Professional Sweetheart (1933) User Reviews (26)

Cute pre-code: Ippsie Wipsie Washcloths vs. Kelsey Dishrags

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 9 April 2009]

Ginger Rogers stars in "Professional Sweetheart," a 1933 film that also stars Norman Foster, Allen Jenkins, Gregory Ratoff, Franklin Pangborn, Theresa Harris, and Frank McHugh. Rogers plays Glory Eden, radio's Purity Girl, representing Ippsie Wipsie Washcloths. As the Purity Girl, Glory can't be anything but pure. Glory finds this annoying. All she's interested in is drinking, smoking, going to Harlem, wearing sexy clothes, and, if one reads between the lines, losing her virginity.

Her handlers decide to fix her up with a pure Anglo-Saxon, found in the Kentucky Mountains. They choose a nice-looking fan (Norman Foster) and set the two up, even having a wedding on the air. Knowing of her discontent, Kelsey Dish Rags is after her, too, and know she hasn't re-signed with Ippsie yet. The two engage in battle, and find there's a third party involved - Glory's new hubby, who takes Glory at her word about wanting to live in a Kentucky cabin and have a cow.

This is a cute film that could have been lots better, but the script isn't great and the pace drags a bit. Rogers is adorable, funny and sexy. Theresa Harris plays her maid, Vera, and is apparently uncredited, but she has a decent-sized, showy role.

As far as the film being pre-code, don't look for anything too racy. There is only some innuendo and Rogers in her skivvies.

Okay film, nothing special.

You Don't Kiss Like You Look

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 15 November 2013]

Mostly boring pre-code comedy with some nice direction and very few laughs. With a cast like this, it really should be better. The story is about a radio star (Ginger Rogers) known as America's Sweetheart who wants to live it up and go dancing, drinking, having sex, etc. So her PR team compromises by getting her a husband: a rube from Kentucky (Norman Foster). Some slightly saucy pre-code dialogue seems to be the main selling point for many. But it's still pretty tame stuff. Ginger dancing around in her underwear and one scene where she gets spanked are the movie's racier moments. Funniest scene is when Frank McHugh cons the rube into proposing. Ginger gives it her best but the script just isn't strong. Only a must for hardcore Ginger fans.

Short & Sweet.FunWatch

[valenzadv · 6/10 · 28 October 2019]

Lovely Romantic /Pre~Code Comedy. Watching Ginger dance in her lingerie was a sweet pre~code treat. Run time 69 min. Excellent cast features: Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster, ZaSu Pitts, Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, Edgar Kennedy.A fun movie. I definitely recommend.Enjoy

Wash Yourself, Watch Yourself

[tedg · 1 February 2008]

I saw this with another RKO Ginger Rogers film from the same year.

Even though these are targeted as light entertainment, I am amazed at how fresh they feel and how experimental the structure is.

That lightness is often attributed to the lack of the Hayes Code, which lowered its dark curtain the following year. Its clear in retrospect that this was a bad thing, that it wounded an entire society, and would have destroyed it altogether had we not encountered a similar more obvious evil. And went to war.

But how does one know what is right around the corner? How does one celebrate the freedoms that are about to be taken away? Its a haunting thing in the background of this, as part of the joke is that this perfect man is "the purest of Anglo-Saxons." Another part of the joke is that sweetness, goodness and happiness is contrasted with black jive, sex and Harlem, all of which are "fun."

The structure of the thing is pretty sophisticated. Many films from these four years 1930- 33 were similarly adventuresome in their structure.

Its a show about sex and domestic values within which is a show (a radio show) about sex and domestic values. (The domestic hook is literally a dishrag.) Around this show are a collection of nattering men trying to engineer romance and predictably failing. If you study the narrative structure of date movies, you'll be familiar with tricks about how to reflect the viewer in the story. Its rather novel and somewhat perfect here.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Ginger's a Sweetheart, but the Script is Lackluster

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 28 May 2015]

As a fan of Ginger Rogers, it was fun to see her in her first film for RKO, where she plays the part of Glory, a young woman whose fortunes changed when she was taken from an orphanage to play the role of radio's "Purity Girl"--a popular singer who is supposed to represent all that is virginal and pure.

