By Violet LeVoit
Gold Dust Gertie
Brief Synopsis
Business partners try to hide their gold-digging ex-wife from their current spouses.
Cast & Crew
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Lloyd Bacon
Director
Winnie Lightner
Gertie Dale
Ole Olsen
Elmer Guthrie
Chic Johnson
George Harlan
Dorothy Christy
Mabel
Claude Gillingwater
Arnold
Film Details
Also Known As
Gold Dust Girl, Red Hot Sinners
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Jun
27,
1931
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
The Vitaphone Corp.; Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play The Life of the Party by Len D. Hollister (production undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 21m
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
Elmer Guthrie and George Harlan, employees of the Arnold Knitting Mills, are married to twins. Before their current marriages, both men were married to Gertie Dale, a fact they have kept from Mr. Arnold, their boss, because old-fashioned Arnold strongly disapproves of divorce. He also refuses to let his company manufacture any bathing suits he believes are not modest, dismissing the modern designs that Elmer and George show him, in hopes of forestalling the financial ruin of the company. To the consternation of Elmer and George, Gertie shows up at the office demanding her back alimony. When she learns that Arnold has never been married, she vows to reform him. After faking a faint in Arnold's office, she claims to have designed a modest bathing suit and begs him to travel to a convention in Florida so she can demonstrate it. Within minutes, Arnold is devoted to Gertie and is willing to do whatever she wants. Arnold invites George and Elmer and their wives to sail to Florida with him and Gertie on his yacht. Leaving their wives behind, Elmer and George board the yacht to keep an eye on Gertie. When they learn through a note that she was also once married to the captain of the boat, they believe they have found a means to keep Gertie quiet about her relationship to them. She manages to retrieve the incriminating note from them just before Arnold professes his love and proposes. When they arrive in Florida, Arnold insists on seeing the bathing suit. At first he is horrified because Gertie's suit is very revealing, but when she puts it on, he thinks she is so adorable that he changes his mind and allows her to wear it in the parade. The suit wins first prize, and Gertie talks Arnold into raising Elmer and George's salaries. Her wedding to Arnold is interrupted by the minister, an old friend of Arnold, who recognizes Gertie, Elmer and George and tells Arnold about Gertie's previous marriages. Gertie runs away, but Arnold chases after her to forgive her. His love for her has changed his ideas about divorce.
Director
Lloyd Bacon
Director
Cast
Winnie Lightner
Gertie Dale
Ole Olsen
Elmer Guthrie
Chic Johnson
George Harlan
Dorothy Christy
Mabel
Claude Gillingwater
Arnold
Arthur Hoyt
Dr. Tate
George Byron
Captain Osgood
Vivienne Oakland
Lucille
Charles Judels
Pestalozzi
Virginia Sale
Secretary
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
Gold Dust Girl, Red Hot Sinners
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Jun
27,
1931
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
The Vitaphone Corp.; Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play The Life of the Party by Len D. Hollister (production undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 21m
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Gold Dust Gertie -
Successful Vaudeville veteran Winnie Lightner switched over to films after director Roy Del Ruth wooed her into Gold Diggers Of Broadway (1929), and rightfully, too: "The Song A Minute Girl" wasn't conventionally pretty, but she had pep, zip, and a lovely voice that registered well on early sound recording technology. Here, she plays oft-divorced Gertie Dale, ex-wife of not one but two workers (Ole Olson and Chic Johnson, of the comedy team Olson and Johnson) at the local knitting factory. That makes things tricky, since their moralistic boss (Claude Gillingwater) despises divorce, skimpy bathing suits, and just about every other vice of the modern age. But he's never been married - and Gertie sees an easy mark for yet another monthly alimony payment. After making good in other revues like Manhattan Parade (1931), Lightner retired in 1934 to marry Del Ruth, the man who brought her in (and out) of pictures.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Gold Dust Gertie -
Successful Vaudeville veteran Winnie Lightner switched over to films after director Roy Del Ruth wooed her into Gold Diggers Of Broadway (1929), and rightfully, too: "The Song A Minute Girl" wasn't conventionally pretty, but she had pep, zip, and a lovely voice that registered well on early sound recording technology. Here, she plays oft-divorced Gertie Dale, ex-wife of not one but two workers (Ole Olson and Chic Johnson, of the comedy team Olson and Johnson) at the local knitting factory. That makes things tricky, since their moralistic boss (Claude Gillingwater) despises divorce, skimpy bathing suits, and just about every other vice of the modern age. But he's never been married - and Gertie sees an easy mark for yet another monthly alimony payment. After making good in other revues like Manhattan Parade (1931), Lightner retired in 1934 to marry Del Ruth, the man who brought her in (and out) of pictures.
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working titles were Gold Dust Girl and Red Hot Sinners. The onscreen credits note that Brunswick radios were used exclusively in the picture. A pre-production news item in Motion Picture Herald indicates that Roy Del Ruth was originally signed to direct.
