Suzy (1936) starring Jean Harlow, Cary Grant, Franchot Tone
Suzy is the story of an American showgirl who falls in love with a penniless inventor. He’s mistakenly shot by a German spy, and presumed dead. Fearing for her own life, she flees to Paris, where she meets and falls in love with a World War I French ace pilot. But after her philandering husband is injured in battle, she discovers her first husband isn’t dead after all …
Review
Suzy is a very enjoyable romantic drama. It’s set against the backdrop of World War I. It begins with her falling in love with, and marrying, a young inventor (Franchot Tone) in London. Nice, likeable, and … financially broke. In fact, he’s being thrown out of his job at the beginning of the movie by his unlikable female boss. Until she thinks he’s overheard something she’s said (in German) to someone else. He thinks it’s a romantic rendezvous … but it’s far more serious. She’s involved with a German spy ring, about to initiate World War I. And so, he’s shot by a mysterious (different) woman for knowing too much. Believing him dead, Suzy flees her first husband and London, and heads to Paris.
In Paris, she works in a cabaret. She meets a young, handsome, French pilot (Cary Grant). At first he overshadows her performance, but soon they’re dancing and falling in love. Not long after, they’re married. He’s not only outgoing and likeable, he’s a son of high society. And his father doesn’t approve of the marriage … initially.
Cary Grant’s character is outgoing and likeable … and selfish, self-centered. He’s also prone to having his father bail him out of trouble. Which the father is fulling expecting to happen again with his new wife. But Suzy surprises him … And then she discovers that her first husband is still alive. And, the woman who shot him is after her second husband …
Cast
- Jean Harlow (Libeled Lady) … Suzy Trent
- Franchot Tone (Her Husband’s Affairs, Holiday) … Terry Moore
- Cary Grant (Charade, North by Northwest) … Andre Charville
- Lewis Stone (The Office Wife, Love Finds Andy Hardy) … Baron Charville
- Benita Hume (Village of the Damned) … Diane Eyrelle
- Reginald Mason … Captain Barsanges
- Inez Courtney (The Shop Around the Corner) … Maisie
- Greta Meyer … Mrs. Schmidt
- David Clyde … ‘Knobby’
- Christian Rub (You Can’t Take it with You) … ‘Pop’ Gaspard
- George Spelvin … Gaston
- Una O’Connor (Witness for the Prosecution, The Invisible Man) … Landlady
- Theodore von Eltz (Topper) … Revue Producer
- Dennis Morgan (Christmas in Connecticut) … Lieutenant
Editorial review of Suzy courtesy of Amazon.com
SUZY: Luminous Jean Harlow is the heroine buffeted by fate and gives wings to the hearts of two flyboys–Cary Grant & Franchot Tone. Fearing a murder charge, chorus cutie Suzy Trent (Jean Harlow) flees World War I era London after her new husband is gunned down by a mysterious woman. Suzy resurfaces in Paris and rediscovers happiness in the arms of an escadrille hero she later marries. Little does Suzy know, the flyboy is also a playboy. Life jolts Suzy again when she crosses paths with a British test pilot–the spouse she left for dead in London. Romance combines with spy intrigue. aerial dogfights and thanks to scribes that include Dorothy Parker, flashes of humor.