She is unhappy with her life, because the owner of the company that sponsors her show insists she play the innocent role twenty-four hours a day, while her greatest desire is to "sin and suffer"--frequent nightclubs, drink, and carouse with men.

Being a pre-Code production, "Professional Sweetheart" is allowed liberties that will soon disappear from American screens, but like most of the titillation of its time, it consists primarily of suggestiveness.

Backed by a great cast of character actors (e.g. Zasu Pitts and Franklin Pangborn), Ginger plays her part with spirit, but the script fizzles out slightly more than halfway through this mild comedy. In the end, the film's performances cannot raise it above the mediocrity of the story, but it has elements of entertainment and enjoyment.

Talented cast does the best with a wacky script

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 10 February 2018]

Supposed to be a light romantic comedy satirizing several aspects of radio programs. Ginger Rogers, in her first RKO film, plays an ex-orphan who has been remade into 'the Purity Girl'(Glory Eden), singing and talking on the radio program sponsored by Ippsie Wippsie wash cloth, owned by Sam Ipswich(Greggory Ratoff). She is billed as a girl who doesn't do any of the usual 'sinful' things of girls her age. In fact, the company insists that she actually live up to her image 24 hr. a day, something she resents, since such a life is very dull to her. Thus, she balks at signing a 5 year contract to continue this lifestyle. This is a satire on manufactured squeaky clean images of radio stars promulgated by sponsors and studio bosses. Another bit of sarcasm is directed at radio sponsors, whose often inane jingles tells the listener nothing important about their product. Also, obviously, this is a simple inexpensive item which is not bought very often., thus is of low value for expensive advertisement. In later years the occasional film(as "Always Fair Weather" satirized similar commercials on TV. Interestingly, the word 'television' is mentioned once, suggesting that it was a recognized term 15 years before it was commercialized, having been invented already. There are a few scenes that would have been censored out by the Production Code going into effect late the next year. Several times, Ginger removes her dress to show her underwear, even dancing around in it. Nothing special for today's audiences, but considered daring at that time. What about the brief spanking scene? I don't know how often such scenes were censored out once the Production Code went into full effect, but I do know that the occasional film slipped through, as in "Frontier Gal", "Across the Wide Missouri", "McClintock", and "Kiss Me Kate". I'm surprised such scenes were allowed in the era of strict censoring. After the women's lib movement, I haven't noticed any such incidents.....Toward the end, Ginger signs a contract with the Kelsey dish rags company , to continue her radio singing, because they allowed her to cheat on her 'Purity Girl' image. Her new husband, Jim(Norman Foster) simultaneously signed a contact with the Ippsie Wippsie company to recite poetry over the radio. But, he insisted on his wife singing between his poetry readings. This problem was solved by a merger of the two companies. Yes, very silly, as is a good part of the film in general. But, it's seldom really funny, which is the main problem with this film. The other featured players include Zasu Pitts, who provides a bit of humor, Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, swishy Frank Pangborn, Edgar Kennedy, and Frank Kalrien. See it on YouTube

Starts off well, then fizzles

[michaelprescott-00547 · 6/10 · 11 July 2022]

The early scenes in this 1933 RKO quickie are genuinely funny, as we are introduced to "Ipsy-Wipsy, the washcloth of dreams" and its spokeswoman, the Purity Girl. There's a strong cast and some clever repartee. Unfortunately it all starts to peter out around halfway through, hurt by an unconvincing romance between the leads, a convoluted plot that doesn't seem to know how it should end, and a less-than-breakneck pace.

Mainly of interest to fans of Ginger Rogers and the well-stocked cast of bit players who surround her.

EARLY G. Rogers

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 9 April 2019]

Just SO many big, awesome hollywood names in this one. ginger rogers, fank pangborn, zasu pitts, alan jenkins, frank mchugh. Glory (Rogers) is selected as the perfect, wholesome Ipsey Wipsey girl, which means she has to live the clean, pure life of a "good" girl, but she gets so bored, she wants out of that agreement. everyone else is in here for comic relief. the plot takes twists and turns. Rogers had only been in the biz for a couple years, but she does ok. she hadn't yet turned into the shrew she played for all the Fred Astaire films, and it was still before the "real" film code, so it's still a little naughty. it's pretty good... nothing spectacular, but not so bad.

