her career spanned more than 50 years, and she appeared in numerous Broadwa ...

, and

Hugh Herbert Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Career Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell Univers ...

. The film was based on the short story of the same name by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan in the ''

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'' magazine. It was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

on December 14, 1935. Two stranded showgirls in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

enter a beauty contest "Miss Pacific Fleet" to win the fare back home to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. This is one of a series of five movies by Warner Bros. through the early 1930s, where Blondell and Farrell were paired as blonde bombshell comedy duo. The other films in the series are '' Havana Widows'' (1933), '' Kansas City Princess'' (1934), '' Traveling Saleslady'' (1935) and '' We're in the Money'' (1935). Four of the five movies were directed by

. They also co-starred in other Warner Bros. films in '' Three on a Match'' (1932), '' I've Got Your Number'' (1934) and ''

Gold Diggers of 1937 ''Gold Diggers of 1937'' is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, who were married at the time, with Glenda Farrell and ...

'' (1936).

Plot

Gloria Fay and Mae O'Brien are two former showgirls working in an amusement park. Sailor Kewpie Wiggins is in love with Gloria, when he wins all their prizes with his skill at tossing rings, he learns that Gloria and Mae are broke. Kewpie suggests that Gloria enters the Miss Pacific Fleet contest to win the cash prize. Kewpie then offers to enter a boxing match in order to win 5000 votes for Gloria. He introduces Gloria and Mae to his friend Sgt.Tom Foster. Tom and Gloria fall in love. During the boxing match, Kewpie is losing the match until he sees that Gloria and Tom are cuddling together in the audience. Angered, he knocks out his opponent and decides to give his 5000 votes to another contestant Virgie Matthews. However, Gloria is still slightly ahead in the contest. Sadie Freytag, who is married to August Freytag, the creator of the beauty contest, is jealous of Gloria and decides to kidnap her, so the prize will go to someone else instead. When Mae learns of her plans, she alerts Kewpie, who spots the kidnappers putting a woman in a small boat. Kewpie chases them to a ship where he frees the woman who ends up to be Sadie. At the last minute, Tom and Gloria arrive at contest headquarters with enough votes for her to win the contest. Gloria and Mae now have enough money to return home to New York.

Cast

as Gloria Fay *

as Mae O'Brien *

as Mr. J. August Freytag *

Allen Jenkins Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor, voice actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. He may be best known to some audiences as the voice of Officer Charl ...

as Bernard 'Kewpie' Wiggins *

Warren Hull John Warren Hull (January 17, 1903 – September 14, 1974), known professionally as Warren Hull, was an American actor, singer and television personality active from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was one of the most popular serial actors in t ...

as Sgt. Tom Foster *

Eddie Acuff Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in ...

as Clarence 'Dutch' * Marie Wilson as Virginia 'Vergie' Matthews *

Minna Gombell Minna Marie Gombell (''née'' Gombel; May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress. Early years She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father was ...

as Sadie Freytag * Guinn Williams as Nicholas 'Nick'

Release

''Miss Pacific Fleet'' was released in theatres on December 14, 1935.

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

has released a double feature DVD collection of ''Miss Pacific Fleet'' (1935) and ''Traveling Saleslady'' (1935) on April 5, 2012.

Reception

Frank S. Nugent of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' writes in his review: "As unimportant as a corkscrew at a W. C. T. U. convention. ''Miss Pacific Fleet'' should not have been impeded in its headlong flight for second place on a double-feature bill. Being placed alone on the Roxy's screen imposes too great a strain upon the picture and the audience, even conceding that the Roxy's faithful are ever anxious to absorb large doses of nautical comedy. This one has a complicated genealogy. The story is credited to Frederick Hazlitt Brennan; the screen play stems from Lucille Newmark and Peter Milne; there is additional dialogue by one Patsy Flick. From these no less than mountainous labors comes a mousey little photoplay about two stranded chorus girls whose only hope of getting their fare back to Broadway is by winning a popularity contest with the votes of the enlisted men of the Pacific Fleet. Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, upon whose comic talents the Warners are placing too much emphasis, are the girls; Allen Jenkins is Kewpie Wiggins, their lobbyist in the fleet; Hugh Herbert is August Freytag, president of the Better Business Bureau sponsoring the contest. There is an allegedly humorous prizefight; there is a kidnapping; there is a comedy chase. What more can one expect of a sub-Class B picture? If the first half of the film is endurable, credit it to Mr. Herbert. If the second half is a bore, debit the Warners' recourse to the Old Familiars of Picture-Making. What ''Miss Pacific Fleet'' needs is rearmament in all departments.

References

External links

* {{Ray Enright 1935 films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Ray Enright Films set in California Warner Bros. films 1935 romantic comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language romantic comedy films