By Violet LeVoit
By Your Leave
Brief Synopsis
A bored couple facing middle-age succumbs to wandering eyes.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lloyd Corrigan
Director
Frank Morgan
Henry Smith
Genevieve Tobin
Ellen Smith
Neil Hamilton
David McKenzie
Marion Nixon
Andree [alias of Lucy Shoemaker]
Gene Lockhart
Skeets
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Nov
9,
1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play By Your Leave by Gladys Hurlbut and Emma B. C. Wells (New York, 24 Jan 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 22m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Synopsis
Suddenly overwhelmed by a mid-life crisis, insurance executive Henry Smith tells his wife Ellen that he needs change in his life and suggests that they take separate vacations for a week. Although hurt, Ellen, a contented suburban housewife, agrees, and Henry leaves for New York. There, Henry, who has been unable to procure a date, visits an Ivy League alumni club and meets Skeets, a polished drunk. While Henry and Skeets pursue Broadway showgirl Gloria Dawn, Ellen sulks at home with Whiffen, the housekeeper. Eventually Ellen also goes to New York, where a friend re-introduces her to explorer David McKenzie, a mutual childhood acquaintance. Henry, meanwhile, wakes from a drunken stupor in his hotel and, with Skeets, returns to the Broadway theater to meet Gloria and her friend Merle. While Henry is rejected and left behind by Merle, Ellen attends a lecture given by David and is mesmerized by his tales of exotic travel. Discouraged by his romantic failures, Henry allows his best friend, playboy Freddie Wilkins, to arrange a date for him with a paid escort. At Freddie's insistence, Henry prepares his hotel room for his date, unaware that Freddie is on his way to seduce Ellen. Henry nervously greets Andree, his young, eager hostess, and whisks her away for a night on the town. After dismissing Freddie, Ellen meets David for dinner and admires his yacht, on which he is sailing the next day. Terrified of Andree's sexual flirtation, Henry sneaks out of his hotel room and returns home. In Ellen's hotel room, meanwhile, David confesses his love and tries to convince her to travel abroad with him. Unsure about her feelings, Ellen promises David an answer the next day and goes home. Soon after, Andree shows up at the Smith house demanding to know why Henry deserted her. With quick thinking, Henry foists Andree on Freddie, then confesses to Ellen that his "vacation" was a disaster. Convinced of her husband's love, Ellen telephones David and tells him that she is staying in the suburbs.
Director
Lloyd Corrigan
Director
Cast
Frank Morgan
Henry Smith
Genevieve Tobin
Ellen Smith
Neil Hamilton
David McKenzie
Marion Nixon
Andree [alias of Lucy Shoemaker]
Gene Lockhart
Skeets
Margaret Hamilton
Whiffen
Betty Grable
Frances [Gretchell]
Glenn Anders
Freddie Wilkins
Charles Ray
Leonard Purcell
Lona Andre
Florence Purcell
Lenita Lane
Laura
Shirley Chambers
Merle
Addie Mcphail
Gloria Dawn
Crew
Rex Bailey
Assistant Director
Pandro S. Berman
Company
Perry Ferguson
Art Director
Lewis Foster
Contr to dial
Sam Mintz
Contr to Screenplay const
William Morgan
Editing
Nick Musuraca
Photography
Walter Plunkett
Costumes
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Allan Scott
Screenwriter
Max Steiner
Music Director
Vernon Walker
Photography Effects
Paul F. Wiser
Recording
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Nov
9,
1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play By Your Leave by Gladys Hurlbut and Emma B. C. Wells (New York, 24 Jan 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 22m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Articles
By Your Leave -
Before Frank Morgan and Margaret Hamilton unforgettably starred together in The Wizard of Oz (1939), they shared the screen in very different roles in this semi-racy comedy: discontent businessman Henry Smith (Morgan) announces he'd like a vacation away from his wife, going on a drunken binge with barroom pal Skeets (Gene Lockhart, in his first movie role) and chasing showgirls and escorts. Meanwhile, his wife Ellen (Genevieve Tobin) quits moping long enough to make her own trip to New York, where she suddenly discovers there's adventures still open to a suburban housewife, especially in the guise of childhood pal turned dashing adventurer David McKenzie (Neil Hamilton). There's nothing going on to really shatter the sanctity of hearth and home, but all the quasi-adulterous hijinks are squeaking in just under the wire of the newly enacted (and enforced) Production Code. Keep your eyes peeled for a young Betty Grable in a bit role too.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
By Your Leave -
Before Frank Morgan and Margaret Hamilton unforgettably starred together in The Wizard of Oz (1939), they shared the screen in very different roles in this semi-racy comedy: discontent businessman Henry Smith (Morgan) announces he'd like a vacation away from his wife, going on a drunken binge with barroom pal Skeets (Gene Lockhart, in his first movie role) and chasing showgirls and escorts. Meanwhile, his wife Ellen (Genevieve Tobin) quits moping long enough to make her own trip to New York, where she suddenly discovers there's adventures still open to a suburban housewife, especially in the guise of childhood pal turned dashing adventurer David McKenzie (Neil Hamilton). There's nothing going on to really shatter the sanctity of hearth and home, but all the quasi-adulterous hijinks are squeaking in just under the wire of the newly enacted (and enforced) Production Code. Keep your eyes peeled for a young Betty Grable in a bit role too.
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to Motion Picture Herald's "The Cutting Room," Erik Rhodes was to be a cast member in this film, but that actor did not appear in the final film. Hollywood Reporter production charts and news items list Hilda Vaughn and Sheila Terry as cast members, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. RKO borrowed Frank Morgan from M-G-M and Genevieve Tobin from Warner Bros. for the production.