Annoyingly silly

[1930s_Time_Machine · 4/10 · 24 November 2022]

Considering that this was Ginger Rogers' first film at RKO you'd have expected something better. Merian Cooper had just taken charge of RKO and consequently this film does have the art deco look and feel of that studio's subsequent output during his tenure such as the Fred and Ginger musicals. It might look ok and it actually starts off quite well but after about half an hour you realise that this is rubbish!

We're used to silly stories in these types of films but this one is so ridiculous with ridiculously one dimensional unrealistic characters, it just becomes annoying. Ginger Rogers' character is almost as unbelievable as the absurd management team who are almost as unbelievable as the stupid hillbilly (bizzarely called an Anglo-Saxon, even though he doesn't seem to be a Germanic tribesman?) Such shallow characters make it difficult to develop any empathy for any of them.

So the story is stupid, the characters are badly written but for some reason it's still reasonably amusing and entertaining. Logically you shouldn't watch this nonsense but once you start you inexplicably get hooked.

Ginger Rogers is a star

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 23 June 2022]

Glory Eden (Ginger Rogers) is the "Purity Girl" of the Ippsie Wippsie Hour radio program. Her public persona is the epitome of the All-American submissive good girl. In reality, she is a willful girl who wants to live her life. The sponsor comes up with the idea to pair her off with a wholesome pure Anglo-Saxon fan. They pick a fan letter written by Jim Davey from Kentucky.

Ginger Rogers is great. She is a star. Jim Davey does need to be more charismatic even if the character is not supposed to be flashy. He needs to be the charismatic everyman. Instead, he's literally a wife beater. It's not a good look and the audience needs to like him. At least, Ginger is able to play it off as a joke. That saved him but he should be more than that. This is all about Ginger Rogers and she is great.

Despite an amazing assemblage of character actors, the script is a sticky, awful mess!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 8 April 2007]

Despite this film having one of the more amazing groups of character actors for support, this is truly an awful film. It just goes to show you that no matter what talent you have assembled, it means nothing if the writing is bad--and boy, is it BAD! Even the combined supporting talents of Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, Akim Tamiroff, Franklin Pangborn, Edgar Kennedy, Sterling Holloway and others couldn't help Ginger Rogers elevate this mess to even mediocrity. The bottom line is the basic plot isn't at all believable and the dialog isn't any better. Normally when I watch older films, I am able to suspend disbelief and just enjoy, but this time it was a major chore not to just turn the movie off about midway through it! Ginger plays a radio star who is portrayed as so saccharine that it's impossible to believe that the public could stand her, though according to the film she's America's Sweetheart! Well, Ginger rebels against this as well, but her answer is to hang out in nightclubs and get drunk AND have sex (it's a "Pre-Code" film, so this sort of subject was NOT taboo in 1933). It's all very broadly acted and written and is supposed to be a sort of screwball comedy--the problem is that none of it is funny. What happens next and how everyone becomes happy in the end isn't really anything I want to discuss--I just want to never see this film again. It's a good thing Ms. Rogers had the Fred Astaire films to boost her career--if it was up to drivel like this, she never would have become famous!

This one's a real gem

[mgconlan-1 · 9/10 · 8 June 2007]

"Professional Sweetheart" was Ginger Rogers' first film for RKO studios after she left Warner Bros., and with Allen Jenkins and Frank McHugh in the supporting cast it almost seems like a Warners film in exile. It's a marvelous movie, smart and funny, with a script by "Chicago" author Maurine Watkins that, though it isn't a crime story, takes up another of Watkins' favorite themes: media manipulation and the gap between what we're told about celebrities and what they're really like. In "The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book," Arlene Croce wrote, "Almost any Ginger Rogers role is successful to the degree that it reflects the dualism in her personality (tough-vulnerable, ingenuous-calculating) or plays on her curious aptitude for mimickry or fantasy or imposture." Croce was writing about the major roles of her post-Astaire career — "Bachelor Mother," "Tom, Dick and Harry," "The Major and the Minor" — but it applies here just as well; by casting Rogers as a wise-cracking hard-bitten orphan girl forced to pose as the "Purity Girl," and having two radio sponsors and a husband (from an arranged marriage!) all with their own ideas of what they want from her, "Professional Sweetheart" gives Rogers an early showcase for the characteristics that would have made her an enormous star even if she'd never set foot on a dance floor with Fred Astaire. I can't understand why some of the other commentators on this film have criticized Watkins' script, since it seems to me to be well constructed and vividly satirical on celebrity and its discontents in a way that rings true even today.

