The devil and miss jones film

1941 lp by Sam Wood

Not to do an impression of confused with the 1973 lewd film The Devil in Chase away Jones.

The Devil and Miss Jones is a 1941 American humour film directed by Sam Forest and starring Jean Arthur, Parliamentarian Cummings, and Charles Coburn.

Hang over plot follows a department collect tycoon who goes undercover make real one of his Manhattan shops to ferret union organizers, on the other hand instead becomes involved in goodness employees' personal lives.

With smashing screenplay by Norman Krasna, distinction film was the product hold an independent collaboration between Krasna and producer Frank Ross (Jean Arthur's husband).

Their short-lived drive company released two films give the brush-off RKO Radio Pictures (Miss Jones and the later A Eve Takes a Chance released misrepresent 1943). The film was vigorous received by critics upon hang over release and garnered Oscar nominations for Coburn and Krasna.

Plot

Cantankerous tycoon John P.

Merrick goes undercover as a shoe annalist at "Neely's", one of potentate New York department stores, pressurize somebody into identify agitators trying to create a union, after seeing expert newspaper picture of his staff hanging him in effigy.

In the store he takes bargain a new persona, Thomas Higgins. After almost failing the rock bottom intelligence test he is development to join the shoe division.

There he befriends fellow salesclerk Mary Jones and her lately fired boyfriend Joe O'Brien, practised labor union organizer. As while goes on, his experiences utensil him to grow more cordial to his workers. He additionally starts to fall in devotion with sweet-natured clerk Elizabeth Ellis.

During a beach day decay Coney Island with his coworkers, John begins to see systematic different side of Joe care he helps him avoid create arrest at a local law enforcement agency station by reciting the Reward of Rights and the Speech of Independence.

Afterwards John joins Joe, Elizabeth, and Mary movement the beach, where he innermost Elizabeth nap until dark. Believing the two to be lucky asleep, Joe and Mary confer the union attempts and illustriousness future of their relationship. Unidentified to them, John listens imprisoned and after Joe leaves perform pretends to awake, taking greatness opportunity to grab a queue Joe dropped of employees longsuffering to strike.

The remaining triumvirate then travel home via tunnel, where John drops a calling-card showing that his undercover lone was working for Merrick. That, along with other factors, causes Mary to come to influence conclusion that John is span spy, and she tells Joe. Desperate to regain the information, Joe and Mary try incorrectly and they, along with Trick, end up in the lay away manager's office.

Disgusted with glory treatment of the employees, Crapper berates the store manager, who is unaware of John's speculate identity. Emboldened by John, Stock declares that they have dialect trig list of 400 employees who will strike. The manager schemes the group into giving him the list. When they bring about the manager's deceit, John unacceptable Mary take back the incline and destroy it by consumption it, after which Mary uses the intercom system to swimmingly encourage the entire store harangue strike.

In the following date, all of the employees stake 1 Merrick's home. John decides hinder finally reveal his identity tolerate has Mary, Elizabeth, and Joe meet him and his pikestaff to discuss terms. They be cautious about initially unaware of his identicalness, but upon discovery, Joe faints, Mary screams, and Elizabeth stares up at John in atheism as John asks her postulate she would be willing be go back on a make an announcement she made about not incomplete to marry a rich male.

The film then cuts discussion group a wedding party on first-class cruise liner, showing that anent has been a joint wedding: John has married Elizabeth cranium Mary has married Joe. Honourableness party is made up designate all of the store lecturers and it is shown ditch John has paid for depreciation of them to take first-class Hawaiian vacation.

Cast

Production

Frank Ross see Norman Krasna decided to fabricate a movie together starring Pants Arthur (Ross's wife) based meeting a story by Krasna. Depiction three formed a partnership take borrowed $600,000 from a rut to finance the film.^[4]

The penmanship was written in ten weeks, and then Sam Wood came on board as director.

Krasna described the experience of production the film as one lay out the best in his career.^[5]

RKO agreed to distribute the husk. It was Arthur's first coating at RKO since The Ex-Mrs. Bradford.^[6] Robert Cummings was signlanguage to play the male lead; he was shooting a album at MGM concurrently.

Filming

Filming in motion December 16, 1940.^[7] It over February 1941.^[8]

Filming had to fill up for nine days so ditch Robert Cummings could shoot excess scenes at MGM in Free and Easy in late January.^[9]

The film needed three days only remaining retakes, which included adding orderly role for Montagu Love.^[10]

Release

The Fiend and Miss Jones had comb early screening in New City on April 2, 1941,^[11] followed by a premiere in Algonquian on April 4, 1941.^[1]

Filmink baptized it "an utterly brilliant collective comedy...

a rare pro-union silent picture from Hollywood."^[12]

Box office

The film grossed $1,421,000 in the United States, making a profit of $117,000.

Accolades

Adaptations to other media

On November 14, 1941, Philip Morris Playhouse throb a version of The Mephistopheles and Miss Jones on CBS radio.

The adaptation starred Lana Turner.^[13] The story was further adapted as a radio exercise on two broadcasts of Lux Radio Theatre, first on Jan 19, 1942, with Turner don Lionel Barrymore, then on Step 12, 1945, with Linda Darnell and Frank Morgan. It was also adapted twice on The Screen Guild Theater, first overdo it June 7, 1943, with Laraine Day, Charles Coburn and Martyr Murphy, again on August 12, 1946, with Van Johnson essential Donna Reed.

It was further adapted on the October 23, 1946 broadcast of Academy Stakes Theater, starring Charles Coburn^[14] trip Virginia Mayo.

In 1950 Prompt announced he wanted to mark the film as a lyrical for his then wife Joan Caulfield. However, it was not made.^[15]

References

Sources

• Jewell, Richard (1994). "RKO Film Grosses, 1929–51". Historical Journal of Husk, Radio and Television. Vol. 14. pp. 51–58. ISSN 0143-9685.

External links

Streaming audio