Woman-Wise
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Allan Dwan
Rochelle Hudson
Michael Whalen
Thomas Beck
Alan Dinehart
Douglas Fowley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Tracey Browne, sports editor of the influential Evening Globe , visits the gym belonging to "Gumshoes" Richards, a crooked promoter who is bringing a has-been fighter, Duke Fuller, out of retirement. Tracey chides Fuller and calls Richards a menace to clean sports before entering a nearby lounge, where he witnesses his boss's son, Clinton De Witt, start a row. When Clint's father learns about the fight, he upbraids his son before granting Tracey's request to give Clint a job working under him. De Witt then reads a story from the rival paper, The Dispatch , which challenges Tracey to fight Fuller for a $2,000 prize offered by Richards. Tracey accepts and knocks Fuller out. Fuller's daughter Alice berates Tracey and tells him that her father, whom Richards has now dismissed, needs to fight to pay rent and back bills. Tracey secretly gives Fuller half of the prize money and then takes Alice to a nearby lounge where they see Clint intoxicated. Although Alice at first refuses Tracey's offer of a job to assist Clint on his assignments and see that he makes good, when she learns that Tracey gave her father $1,000, she accepts. Because of Tracey's instigation, the State Athletic Commission cancels an upcoming bout between the current champion and another has-been fighter, K. O. Kramer. During the hearing, Richards accuses Tracey of trying to deny dozens of old-timers a livelihood. With this in mind, Tracey has his assistant, Bob Benton, collect a weekly cash sum of 5% from every promoter and 2% from each manager for every main event staged and makes them pay by threatening to withhold publicity for them in the Globe . As Clint stops drinking and settles into work, Tracey credits Alice and believes that she and Clint are beginning a romance. Because Tracey does not spend the money he collects and takes in only cash, Richards cannot prove the shakedown; however, he rationalizes that if Clint would get into trouble, Tracey, whose education was paid for by Clint's father, would front for him. Using Clint's ex-girl friend, "Bubbles" Carson, Richards lures Clint to a gambling club, where he loses $5,000. When Clint learns about the shakedown, he loses his newfound drive to make good and demands from Richards a $5,000 loan because his father owns the Globe . Richards gladly writes Clint a check, and after Clint cashes it, Richards and the other promoters confront De Witt with accusations that Tracey has been shaking them down. When Richards shows his check with Clint's endorsement, Tracey, to protect Clint, says that Clint was obeying his orders. Deeply disappointed, De Witt fires Tracey. However, Fuller, breaking Tracey's confidence, tells De Witt, Clint and Alice that Tracey gave him the shakedown money to take care of broken-down fighters. After Clint confesses about the loan, De Witt writes a check to repay Richards and orders Clint to stuff it down his throat. In his hotel room, Tracey fights Richards, Fuller disposes of Richards' thugs, Alice knocks out Bubbles, and Clint stuffs the check into Richards' mouth. After Tracey berates Alice unjustly for letting De Witt find out about Clint, she walks out, but Clint and Fuller convince Tracey that Alice loves him, and he tells her that he loves her in double talk. She then makes him stand with his back to her and say that he loves her, but she walks away leaving him to confess his passion to a not too-unpleasantly surprised effeminate hotel clerk.
Director
Allan Dwan
Cast
Rochelle Hudson
Michael Whalen
Thomas Beck
Alan Dinehart
Douglas Fowley
George Hassell
Astrid Allwyn
Chick Chandler
Pat Flaherty
Lynn Bari
Bradley Page
Francis Mcdonald
Babe Hunt
George Turner
Bob Perry
Jack Perry
Huey White
Frank Hagney
Charles Wilson
Ward Bond
Bill Roberts
Dick Webster
Tom Kennedy
Tom Mcguire
Laura Treadwell
William Worthington
Paul Mcvey
Gino Corrado
Richard Powell
James Burtis
Pat O'malley
George Chandler
Mary Mccarty
Moyer Bupp
Myra Marsh
Douglas Haig
Leonard Sues
Sonny Bupp
Crew
Harry Akst
Sidney Clare
Lewis Creber
Al De Gaetano
Herschel
Samuel Kaylin
Mark Kelly
Harry M. Leonard
George Leverett
Ben Markson
Robert Planck
Samuel Schneider
Sol M. Wurtzel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Peach Edition, and the title of the first treatment was "The Sporting Editor," according to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection. Some sources call the film Woman Wise. According to Los Angeles Examiner, Norwegian Olympic skating champion Sonja Henie was originally to be in this film, and skating was to be incidental to it. According to a letter from the studio in the file for this film at the AMPAS Library, Mark Kelly, a sports writer who was the author of the original story, requested that his name be removed from the picture and the studio agreed. In Hollywood Reporter, Virginia Field is erroneously listed for the role Astrid Allwyn played.