Another thing I liked about "Professional Sweetheart" is that it's one of the Gayest movies Hollywood ever made — so much so that I can't understand why TCM isn't showing it in their current "Screened Out" festival of Gay and Lesbian films when some other titles with much more peripheral Gay content did make their list. The supporting actors seem to be competing as to who can be the queeniest, with Franklin Pangborn (not surprisingly) winning: his looks of horror and disgust when any of the other characters suggests that he date a woman are priceless. Also pretty astonishing, even for the relatively liberal "pre-Code" era in Hollywood history, is Sterling Holloway's obviously cruising Allen Jenkins at the reporters' reception — imagine a Gay scene involving Jenkins in which he's the butch one!

A disappointment

[marcslope · 5/10 · 25 November 2013]

I'd been looking forward to this RKO programmer because it's by Maurine Watkins, a pretty smart writer who also was responsible for the play "Chicago," which became the movie "Roxie Hart," then the musical "Chicago." So she clearly knows about the value of publicity and the hypocritical nature of advertising and sponsorship. But those satirical targets are swiped at very broadly in this one, which keeps parading the name of the sponsor--Ippsie Wippsie--as if it were in itself hilarious. They're sponsoring a singing sweetheart, a dubbed Ginger Rogers, who personifies wholesome values and, predictably, is really the opposite of those values. I find Ginger's outbursts and shifts of mood unpersuasive and a little tedious, and she's surrounded by a supporting cast of Warners and RKO players who do what they always do--a simpering ZaSu Pitts, genial Frank McHugh, Brooklyn-streetwise Allen Jenkins, sputtering-in-a-foreign-accent Gregory Ratoff, swishy Franklin Pangborn, etc. Her leading man, Norman Foster, as a Kentucky farm boy who successfully woos her, is no great shakes, and Ms. Watkins also asks us to believe that a short time with him in the mountains would turn Ginger from a grasping spoiled brat who can't cook into a darling, kitchen-trained little wifey. The plot reversals are quick and unconvincing, and the bashing of the advertising industry is positively sledgehammer.

A Few Notes on the Subtext

[dougdoepke · 19 November 2013]

Amusing rather than funny, the programmer makes good use of a budding Ginger Rogers as radio's Purity Girl. And, boy, her image better stay "pure" otherwise the nitwit sponsors of her radio show will make life miserable. Already they rule over what she can do and not do, and that means absolutely no men. But Ginger (Glory Eden-- catch that loaded name) being Ginger, she rebels, proving that hormones won't be denied. Picking a man's name at random from her many fans, she comes up with a Kentucky hayseed, who proves to be a lot more than she bargained for.

Note how the screenplay refuses to make fun of the simple Kentucky life Glory settles into with new husband Jim (Foster). There she seems quite content being a dutiful housewife, even after the sophistication of the big city. Maybe that's not too plausible, but at least rural audiences are not offended. Besides, Jim shows a deeper understanding by insisting she act out her talent by returning to the city with him in tow. Because of feuding sponsors, she gets her old show back, but this time with a husband and minus the "purity" burden. Now she can be herself.

If there's a message, it's that only artificial constructs like the Purity Girl are unrewarding. On the other hand, life in the city or in the sticks can be equally rewarding as long as it's a natural fit for the person. It's interesting, at the same time, to gage the movie's attitude toward uptown Harlem. With its exotic rhythms and sounds, Harlem comes off as an ambiguous place for a white person, especially for Glory who seems naturally attracted.

Anyway, Rogers makes the whole movie come alive, along with a humorous supporting cast that includes some pretty undisguised gay types. On the other hand, Foster's pretty stiff in his role, but I expect he's supposed to be. All in all, the visuals may creak a bit, but the pre- Code movie's still an amusing jape with a rather thoughtful subtext.

