The Gay Deception
Directed by William Wyler
Written by Stephen Morehouse Avery and Don Hartman
1935/US
Fox Film Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Sandro: All right, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. I promise to change everything about myself, if you’ll promise to stay exactly as you are.
William Wyler directs a frothy romantic comedy. He really could do anything.
Mirabel (Frances Dee), a humble clerk, wins $5,000 in the lottery. Instead of taking the sound financial advice cautioning her to make her money last, Mirabel decides to splurge on a luxurious month in New York City. Sandro (Francis Lederer) is a bellboy at the fancy hotel where she is staying. He keeps hanging around making suggestions on improving her taste in hats and food. She resents this mightily.
Mirabe; rapidly finds out that her wealth does not impress the snobs in the society crowd she aspires to join. She buys tickets to a grand charity ball and then is roundly snubbed by the organizers. It is Sandro to the rescue. He steals the proper clothes and poses as a prince. I won’t go farther. With Alan Mowbray and Benita Hume as snobs and Akim Tamiroff as a kind of shady government official.
This is a well-made romcom. It’s leads are charming. Oh, how, I envy Francis Dee. She is beautiful, funny, and had the good fortune to be married to my heartthrob Joel McCrea for 57 years.
