Convention City
Cast & Crew
Archie Mayo
Joan Blondell
Adolphe Menjou
Dick Powell
Mary Astor
Guy Kibbee
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Among the Honeywell Rubber Company salespeople on board a special train bound for the annual convention in Atlantic City are T. R. "Ted" Kent, a champion salesman; Arline Dale, the best saleswoman, who is also in love with Kent; George Ellerbe, a henpecked husband, and his wife; and Jerry Ford, attending his first convention. When they arrive in Atlantic City, Jerry makes a date with Nancy Lorraine, a chorus girl. During a party, Kent helps Jerry out of a scandalous situation involving Nancy, but Mrs. Ellerbe sees Nancy leave Kent's room and immediately wires his wife. Meanwhile, Jerry has met Claire Honeywell, the boss's daughter, and she makes a date with him. Both Kent and Ellerbe are contenders for the position of sales manager, so when Kent learns that Claire is in town, he romances her in the hope that she will recommend him to her father. Ellerbe asks Kent to help him get rid of his wife for a while, and Kent agrees, hoping that Ellerbe will get into trouble by offending the conservative J. B. Honeywell and lose the position. After his wife leaves, Ellerbe makes a date with Nancy. Mrs. Ellerbe returns unexpectedly, however, and Kent rushes upstairs to warn Ellerbe and finds him in the midst of being blackmailed by Nancy's crooked partner, Frank Wilson, who is pretending to be her husband. With Kent's help, Ellerbe escapes, and Kent is found with Nancy when Mrs. Kent suddenly arrives with private detectives, looking for grounds for divorce. To add to his troubles, Claire also sees Kent and Nancy together and assumes that he is two-timing her. On the final day of the convention, Honeywell names Will Goodwin, who has caught him in a compromising situation, sales manager. Returning home on the train, Kent and Dale become engaged even though Kent believes that a "salesman has no right to be married," when Dale points out that she is also a salesman and "two wrongs make a right." Claire makes her father give Jerry a promotion and the two young people get engaged as well.
Director
Archie Mayo
Cast
Joan Blondell
Adolphe Menjou
Dick Powell
Mary Astor
Guy Kibbee
Frank Mchugh
Patricia Ellis
Ruth Donnelly
Hugh Herbert
Grant Mitchell
Egon Brecher
Hobart Cavanaugh
Sheila Terry
Gordon Westcott
Barbara Rogers
Harry C. Bradley
Douglas Dumbrille
Lorin Baker
Samuel Hinds
William Burress
Virginia Howell
Johnny Arthur
Huey White
Sam Godfrey
Crew
Henry Blanke
S. H. Brown
Cecille Davis
Leo F. Forbstein
Esdras Hartley
Robert Lord
Owen Marks
William Mcgann
Peter Milne
Howard Oggle
Orry-kelly
William Rees
Carroll Sax
Charles Seeling
Homer Van Pelt
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
No copies of this film can be found. Please check your attic.
In the original senario, Elmer the Goat was a sheep.
Notes
According to contemporary news items, Warner Bros. intended to send a unit to Atlantic City to shoot some scenes, and Glenda Farrell was to have a featured role. According to a reader's report in the file on the film in the Warner Bros. collection at the USC Cinema-Television Library, Warren William was under consideration to play the role of Kent and Aline MacMahon was considered for the role of Arline. The same report included a character named Foghorn Callahan to be played by Allen Jenkins, but his participation in the final film has not been confirmed. Despite the racy nature of the film's subject matter, it did not encounter excessive censorship problems. According to the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection in the AMPAS Library, those territories that did demand cuts asked for deletions of double entendre dialogue. For example, in a scene in which several women anticipate the Honeywell convention, one woman says, "And I'm so tired from the Ever-Ready Bandage Company," and another woman responds "Listen, sister, if they tire you, you better leave town before the Hercules Tool Company gets here"; several territories demanded that the response be cut. The film was banned by the National Catholic Legion of Decency. According to modern sources, when the PCA demanded extensive cuts before the film could be re-issued, Warner Bros. production chief, Jack Warner, was so angry that he had all copies of the film destroyed. This could not be confirmed from the PCA file on the film, however.