No matter what era, the publicity game is nuts.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 15 February 2019]

"There's a sucker born every minute", P.T. Barnum once said, and the public has always been a sucker for the hogwash of publicity that comes out of the entertainment industry. In this over-the-top pre-code comedy, Ginger Rogers is the sweetheart of the radio, wanting to walk out on her new contract because of things that they won't let her do. All she wants to be is a normal young lady who can drink and smoke and go out dancing whenever she likes. But behind her are her possessive agent Gregory Ratoff, costume designer Franklin Pangborn and the various hacks play by Frank McHugh and Allen Jenkins (both on loan from Warner Brothers and basically playing the same part) who wants to keep her under their thumb and sweet and innocent at least in the public's eye. Along comes country bumpkin Norman Foster whom they hope will tame her, but this nineteen-year-old spitfire intends to fight that attempt from the very start, leading to panic for her entourage and public when she suddenly disappears.

Even though this was the same year that Ginger started dancing with Fred Astaire in "Flying Down to Rio" and introduced in her own singing voice, "Did You Ever See a Dream We" in "Sitting Pretty", it is obvious that he or she is completely dubbed. She's deliciously feisty and gives an energetic performance, and obviously super stardom is just around the corner, but this outlandish plot is just too preposterous to believe. Surrounding her are some outstanding character performances including Zasu Pitts as her most loyal fan and Sterling Holloway as an entertainment reporter, so obviously here the issue is with the script and not the cast.

The very feminine black minor player Teresa Harris, unfortunately unbilled, is great as Rogers' loyal made who teaches her how they dance up in Harlem. Had it been a different time in the world, Harris certainly could have been a huge star with her shining personality. She gets a chance to do one of Rogers' songs on the radio, but it's one of those moments that could have easily been cut out in the south. So for moments like this and the zaniness of the comical supporting cast, I have to rank this as better than it deserves because the shining light comes from the snap crackle and pop of character actors still beloved decades after their last films.

As a Ginger Rogers vehicle, Professional Sweetheart wasn't funny

[tavm · 2/10 · 6 February 2019]

The only reason I was interested in watching this obscure movie was because an obscure black actress named Theresa Harris was in this. She plays Ginger Roger's maid, considered a friend by her employer as this maid has fun in Harlem which Ginger envies since she plays a singing radio star whose image is goody-goody but who wants to be bad! Unfortunately, the pace seemed uneven and the characterizations are inconsistent. Harris herself does a nice dance at the beginning and looks glamorous when she's picked to sub for Ginger on the radio though when Ginger or Theresa are supposed to sing, they're dubbed by Etta Moten! I wish I could say I liked Professional Sweetheart but all I could think during the nearly 90-minute running time of this picture was "Huh?!"

A Nutty, Sexy Pre-Code

[fabulutz · 9/10 · 16 June 2007]

Ginger Rodgers shines in a role that might have been written for Jean Harlow. She cracks wise, hurls insults, and dances around in her underwear. Zazu Pitts is priceless as the gushing and gullible small town reporter. Franklin Pangborn is more blatantly gay here than we normally get to see him. This movie touches on many aspects of celebrity that remain true to this day. The manipulation of a public image and the team of professionals that that requires. The all important "product", the selling of which is the reason for everything. This movie is also amazingly tolerant and socially progressive for it's time. The attractive black housekeeper's character is more of a friend to Ginger, who's footloose lifestyle she envies. Pangborn's character as one of her handlers is made obviously gay without degradation or judgement. Don't expect "Dinner at Eight", but "Professional Sweetheart" is sparkling and breezy pre-code fun!

Taming the "Purity Girl"

[view_and_review · 1/10 · 30 November 2023]

After watching "Female" (1933) I said that it was the most sexist movie I've ever watched. I still stand by that, however "Professional Sweetheart" is not too far behind.

The movie stars Ginger Rogers as Glory Eden. She's "the purity girl," a moniker she assumed as spokesperson for Ippsie Wippsie Wash Cloths, a company owned by Samuel Ipswich (Gregory Ratoff).

Because she was "the purity girl," she had to maintain a squeaky clean public image. Therefore her contract prevented her from smoking, drinking, swearing, going to speakeasies, wearing make-up, perfume, or provocative clothing. It was a very restrictive contract she had to abide by in order to continue to get paid by Ippsie Wippsie Wash Cloths.

