Hush Money
Cast & Crew
Sidney Lanfield
Joan Bennett
Hardie Albright
Owen Moore
Myrna Loy
C. Henry Gordon
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After Joan Gordon, posing as the wife of her lover, Steve Pelton, helps him lure a family of unsuspecting tourists, the Stocktons, to be robbed in Central Park, Mr. Stockton is shot and killed by one of his assailants. When Pelton tells Jack Curtis, the head of the gang, that he plans to leave for Montreal with Joan, Curtis' wife Flo, with whom Pelton is also involved, is dismayed. However, after Joan refuses to accompany Pelton, they are apprehended by police captain Dan Emmett. To get a reduced sentence, Pelton signs a confession implicating Curtis. Joan, after suffering through a third-degree interrogation, is convicted because of Pelton's confession and sent to prison for a year. During her term, Joan, who got involved with Pelton because she was broke and in need of help, comes to understand that she had to pay for peace of mind after making her mistake. Emmett, now an inspector, meets Joan upon her release and offers his assistance if she ever needs it. Joan gets a job in a department store and studies interior decorating at night. Later, she has a good job as a decorator and is courted by Stuart Elliott, a wealthy man whose house she decorated. When Stuart proposes, Joan goes to Emmett for advice, and he tells her to marry him, but not to reveal her past. They marry and have a child, Stuart, Jr., and on the day before their third anniversary, Stuart gives Joan a stunning necklace, which he wants her to wear to dinner the next evening. The next day, Pelton, who is out of prison and living with Flo, visits Joan and after demanding that Joan pay her $5,000 by that evening, takes the necklace as collateral. Joan tells Emmett, who feels responsible, and he vows to help her get out of the jam. He goes to the barber shop where Curtis, recently paroled, is having a massage. After inferring that Pelton's confession implicated Curtis, Emmett gives him Pelton's address. Emmett then plays checkers with the county coroner as Curtis visits Pelton and shoots him. Meanwhile, Stuart, while dressing for dinner, worries Joan as he tells her about a married couple who recently split up because the wife made the mistake of telling her husband things he didn't want to know. After the coroner gets the call about Pelton, Emmett retrieves the necklace and surreptitiously returns it to Joan, without arousing Stuart's suspicions.
Director
Sidney Lanfield
Cast
Joan Bennett
Hardie Albright
Owen Moore
Myrna Loy
C. Henry Gordon
Douglas Cosgrove
George Raft
Huey White
George Byron
André Cheron
Henry Armetta
George Irving
Nella Walker
Joan Castle
Louise Mackintosh
Ronald Cosbey
Crew
William Darling
Thelma Dillon
Wm. Fox
Philip Klein
Sidney Lanfield
Sidney Lanfield
Irene Morra
Dudley Nichols
A. L. Rockett
John Seitz
Courtenay Terrett
Dolly Tree
E. Clayton Ward
Charles Woolstenhulme
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Romance of the Underworld. According to correspondence in the MPAA/PCA files at the AMPAS Library, Fox made two minor changes in the film after it was shot and previewed for the Hays Office in accordance with their wishes. Variety noted that two of the writers were New York newspapermen; Courtenay Terrett worked for the New York Telegram and Dudley Nichols for the old New York World. Although reviews and the Fox trade advertising billing sheets list the main character as "Janet" Gordon, she is called "Joan" throughout the dialogue of the film. On November 12, 1936, the PCA issued a certificate for this film's re-issue.
