By Violet LeVoit
Meet the Missus
Brief Synopsis
A woman's mania for entering contests leads her family on a madcap trip to Atlantic City.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Joseph Santley
Director
Victor Moore
Otis Foster
Helen Broderick
Emma Foster
Anne Shirley
Louise Foster
Alan Bruce
Steve Walton
Edward H. Robins
Gordon J. Cutting
Film Details
Also Known As
Missus America
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Jun
4,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
To his dismay, barber Otis Foster, the founder of the Fosterboro Barber College in Fosterboro, Ohio, learns that his wife Emma, a compulsive contest entrant, has been named a finalist in the Happy Noodles Mrs. America contest. After Steve Walton, the contest's representative, drops by to meet Emma and her pretty daughter Louise, Emma informs Otis that, according to the rules of the $10,000 contest, he has to accompany her to the finals in Atlantic City. Reluctantly, Otis, who has always done all of Emma's cooking and cleaning chores, agrees to participate in the contest, but is unprepared for the humiliating treatment to which the finalists' husbands are subjected. After Otis sews the dress that Emma, "Mrs. Mid-Western," needs to win the "frockmaking" portion of the contest, Barney Lott, a judge, slips him a pass to a burlesque club, where Princess Zarina, a notorious fan dancer, is performing. Unknown to Otis, Lott, who has been paid by "Mrs. Mississippi Valley" to get Emma out of the competition, has instructed the police to raid the club, knowing that if a contestant's husband is arrested for any violation, his wife will be disqualified. To make sure that Otis is available to help her in the interior decorating competition, however, Emma locks him in their hotel room. Otis slips the pass to John White, "Mr. Mississippi Valley," who then is arrested in the raid. Just before Emma returns to the room, Princess Zarina sneaks in to avoid the police and hides in the closet. Afraid that Emma will discover the dancer, Otis offers to help in the home decoration competition, which involves cleaning a messy bedroom behind curtains. Before Emma accidentally knocks him out, Otis straightens the room in record time and assures his wife first place. As the final banquet nears, Louise, who is in love with Steve, shows up, furious about the contest's degrading publicity. When Otis then learns that he is to wear a "Mr. Mid-Western" banner to the banquet, he storms the room of Happy Noodles' president Gordon J. Cutting. Mistaken for Cutting's barber, Otis is unable to state his case, but conspires with the other husbands to sabotage the banquet by parading in his bathing suit. Although Otis is crowned "Mr. America," he denounces Happy Noodles over the radio and starts a brawl. After Lott is found guilty of taking bribes from all of the contestants, Emma, who gave Otis' savings to Lott, is awarded the $10,000. His manhood restored, Otis returns to Ohio with a reformed Emma, while Louise and Steve elope to Niagara Falls.
Director
Joseph Santley
Director
Cast
Victor Moore
Otis Foster
Helen Broderick
Emma Foster
Anne Shirley
Louise Foster
Alan Bruce
Steve Walton
Edward H. Robins
Gordon J. Cutting
William Brisbane
Prentiss
Frank M. Thomas
Barney Lott
Ray Mayer
John White
Ada Leonard
Princess Zarina
George Irving
Magistrate
Alec Craig
College president
Willie Best
Mose
Virginia Sale
Mrs. Moseby
Jack Norton
Mr. Norton
Valerie Bergere
Mrs. North-West
Frederic Santley
Mr. Corn Belt
Don Wilson
Himself
Mira Mckinney
Crew
Samuel J. Briskin
Executive Producer
Eddie Donahue
Assistant Director
George D. Ellis
Recording
Perry Ferguson
Art Director Associate
Jack Goodman
Story
Bert Granet
Screenwriter
Frederic Knudtson
Editing
Albert Lewis
Producer
William R. Lipman
Contr to trmt
Jack Mackenzie
Photography
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Albert Rice
Story
Joel Sayre
Screenwriter
Darrell Silvera
Set Dresser
Jack Townley
Screenwriter
Roy Webb
Music Director
Film Details
Also Known As
Missus America
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Jun
4,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Meet The Missus
Emma Foster (Helen Broderick) could be the next "Happy Noodles Mrs. America" if her weary husband Otis (Victor Moore) cooperates with the homemaking contest's emasculating demands, including sewing a dress and straightening up a room in record time. But when a scheming judge (Frank M. Thomas) guesses that Otis would prefer tickets to a back alley performance by "Princess Zarina, the fan dancer" (Ada Leonard), all hell breaks loose. Helen Broderick is most famous as the straight-talking gal pal to Fred and Ginger in Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936), but she made 34 other pictures that highlighted her no-guff charm. Here, in this light comedy that also provides a time capsule view on the contest craze of the Depression, a rare leading role highlights Broderick's unique screen quality that her playwright friend Moss Hart described as "part vitriol and part my favorite person in the world."
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Meet The Missus
Emma Foster (Helen Broderick) could be the next "Happy Noodles Mrs. America" if her weary husband Otis (Victor Moore) cooperates with the homemaking contest's emasculating demands, including sewing a dress and straightening up a room in record time. But when a scheming judge (Frank M. Thomas) guesses that Otis would prefer tickets to a back alley performance by "Princess Zarina, the fan dancer" (Ada Leonard), all hell breaks loose. Helen Broderick is most famous as the straight-talking gal pal to Fred and Ginger in Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936), but she made 34 other pictures that highlighted her no-guff charm. Here, in this light comedy that also provides a time capsule view on the contest craze of the Depression, a rare leading role highlights Broderick's unique screen quality that her playwright friend Moss Hart described as "part vitriol and part my favorite person in the world."
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Missus America. The title of Jack Goodman and Albert Rice's story was "Lady Average." According to a production news item in Hollywood Reporter, Joseph Santley replaced Ben Holmes as director after Holmes was re-assigned to direct There Goes the Groom.