Even though her contract was very restrictive, the movie made it clear that they needed her more than she needed them. Evidently, and very doubtfully, there wasn't another girl in New York who could fill Glory's shoes as "the purity girl."

While the film painted the Ippsie Wippsie Wash Cloths Co., or the corporation, as possessive and controlling thereby making Glory a sympathetic figure, they offset that by making Glory a sin-seeking imp. She wanted everything they denied her. She wanted to smoke, drink, GO TO HARLEM.

GASP! What? No! Not go to Harlem!

Yes, Harlem, and she also wanted to "go to the devil," which might have been synonymous with "go to Harlem." But most of all, she wanted a man. Naturally. She was a woman in a 1930's film, she had to want a man. And the issue I had with it wasn't that she wanted a man-- everyone desires companionship. She wanted a man in the worst way, even if that meant getting "into trouble" which was code for getting knocked up. She was so desperate for a man that just about any warm body would've been good. "Professional Sweetheart" was sending a clear foreshadow that a man would cure her of her hedonistic desires.

As to her last request, the corporation was willing to comply. They could sell it as young innocent romance; they needed to only find the right man for the position. They put their heads together, with Speed Dennis (Frank McHugh) being the most creative, and they decided that she should have a "pure anglo-saxon." Where do the purest anglo-saxons come from?

Kentucky.

Well I'll be. I never knew that Kentucky was home to WASPs and there is where you could find the purest of them. I knew there was a reason I never desired to visit there.

They got a stack of fan mail and drew Jim Davey's (Norman Foster) letter and picture from the lot. Apparently, back then young men sent love letters and pictures of themselves to product spokeswomen.

Glory was taken by his picture the moment she laid eyes on it. He would be the man to take her to Harlem and take her to the devil.

The company was doing what they could for Glory in hopes that she'd sign a new contract. Up until this point she hadn't signed primarily because of the morality clauses. What's strange though is that she continued to obey the corporation even though it seemed quite obvious she wasn't under contractual obligation to them. She let them pick out her "man" and stranger still, she married him. Who gets married to a guy at the behest of the company they work for?

Jim was more than happy to marry Glory because the country bumpkin thought he was marrying "the purity girl." He was too naive to know that her on-air persona wasn't necessarily her real persona. He was also too naive to know that he was being taken for a ride by the corporation. The entire thing was their setup and design, but he thought it was all the real thing.

When he was wisened to what was really happening he was understandably upset. To retaliate he took his new wife with him to Kentucky. Nevermind how he got her there when she thought she was going to Atlantic City. She wasn't too bright.

Once he got her to his home in Kentucky all the sexism came out and it was strong.

She said she was going to complain that she was kidnapped. "I didn't kidnap you, you're my wife," he responded. And with that response she was quiet, because she knew full well that he had control of her now that they were married. She essentially replaced the corporation with a husband. She replaced several men with one man.

Jim began telling her what she was going to be doing. She was going to learn to cook, clean, and live the simple life "the purity girl spoke of." Glory naturally objected to everything Jim was saying. In fact, she was defiant. What was Jim's response?

He quite literally put her over his knee and began spanking her. Oh, the cringe.

She did bite him to get free which was a plus. She began throwing things at him to show her displeasure so Jim escalated the violence. He knocked her out cold.

At this point I'm thinking she is going to leave him even if it means walking back to New York in her underwear. I couldn't have been more wrong.

When Jim realized his mistake he went to fetch a pail of water to wake Glory up. He was extremely apologetic. "She's wicked, but I love her," was his cry as he kneeled over her unconscious body.

As he went to get the water Glory lifted her head, quite alertly, quickly patted her hair to make sure it was neat, then pretended to be unconscious again. Why, you may ask? So that her big, strong husband could carry her to bed. Yes. It seems that all she needed was a good sock in the jaw and then she was as right as rain.

By this point I was beside myself in disbelief. Was this really the message Hollywood was sending? Every loose woman needs to be roughed up by a moralistic man in order for her to be straightened out?

And wouldn't you know that only a few scenes later we see Glory in a housewife's uniform serving homemade pie to her guest. It was disgusting.

