Bride by Mistake
Brief Synopsis
An heiress poses as her own secretary to screen out fortune-hunting suitors.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Richard Wallace
Director
Alan Marshal
Tony Travis
Laraine Day
Nora Hunter
Marsha Hunt
Sylvia Lockwood
Allyn Joslyn
Phil Vernon
Edgar Buchanan
Jonathan Connors
Film Details
Also Known As
That Hunter Girl
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Romance
Release Date
Jan
1944
Premiere Information
New York opening: 15 Sep 1944
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Beverly Hills, California, United States; Monterey, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 21m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,290ft
Synopsis
At the plush La Playa Hotel in Santa Barbara, where soldiers from the U. S. Air Force await their reassignments, officer Tony Travis notices the neighboring estate of weatlhy heiress Nora Hunter and wonders what it would be like to have her money. Meanwhile, at the Hunter estate, Nora's secretary, Sylvia Lockwood, who often impersonates her publicity-shy boss in public, informs Nora that she plans to leave for Washington with her new husband, Phil Vernon. Nora begs Sylvia to stay until she marries her fiancé Donald, who has just returned from the war. Sylvia agrees but when Donald appears, he tells Sylvia that he is breaking their engagement because he has fallen in love with someone else. He advises Nora to marry a man who loves her so much that he does not care about her money. To cheer up Nora, Sylvia suggests inviting the neighboring servicemen to a party, and Nora agrees on the condition that Sylvia pretends to be her. At the party, Nora, posing as Sylvia, meets Tony and plays a game of pool with him. She is charmed by Tony, but he seems to be more interested in Sylvia. When both Nora and Tony catch a cold after becoming trapped in the estate's spouting sprinklers, Tony medicates them with a potent alcoholic drink. While tipsy, he tells Nora that he would never marry without love. To test Tony, Nora decides to continue her charade and invites him for a weekend at her beach house with Sylvia, Phil and Jonathan Connors, her overprotective guardian. At the beach, Nora begins to confess her love to Tony, but is rebuffed when he confides that he is afraid to approach Sylvia because he fears her rejection. Disillusioned, Nora urges Tony to woo Sylvia, and that night, while Phil, Connors and Nora play cards, Tony romances Sylvia in the next room. Drunk on Tony's medicinal potion, Sylvia accepts Tony's proposal, and Connors warns Nora to stop playing games and tell Tony the truth. Later that night, Tony sees Phil sneak into Sylvia's room, and the next morning, Tony tells Sylvia that he is breaking their engagement. To test Tony further, Nora says that she had switched rooms with Sylvia and that Phil was visiting her. When Phil comes to the breakfast table singing, Tony slugs him and carries Nora out of the house and marries her. In their honeymoon motel room, Nora tells Tony to read their marriage license, and he finally realizes that he has married an heiress and not a secretary.
Director
Richard Wallace
Director
Cast
Alan Marshal
Tony Travis
Laraine Day
Nora Hunter
Marsha Hunt
Sylvia Lockwood
Allyn Joslyn
Phil Vernon
Edgar Buchanan
Jonathan Connors
Michael St. Angel
Stephen Corey
Marc Cramer
Ross
William Post Jr.
Donald
Bruce Edwards
Chaplain
Nancy Gates
Janie Mason
Slim Summerville
Samuel
John Miljan
Major Harvey
Robert Anderson
Lieutenant Wilson
Larry Wheat
Butler
Frances Grant
Dancing instructress
Chris Drake
Flyer
George Chandler
Armed guard
Frank Melton
Armed guard
Ralph Montgomery
Dance instructor
John Gibbs
Bus driver
Sammy Blum
Bus driver
Gwen Crawford
Red Cross nurse
Claire Carleton
Nurse Harrison
William Haade
Guard
Eddie Acuff
Photographer
Harry Harvey Sr.
Motel manager
Robert Schoemer
Laundry truck driver
Cliff Clark
Ship's captain
George Lessey
Executive
Forbes Murray
Executive
Stanley Price
Officer's secretary
Dewey Robinson
Welder
George Lloyd
Welder
Margie Stewart
Margaret Landry
Mary Halsey
Daun Kennedy
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Mel Berns
Makeup Artist
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
John Elliott
Dialogue Director
Henry Ephron
Screenwriter
Phoebe Ephron
Screenwriter
Al Fields
Set Decoration
Bert Granet
Producer
Walter E. Keller
Art Director
Edward Killy
Assistant Director
Norman Krasna
Original Story
Les Milbrook
Editing
Nicholas Musuraca
Director of Photography
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Edward Stevenson
Gowns
James G. Stewart
Re-Recording
James S. Thomson
Recording
Vernon L. Walker
Special Effects
Roy Webb
Music
Film Details
Also Known As
That Hunter Girl
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Romance
Release Date
Jan
1944
Premiere Information
New York opening: 15 Sep 1944
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Beverly Hills, California, United States; Monterey, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 21m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,290ft
Articles
Bride by Mistake
RKO's remake of the Joel McCrea/Miriam Hopkins screwball comedy The Richest Girl In The World (1934), this go-round follows wealthy Norah Hunter (Laraine Day) and her quest to find a man who's not just after her money. Of course, some of this quest involves swapping identities with her trusted secretary Sylvia (Marsha Hunt), as a way of screening would-be suitors. Misunderstandings arise when Norah's latest target, honest Air Force officer Tony (Alan Marshal) starts to get the women confused. This is the first screenwriting credit for the husband and wife team Phoebe and Henry Ephron, who excelled at sparring romances involving powerful women, like the Tracy/Hepburn romance Desk Set (1957). (The Ephrons also specialized in passing on the talent -- all four of their daughters, including Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally (1989)) and Delia Ephron (You've Got Mail (1998)) became professional writers and/or screenwriters.)
Bride by Mistake
RKO's remake of the Joel McCrea/Miriam Hopkins screwball comedy The Richest Girl In The World (1934), this go-round follows wealthy Norah Hunter (Laraine Day) and her quest to find a man who's not just after her money. Of course, some of this quest involves swapping identities with her trusted secretary Sylvia (Marsha Hunt), as a way of screening would-be suitors. Misunderstandings arise when Norah's latest target, honest Air Force officer Tony (Alan Marshal) starts to get the women confused. This is the first screenwriting credit for the husband and wife team Phoebe and Henry Ephron, who excelled at sparring romances involving powerful women, like the Tracy/Hepburn romance Desk Set (1957). (The Ephrons also specialized in passing on the talent -- all four of their daughters, including Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally (1989)) and Delia Ephron (You've Got Mail (1998)) became professional writers and/or screenwriters.)
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was That Hunter Girl. According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, John Lockert was assigned to edit the film, but his death on May 14, 1944 prevented his participation in the project. Another news item in Hollywood Reporter notes that the sprinkler scene was filmed at Pickfair, the Beverly Hills mansion owned by Mary Pickford. Other location shots were filmed in Monterey, CA. Bride by Mistake marked the first producer credit for screenwriter Bert Granet. RKO borrowed Marsha Hunt from M-G-M, Allyn Joslyn from Twentieth Century-Fox and Alan Marshal from David O. Selznick Productions for the film. Norman Krasna's story was first filmed by RKO in 1934 under the title The Richest Girl in the World. That picture was directed by William A. Seiter and starred Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1931-40; F3.3726). Marsha Hunt and Laraine Day reprised their roles in a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast on January 1, 1945, co-starring John Hodiak.
