Lombard at this time was having some difficulties with the brass at Paramount, her home studio. They had just placed her in a small role in The Eagle and the Hawk (1933), after which they tried to loan her to Fox for the minor film Jimmy and Sally (1933). Lombard was so mad she staged a walkout. Paramount then offered her a picture called Girl Without a Room (1933), a troubled production that was already on its second director. As Ed Sikov wrote in his book Screwball: "Carole wanted no part of Girl Without a Room but she also did not want to tangle with the Paramount front office, which had a way of penalizing her uncooperativeness... So Carole got dolled up in a smart new sports suit with a matching hat that left most of the blond locks exposed, and paid an impromptu call on Harry Cohn."
It worked. The Columbia boss was charmed by the beautiful blonde (she had done films for him before) and showed her a list of literary properties that he owned. Lombard scanned the list, recognized S.N. Behrman's Brief Moment as a recent, quality play, and asked about it. Cohn had purchased the play as a possible vehicle for the British actress Gertrude Lawrence, but it was not high-priority so he agreed to produce it for Lombard immediately. It's possible that Brief Moment might never have seen the light of day if not for Lombard's actions.
Audiences and critics were pleased with the result. The New York Times wrote, "It is definitely a tribute to the talents of Carole Lombard and Gene Raymond that Brief Moment possesses some vital spark that compels one's interest and attention. The plot may be hackneyed, but Miss Lombard and Mr. Raymond treat it as though it were entirely new. An audience cannot help being lured into a favorable reaction."
Director: David Burton
Screenplay: Brian Marlow; S.N. Behrman (play)
Cinematography: Ted Tetzlaff
Film Editing: Gene Havlick
Cast: Carole Lombard (Abby Fane), Gene Raymond (Rodney Deane), Donald Cook (Franklin Deane), Monroe Owsley (Harold Sigrift), Arthur Hohl (Steve Walsh), Irene Ware (Joan), Theresa Maxwell Conover (Mrs. Deane), Reginald Mason (Mr. Deane), Jameson Thomas (Count Armand), Florence Britton (Kay Deane), Herbert Evans (Alfred).
BW-69m.
by Jeremy Arnold