I won't go into the not-so-subtle racist slants of the movie that preceded and continued when Glory's former maid, Vera (Theresa Harris), sang on the radio as the new "purity girl" and how her singing was said to cause people to want to sin. Not only was this movie sexist and racist, they didn't even know good singing when they heard it either.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

prof sweetheart

[mossgrymk · 5/10 · 18 July 2022]

Count me with michaelprescott below in observing that the gurgling sound you hear 'bout a third of the way through this film is the pre code comic energy going down the proverbial drain. I would only add that the fact it occurs just as rather stolid leading man Norman Foster arrives on the scene is, in my opinion, no coincidence. Give it a C.

SAUCY

[elansix · 9/10 · 28 August 2001]

This is a very early film in the career of Ginger Rogers. It is somewhat saucy and always goofy. It portays people in radio show business and the press that covers it as both overly ambitious and naive. There are several character actors such as Zazu Pitts that are totally hilarious. The plot is basicly girl wants fun and freedom rather than fame, and boy wants girl. After several very funny misadventures they both get what they want and each other. Sexuality is very frank in this movie even though the characters are very innocent. For the naughty in us there is even a spanking scene. Ginger Roger's voice is dubbed in a couple of songs because the producers did not think she was good enough. A very funny film worth repeated viewings. It can be seen occaisionly on the Turner Movie Channel. In the final scene there is a reference to television long before it would become available as if it was just around the corner.

In Search Of The Purest Anglo-Saxon

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 17 January 2004]

The sponsors of a rowdy radio singer find a somber PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART to keep her satisfied and out of trouble.

Ginger Rogers dominates this Pre-Code comedy with her saucy performance as the spoiled warbler. This was her first starring role and she makes the most of it, pouting and prancing across the screen (often in her lingerie) talking bold & brassy, but actually just longing for the right male to come along and knock her into submission. Disturbing implications aside, she is an eyeful and a great deal of fun to watch.

Norman Foster deftly underplays his role as a stolid Tennessee backwoodsman whose whole life is commandeered by Ms. Rogers and the avaricious makers of the Ippsie Wippsie wash cloth. His eventual break for freedom, with Rogers in tow, will elicit deep approval from at least one gender in the viewing audience.

A wonderful cast of character actors help support the stars: Gregory Ratoff as Ginger's scheming sponsor; Frank McHugh as his eager beaver press agent; ZaSu Pitts as a silly sob sister; Franklin Pangborn as a nervous decorator; Edgar Kennedy as owner of a rival wash rag company; Allen Jenkins as his factotum; and Sterling Holloway as a slow-talking reporter.

Movie mavens will recognize an unbilled Akim Tamiroff as a hotel room service waiter.

Pre-Code funny

[vert001 · 10/10 · 14 February 2016]

PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART manages indirectly to be a historically important film of sorts. Flashy supporting roles in 42nd STREET and THE GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 had brought Ginger Rogers to the attention of Hollywood, and Columbia and RKO at least were seriously thinking of signing her to a long term contract (most of her recent work had been done for Warner Brothers but they may have believed that, with Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell among others already in their fold, there was little room left for a Ginger Rogers). RKO wound up inking her to a 3 film deal which amounted to one film plus a two film option at RKO's discretion. Thus PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART served as an elaborate screen test for Rogers. It was a modest success both critically and at the box office (which was more than most 1933 films could say) and RKO signed her to a full 7 year contract. Ginger's first assignment under that contract was FLYING DOWN TO RIO and the rest was history.

PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART is a clear sign that RKO was very serious about Ginger Rogers. It's a pure vehicle for her comedic abilities, seen here as more 'hard sell' than they would be later on, and she's given every bit of support that could be realistically expected: A funny, sharp, broadly satirical script from the talented Maurine Watkins of CHICAGO fame, a terrific pack of supporting actors mostly imported from Warner Brothers, and about the best house director that RKO had (William Seiter) were assigned to the project. Ginger already had considerable experience as a supporting actress in big pictures and as a female lead in little pictures, but this was her first starring vehicle, and she makes the most of it.

