On This Day...Sylvia Scarlett (1936)

 On this day Cary Grant's 21st film was released...Sylvia Scarlett. It was his first film with Katharine Hepburn.

Summary:

Escaping to England from a French embezzlement charge, widower Henry Scarlett (Edmund Gwenn) is accompanied by daughter Sylvia (Katharine Hepburn) who, to avoid detection, "disguises" herself as a boy, "Sylvester." They are joined by amiable con man Jimmy Monkley (Cary Grant), then, after a brief career in crime, meet Maudie Tilt (Dennie Moore), a giddy, sexy Cockney housemaid who joins them in the new venture of entertaining at resort towns from a caravan. Through all this, amazingly no one recognizes that Sylvia is not a boy...until she meets handsome artist Michael Fane (Brian Aherne), and drama intrudes on the comedy.

"Story construction and development are beclouded, with resultant hop-skipping in the action, labored dialogue, and over strained performances with the exception of that of Cary Grant. Mr. Grant is the most convincing performance..."

- Rovelstad, Motion Picture Herald.

With Katharine Hepburn and Edmund Gwenn.

"Cary Grant, doing a petty English crook with a Soho accent, practically steals the picture."

- Robert Landry, Variety.

Cast:

 Katharine Hepburn ... Sylvia Scarlett a.k.a. Sylvester
 Cary Grant ... Jimmy Monkley
 Brian Aherne ... Michael Fane
 Edmund Gwenn ... Henry Scarlett

With Katharine Hepburn and Edmund Gwenn.

Did You Know?

After a disastrous preview, director George Cukor and Katharine Hepburn went to RKO producer Pandro S. Berman's home and offered their services for free for another film. Berman, who was furious at the quality of the movie, replied tersely, "Don't bother please."

Howard Hughes visited the set one day, landing his amphibious plane near the beach where they were filming. Hughes said he stopped by to say hello to his good friend Cary Grant but in actuality he wanted to meet Katharine Hepburn, whom he was fascinated by. The film The Aviator (2004) recreates this first meeting of theirs.

This film is noted as being one of the biggest box office flops of the 1930's, resulting in a loss of $363,000 ($6.5M in 2017) for RKO according to studio records.

The first film of Hepburn's "box office poison" period that included two RKO pictures the following year: Mary of Scotland (1936) and A Woman Rebels (1936).

Quotes:

Jimmy Monkley: Little friend of all the world, nobody's enemy but me own.
Sylvia Scarlett: Yeah, I can tell that by the look of you.

Jimmy Monkley: Oh, what's 'appened to me ideas?
Sylvia Scarlett: They're all bad.
Jimmy Monkley: What's that?
Sylvia Scarlett: These eggs.

Lobby Cards:

Directed by George Cukor.
Produced and Distributed by RKO Radio.
Running time: 94 minutes.