Sweetheart of Sigma Chi
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jack Bernhard
Phil Regan
Elyse Knox
Phil Brito
Ross Hunter
Tom Harmon
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At Rawley University's Sigma Chi house, two fraternity brothers admire a photograph of the current sweetheart, Betty Allan. Meanwhile, on her way to class, Betty pretends to suffer car trouble so that Ted Sloan, the only boy not enamored of her, will be forced to stop and talk to her. Her plan backfires, however, as Ted becomes angry that Betty has made him late to class. Later, Betty returns to the Delta Omega house, where she finds her roommate Sue and Sue's boyfriend, Bill Ryan. Hoping that Ted will accept her key to the sorority's arbor, where sweethearts go to cuddle, Betty writes him a love letter and encloses her key. She sends the envelope to Ted, but he refuses to open it. Later, Betty arrives at a dockside boathouse to watch the university's rowing crew, of which Ted is the captain. When Ted's car will not start, he is forced to accept a ride from Betty, but insists that he is not interested in her. That evening, Ted goes to the sorority house to return Betty's key, and her sorority sisters laugh at her humiliating rejection. Betty then bets them that Ted will not only accept her key, but also take her dancing at a roadhouse owned by Bill's brother Lucky. The next day, Betty returns to the boathouse, where an angry Ted, tired of being pursued by Betty, accidentally knocks her into the water. When Betty calls out for help, Ted dives in to rescue her, then has a change of heart and agrees to take her to the roadhouse. That evening, inside Lucky's office at the roadhouse, gangsters Artie and Frankie ask him who is favored to win Rawley's upcoming rowing match with a rival university. When Lucky says Rawley is favored, they tell him of their plan to bet $10,000 on Rawley's opponent, then fix the race so that Rawley will lose. To insure Lucky's silence, the thugs threaten to expose his checkered past. Back at the sorority house, Betty again gives her key to Ted, which he gladly accepts, having fallen in love with her. Later, however, Betty, who has also genuinely fallen in love, begins to feel guilty about collecting on her bets. When Frankie, who is passing by the sorority house, offers Ted a bribe to throw the race, Ted punches him in the mouth. That evening, Lucky asks Betty to stop by the roadhouse, and she breaks her date with Ted. Curious about Betty's plans, Ted follows her to the roadhouse and, when Frankie arrives, becomes convinced that Betty is in on the plot to fix the race. The next day, Ted returns Betty's key without explanation. That evening, at the Sigma Chi party to announce the new sweetheart, Betty learns that she has won again. Meanwhile, Artie and Frankie drill a hole into the bottom of the Rawley boat so that it will sink in the middle of the race. The next morning, during the competition, the Rawley team is leading until their boat starts taking on water. After a quick-thinking crew member plugs the hole with his lucky rabbit's foot, Rawley wins the race. Artie and Frankie protest the results, thus revealing themselves as the saboteurs, and the crew tosses them into the water. Later, Ted apologizes for doubting Betty, and they kiss.
Director
Jack Bernhard
Cast
Phil Regan
Elyse Knox
Phil Brito
Ross Hunter
Tom Harmon
Paul Guilfoyle
Anne Gillis
Ed Brophy
Fred Colby
Frankie Carle
The Slim Gaillard Trio
Robert Arthur
Alan Hale Jr.
David Holt
David Clarke
Ruth Allen
Evelyn Reed
Denise Kay
Adell Eaton
Beverly Jons
Jean Cronin
Bonnie Nolan
Pat Kennedy
Maury Dexter
Fred Datig Jr.
Bob Fitzgerald
Robert Bacon
Michael Kostrick
William Beaudine Jr.
Emmett Vogan
Marjorie Hoerner
Stanley Musgrove
Evan Thomas
Eddie Fetherstone
Carol Andrews
Crew
William Austin
Wesley Barry
Jeffrey Bernerd
Raymond Boltz Jr.
Val Burton
Sammy Cahn
William Calihan
Frankie Carle
Lanier Darwin
Slim Gaillard
Michel Jacoby
Will Jason
Edward J. Kay
Lorraine Maclean
Merle Maddern
Dave Milton
L. W. O'connell
Lee Ricks
Earl Sitar
Byron D. Stokes
Jule Styne
F. Dudleigh Vernor
George Waggner
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
A 2 August 1944 Hollywood Reporter news item announced that Lindsley Parsons would produce this film for Monogram. Although George Waggner is credited with an original story, Monogram's 1933 film, The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, starring Buster Crabbe and Mary Carlisle, and written by Luther Reed and Albert E. DeMond, had a similar story (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.4431).
