Playthings of Desire
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
George Melford
Linda Watkins
James Kirkwood
Reed Howes
Josephine Dunn Sterling
Molly O'day
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After he becomes engaged to New York stage actress Gloria Dawn, former playboy Jim Malvern gives Renee Grant, a recent lover, $25,000 to "disappear." Although she accepts the money, Renee resents being bought off by Jim and shares her displeasure with her current boyfriend, gambler Wheeler Johnson. Later, Jim and Gloria honeymoon at Jim's Florida estate and are visited by a group of his New York friends. Among the friends is Anne Cabot, a socialite with whom Jim had a scandalous affair. Anne still loves Jim and flirts openly with him in front of Gloria. Hurt by Jim's attentions to Anne, Gloria spends time with Jack Halliday, their handsome next-door neighbor. Back in New York, Wheeler tells Renee that he is going to Florida to exact revenge on Jim, ignoring her pleas to let the matter drop. Tensions between Gloria and Jim then come to a head when Jack, having spent the day canoeing with Gloria, decides to declare his love for the actress. After Jack accuses Jim of neglecting his wife and Gloria announces she is seeking a divorce, Jack and Jim start to fight. Later, Jim apologizes to Gloria and begs her to stay with him, but is rebuffed. Then, while both Gloria and Anne are readying to leave, a gunshot is heard and Jim is discovered fatally wounded. Before he dies, Jim implicates Jack to the police. As the police are about to arrest Jack, Renee shows up and explains that she came to Florida to warn Jim about the revenge-hungry Wheeler. Wheeler's half-eaten body is discovered in an alligator-infested swamp, with his recently discharged gun lying nearby. Cleared of all suspicion, Jack is free to pursue a romance with Gloria.
Director
George Melford
Cast
Linda Watkins
James Kirkwood
Reed Howes
Josephine Dunn Sterling
Molly O'day
Jack Chapin
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
No reviews for this film were found. The above plot summary and credits were taken from a dialogue continuity submitted on February 21, 1934 to the New York State Censor Board. In a Film Daily news item, Jess Caven is listed as a cast member, but his participation in the final film has not been confirmed. A July 26, 1933 Film Daily news item called the picture a "Kennedy Sunshine Special," an apparent reference to Aubrey Kennedy, the then owner of the film's production studio. According to modern sources, Kennedy produced the film in mid-1933 at his own studio, which at the time of production was not called Sun Haven but was renamed Sun Haven when T. C. Parker, Jr., a local investor in the film, purchased the facility from Kennedy in August 1933. Sun Haven then merged with Beecroft-Florida Studios in Tampa, Florida in December 1933.
