By Violet LeVoit
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Brief Synopsis
A socialite can't choose between the tough guy she's turned into a gentleman and the gentleman she's turned into a tough guy.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Mark Sandrich
Director
Charles Farrell
Adoniram Schlump
Wynne Gibson
Agnes "Aggie" Appleby
William Gargan
Red Branahan
Zasu Pitts
Sibby
Betty Furness
Evangeline
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Romantic Comedy
Release Date
Nov
3,
1933
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 19 Oct 1933
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men by Joseph O. Kesselring (copyrighted 3 Dec 1932).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 13m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
After her mug boyfriend, Red Branahan, is arrested for beating up two policemen, broke Agnes "Aggie" Appleby is evicted from their New York apartment. Desperate for lodging, Aggie shows at the apartment building where her friend Sibby works as a maid and sneaks into an empty room to sleep. Before she wakes, the room's tenant, timid Adoniram Schlump, returns from an unsuccessful day of job hunting. Although Schlump is startled to find Aggie in his bed, he offers her dinner and tells her about his well-to-do family in upstate New York and his fiancée Evangeline. After Aggie describes Red as a doctor who has been imprisoned as a social reformer, Schlump insists that she stay with him, rent free. Soon Aggie transforms the soft-spoken Schlump into a tough-talking mug and changes his name to Red Branahan before taking him to interview for a job with a construction crew. Based on Red's reputation as a fighter, Schlump is hired as a gang boss and his new job and image inspire him to romance Aggie with gentlemanly force. A few months later, Schlump proposes to Aggie, unaware that Red has been released from prison and is looking for her. Although Aggie loves Schlump, she refuses to marry him because of her past with Red, and runs from his apartment when Evangeline and Schlump's snobby aunt Katharine arrive unannounced. Schlump eventually tracks Aggie to her old apartment, where she "confesses" that she is already married to Red. After a love-sick Schlump fights with Red in a speakeasy, he reunites with Evangeline, who is ecstatic over her fiancé's newfound masculinity. Red then returns home and accepts Aggie's orders that he marry her, change his name to Adoniram Schlump, and learn some manners.
Director
Mark Sandrich
Director
Cast
Charles Farrell
Adoniram Schlump
Wynne Gibson
Agnes "Aggie" Appleby
William Gargan
Red Branahan
Zasu Pitts
Sibby
Betty Furness
Evangeline
Blanche Friderici
Aunt Katharine
Jane Darwell
Landlady
Crew
Pandro S. Berman
Company
Carroll Clark
Art Director
Merian C. Cooper
Executive Producer
James Hartnett
Assistant Director
Bert S. Hodges
Recording
J. Roy Hunt
Photography
Edward Kaufman
Screenwriter
Humphrey Pearson
Screenwriter
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Max Steiner
Music Director
Basil Wrangell
Editing
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Romantic Comedy
Release Date
Nov
3,
1933
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 19 Oct 1933
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men by Joseph O. Kesselring (copyrighted 3 Dec 1932).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 13m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men -
A strange blonde in his bed -- that's a promising start for milquetoast Adoniram Schlump (Charles Farrell) when he comes home to discover Aggie (Wynne Gibson) under his sheets. Turns out she's only there because she's got nowhere to go after her brutish boyfriend Red Branahan (William Gargan) went to jail. But something about Schlump makes Aggie think he's promising raw material. Determined to reshape her benefactor in her ex's he-man image, she toughens up Schlump, gets him a job, and restores his masculine confidence -- with unintended consequences for her own love life. A "makeover" comedy before such a word existed (one reviewer used the words "a Bowery Cinderella"), this gently Pre-Code romantic comedy is not only a chance to see former chorus girl Gibson in action, but to enjoy a supporting cast of Zasu Pitts doing her ethereal what-she-does-best as Aggie's best friend, as well as a pre-consumer advocate Betty Furness as Schlump's classy fiancée.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men -
A strange blonde in his bed -- that's a promising start for milquetoast Adoniram Schlump (Charles Farrell) when he comes home to discover Aggie (Wynne Gibson) under his sheets. Turns out she's only there because she's got nowhere to go after her brutish boyfriend Red Branahan (William Gargan) went to jail. But something about Schlump makes Aggie think he's promising raw material. Determined to reshape her benefactor in her ex's he-man image, she toughens up Schlump, gets him a job, and restores his masculine confidence -- with unintended consequences for her own love life. A "makeover" comedy before such a word existed (one reviewer used the words "a Bowery Cinderella"), this gently Pre-Code romantic comedy is not only a chance to see former chorus girl Gibson in action, but to enjoy a supporting cast of Zasu Pitts doing her ethereal what-she-does-best as Aggie's best friend, as well as a pre-consumer advocate Betty Furness as Schlump's classy fiancée.
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Mark Sandrich replaced Sidney Lanfield as director on this production. Lanfield was pulled to direct RKO's 1935 film Romance in Manhattan, but was eventually replaced by Stephen Roberts on that film. Wynne Gibson replaced Helen Mack in the film's lead, according to another Hollywood Reporter news item.
