Nothing Sacred

In Nothing Sacred, gullible newspaper reporter Fredric March thinks Carole Lombard is terminally ill., She’s not, but wants to visit New York City, so when he offers her an all-expenses paid visit …

Nothing Sacred (1937) starring Fredric March, Carole Lombard, Charles Winninger

Dr. Enoch Downer: You can stop given yourself the heirs of a dying swan. According to this last analysis I made, you ain’t a-going to die. Unless you get run over or something.
Hazel Flagg: What?
Dr. Enoch Downer: You heard me. I don’t like to chew my cabbage twice.
Hazel Flagg: You mean, you mean I-I-I’m not going to die?
Dr. Enoch Downer: You’re fitter than a fiddle!

Oliver Stone: Read that! Rub your nose in it. That’s Hazel Flagg – the biggest fake in the century. A lying, faking witch with the soul of a eel and the brain of a tarantula!

Editorial review of Nothing Sacred courtesy of Amazon

Nothing Sacred is a classic screwball comedy produced in 1937 by David O. Selznick and stars Carole Lombard and Fredric March with a great supporting cast. A New York newspaper reporter played by Fredric March mistakenly reports on a story which leads to his demotion at the newspaper where he is now required to write obituaries. Begging his boss for another chance, March points out a story about a woman dying from radium poisoning in the fictional town of Warsaw, Vermont. Hazel Flagg, played by Carole Lombard, discovers that she is not actually dying but is distressed at the fact of spending the rest of her life in Vermont.

Unaware that Hazel is not dying, Wally Cook (Fredric March) invites Hazel and her doctor as guests to New York and to the Morning Star Newspaper. The newspaper uses Hazel’s story to increase its circulation. A ticker tape parade and a key to the city are given to Hazel who has become an inspiration to many. Wally (March) and Hazel (Lombard) fall in love and Wally asks Hazel to marry him even though he knows she is dying. Things get a bit complicated from that point, but not to worry, the story has a happy ever-after ending. A truly great comedy which Lombard said was one of her personal favorites!

Cast of characters

• Carole Lombard (To Be Or Not to Be (1942)) … Hazel Flagg
• Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1931; The Adventures of Mark Twain) … Wally Cook
• Charles Winninger (State Fair) … Dr. Enoch Downer
• Walter Connolly (Libeled Lady) … Oliver Stone
• Sig Ruman (Ninotchka; A Night at the Opera) … Dr. Emil Eggelhoffer
• Frank Fay (Dance, Girl, Dance) … Master of Ceremonies
• Troy Brown Sr. … Ernest Walker (as Troy Brown)
• Maxie Rosenbloom (The Boogie Man Will Get You) … Max Levinsky
• Margaret Hamilton (The Invisible Woman; The Wizard of Oz) … Vermont Drugstore Lady
• Olin Howland (Earthworm Tractors; The Paleface) … Vermont Baggage Man
• Raymond Scott and His Quintet … Novelty Swing Orchestra

Additional cast

• Billy Barty (The Undead) … Boy Biting Wally’s Ankle (uncredited)
• Charles Lane (Miss Grant Takes Richmond) … Rubenstein (uncredited)

Trivia

• Remade by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as Living it Up
• Carole Lombard said that this was one of her favorites of the films she made.
• Boxer Maxie Rosenbloom, who also acted in this film, gave boxing lessons to Carole Lombard before her “bout” with Fredric March.
• Sig Ruman plays the same character, Dr. Emil Eggelhoffer, in the 1953 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis remake.
• The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film’s copyright resulted in its falling into public domain

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