There Goes My Heart (1938)

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Ed Sullivan (original story)
Eddie Moran (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 October 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Seaplane | Punch In Nose | Impersonation | Banker | Finger Crossing

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Fredric March	...	Bill' Spencer
Virginia Bruce	...	Joan Butterfield
Patsy Kelly	...	Peggy O'Brien
Alan Mowbray	...	Pennypepper E. Pennypepper
Nancy Carroll	...	Dorothy Moore
Eugene Pallette	...	Mr. Stevens - Editor
Claude Gillingwater	...	Cyrus W. Butterfield
Arthur Lake	...	Flash Fisher
Etienne Girardot	...	Hinkley - Cyrus' Secretary
Robert Armstrong	...	Detective O'Brien
Irving Bacon	...	Mr. Dobbs
Irving Pichel	...	Mr. Gorman
Syd Saylor	...	Robinson (as Sid Saylor)
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Police Officer

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #4536) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S

Company:

Hal Roach Studios Inc.

Trivia:

Many cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Charles Waldron (Dr. Snezrude), Joe King (Government Man), Pat Gleason (Steward), Kenneth Harlan (Officer), Joe McGuinn and George Ovey (Sailors), Jerry Colonna, William Irving, Billy Engle, Bobby Barber and Eddie Phillips (Gendarmes), Matt McHugh (Elevator Operator), Sydney Jarvis and Malcolm Waite (Elevator Men), Sarah Edwards (Elevator Passenger), Dell Henderson and Lionel Braham (Cops), Will Stanton (Drunk Passenger), George Humbert (Corn-Man), Duke York and George Burton (Dreymen) and Walter Walker (Attorney).

Quotes:

Joan Butterfield: You don't do your own laundry do you?
Peggy O'Brien: Oh yes, this is my maid's year off!

Soundtrack:

John Brown's Body

A near miss

HEART is an attempt at a screwball comedy that fails for a couple of reasons: a plot that gets too entangled, to the point of incredulity, and a lead actress who may look a little like Carol Lombard, but clearly isn't. Virginia Bruce is the female in question as a runaway heiress who ends up working incognito in her grandfather's department store, clearly meant to resemble Macy's. The thin-faced Bruce is a bit too wistful for the role, unfortunately. The role really could have used Lombard -- or Thelma Todd or Irene Dunne or Katherine Hepburn or Claudette Colbert, or even one of the Bennett sisters. Frederic March is, as always, note-perfect as a cynical reporter on Bruce's trail who -- what else? -- ends up falling for her. There is a stunt-filled ice skating sequence that takes up a bit too much time, compounded by a very rushed ending that leaves major plot strings untied. The wonderful Eugene Palette is on hand as March's blustery editor, and wisecracking Patsy Kelly is in fine form as a downtrodden store clerk who takes Bruce in. This may be no BRINGING UP BABY or NOTHING SACRED or IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, but it is fun to watch March, Kelly and Palette in action. And it is also viewable in its historic context, surrounded as it was by several masterpieces of the genre.