A Feather in Her Hat
Brief Synopsis
A female shopkeeper sacrifices everything to give her son a theatrical career.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Alfred Santell
Director
Pauline Lord
Clarissa Phipps
Basil Rathbone
Captain [Randolph] Courtney
Louis Hayward
Richard Orland
Billie Burke
Julia Trent Anders
Wendy Barrie
Pauline Anders
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Oct
17,
1935
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel A Feather in Her Hat by I. A. R. Wylie (Garden City, NY, 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 12m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
In 1925, in London's Hyde Park, Clarissa Phipps takes in the drunken, destitute gentleman Captain Randolph Courtney and asks him to educate her son Richard in the finer things of life. Ten years later, on Richard's 21st birthday, Clarissa reveals to him that he is not her son, but the son of a famous actress and a nobleman. Clarissa sends Richard away, so that he may fulfill his upper class heritage, but Richard seeks the help of Courtney. Together, they find some letters that indicate his mother is Julia Trent, who is now a poor housemanager and is married to an eccentric scientist, Paul Anders. Without revealing his identity, Richard takes a room with the Anderses. Soon Richard meets Julia's stepdaughter, Pauline, a painter, with whom he becomes infatuated. Visiting Clarissa for dinner, Richard encounters his uneducated girl friend, Emily Judson. The couple leave in a taxi, which is then involved in an accident, and the next morning Paul reads the news to Pauline. Pauline hurries to the hospital but finds that Richard's injuries are minor and he has been released. Clarissa clearly prefers Pauline to Emily and although Richard and Emily were to have been engaged, Clarissa encourages his feelings for Pauline. While convalescing, Richard writes a play, Son of Sixpence , written as a vehicle to return Julia to the stage. Meanwhile, Clarissa, long a victim of heart trouble, visits Dr. Phillips, who insists she must retire and move to the country. Later, Richard reveals to Clarissa that he will not ask Pauline to marry him because he has no name of his own. Richard's play is staged, and it is a success on opening night. Afterwards, Emily informs Richard that Clarissa passed out at the close of the play and then tells Pauline that it is she whom Richard loves. On her deathbed, Clarissa reveals that she is Richard's mother and that she concocted the story in order for Richard to become a person of "quality." Courtney sadly leaves, and Pauline comes for Richard.
Director
Alfred Santell
Director
Cast
Pauline Lord
Clarissa Phipps
Basil Rathbone
Captain [Randolph] Courtney
Louis Hayward
Richard Orland
Billie Burke
Julia Trent Anders
Wendy Barrie
Pauline Anders
Nydia Westman
Emily Judson
Victor Varconi
Paul Anders
Thurston Hall
Sir Elroyd Joyce
Nana Bryant
Lady Drake
J. M. Kerrigan
Popjoy
Lawrence Grant
Dr. Phillips
Doris Lloyd
Liz Vining
David Niven
Leo Cartwright
John Rogers
Henry Vining
E. E. Clive
Higgins--proprietor of Publicist
Leonard Mudie
Orator
Harry Allen
Alf
Ottola Nesmith
Susan
Tempe Pigott
Katy
Leyland Hodgson
Leading man
Boyd Johnson
English doctor
Olaf Hytten
Taxi driver
Jimmy Aubrey
Taxi driver
David Dunbar
Truck driver
Herbert Heywood
Fish monger
Thomas R. Mills
Stage manager
Robert Cory
Stage manager
Fred Walton
Heckler
Frank Baker
English policeman
James May
Butcher
Wilson Benge
Butcher
Peggy Wynne
Cockney woman
Edna Lyall
Cockney woman
Ambrose Barker
Cockney man
John Power
Cockney man
Sonny Roe
Cockney man
D'arcy Corrigan
Cockney man
George Bunny
Cockney man
Hugh Harris
Cockney man
Stanley Mann
Cockney man
John Mccallum
Cockney man
William Martin
Richard--as a boy
Alma Chester
Mrs. Wheeler
Elsie Prescott
Mrs. Guernsey
Agnes Steele
Mrs. Probert
Captain John Van Eyck
Hospital attendant
Geordie Mackay
Messenger boy
Dan Maxwell
Driver
Doreen Munroe
Mrs. Popjoy
Kay Deslys
Barmaid
Robert Hale
Cab driver
Gil Perkins
Ticket taker
Larry Dodds
Ticket seller
Nellie St. Clair
Scrub woman
Minnie Steele
Scrub woman
Douglas Gordon
Interne
Vivien Patterson
Nurse
Corinne Williams
Nurse
Tyrone Brereton
Waiter
Lois Lindsey
Montague Shaw
George Kirby
Henry Mowbray
Carrie Daumery
Richard Lancaster
Lowden Adams
Doris Stone
Phillips Smalley
Mrs. Wilfrid North
Major Sam Harris
Lorimer Johnston
Joyce Colby
Reba Phillips
Eleanor Huntley
Ivan Christy
Frank Ward
Gladys Gale
Bruce Wyndham
Dorothy Johnson
Frank Benson
J. Gunnis Davis
Mrs. Frank Benson
Connie Leon
Mildred Hardy
Phillis Coghlan
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Oct
17,
1935
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel A Feather in Her Hat by I. A. R. Wylie (Garden City, NY, 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 12m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
A Feather in Her Hat
A female shopkeeper sacrifices everything to give her son a theatrical career.
A Feather in Her Hat
A female shopkeeper sacrifices everything to give her son a theatrical career.
Quotes
Trivia
Ruth Chatterton originally slated to play Clarissa Phelps.
Notes
According to Film Daily, Ruth Chatterton was first chosen for the role of Clarissa, but was replaced by Pauline Lord by mutual agreement of the actress and the studio.