I'll refrain from running through the plot (if you're reading this surely you already know it) and restrict myself to a few observations. The chasm between a public persona and a private one is the obvious main theme, Glory's radio shtick as "the Purity Girl" being diametrically opposed to her portrayed private desires (a girl who wants to have 'fun fun fun', essentially). As in CHICAGO, the press can hardly be more cynical about it all while agreeably playing along with the act. Whether the public is actually fooled by this or is merely willing to tolerate the deceptions for its own amusement remains uncertain. This appears to be Watkins' One Big Idea, and she runs with it.

Otherwise we get a broad satire of radio's inherent deceits, for example, audiences coached on their 'spontaneous' reactions; a nice skewering of the Progressive Eugenics Movement ("Hey, they're white, these Anglo-Saxons!" our naive business magnate from the Old Country notes in surprise); Harlem as a modern jazz-filled Valhalla ("I don't care what color he is as long as he takes me to Harlem!" Glory beams with a racial double entendre), barbed comments on lawyers, clothes designers doubling as interior decorators, business tycoons whose empires consist of washcloths and dishrags, the full gamut.

Gregory Ratoff strikes me as very funny as the genius behind Ippsey- Wippsey Washcloths, ZaSu Pitts is excellent as a 'sob sister' whose interview style consists of her own meandering monologues, Franklin Pangborn, Allen Jenkins, Edgar Kennedy and Frank McHugh are solid in their roles, and Theresa Harris has a more substantial part than is usual for a black maid of the era (oddly, both she and Ginger Rogers, both competent singers in their own rights, get dubbed by Etta Moten). Norman Foster does what he needs to do as the country hick.

And Ginger Rogers was on her way.

precode film about very post-code radio....

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 16 May 2015]

... and by that I mean that from its beginnings, radio was very strict about the public persona of its radio stars, regardless of what they did in private. The year this film was made - 1933 - was the last full year in Hollywood where anything goes, although these films look like family fare by today's standards.

In this environment, Ginger Rogers is given a dynamite role that really shows her flair for comedy. She plays Glory Eden, "The Purity Girl", the face - and voice - of the Ipsy-Wipsy Wash Cloth radio show. However, in private, the purity girl is the last thing she wants to be. Glory wants to go to Harlem night clubs, smoke, drink, eat rich food, and most of all have some male companionship. So the sponsors decide to appease her and meet her half way. They start a contest looking for the "ideal Anglo Saxon" - the film's words, not mine. They come up with a real naïve hayseed (Norman Foster as Jim Davey). He's a farmer from Kentucky who actually believes Glory's public image is real. He returns to New York with the show's sponsor and now Glory can go out to more public places since she has an "official" male escort.

The one drawback to the film is you never see any real relationship form between the two. It's just suddenly there. Jim just asks Glory to marry him, she agrees - obviously from the heart, because she gives him a passionate kiss. Ipsy Wipsy head Samuel 'Sam' Ipswich claims he'll wait until after the wedding and as a PR stunt have Glory sign her new contract.

But things run amok. After the wedding Jim sees Glory's true colors and they are scarlet not pure white. He decides to kidnap her and take her back to Kentucky to make a "good woman" out of her. There is an absolutely hilarious wedding night scene once Jim has her back in Kentucky that I will just let you watch. Let's just say that these two are absolutely perfect together in this scene that could have not been possible after the production code a year later.

So now two competitors are looking for Glory - they think she's been kidnapped - and both want her to sign with them. At first they don't know where she's gone. How does this work out? I'll let you watch and find out.

This film would have been good with just Norman Foster and Ginger Rogers. It is made great by all of the character actors running around busily in the background. Zasu Pitts is a dizzy reporter, Gregory Ratoff as Samuel Ipswich was born to play the over excited boss who is destined to die of a heart attack and loves firing people, Allen Jenkins and Frank McHugh are the assistants to their frantic bosses, and Edgar Kennedy is Ipswich's competition, trying to track down Glory so he can sign her to his own radio program.

Best line of the film goes to Jim - "Please God, don't let her die! She's wicked, but I love her." Questions never resolved - Will Glory's maid get her own radio career? And what DID happen between Franklin Pangborn's character and Zasu Pitts when she found him in the closet without his pants? Enjoy this little piece of RKO zaniness. I know I did.

Sexy & sexist, outdated & relavent - absolutely delightful

[jcravens42 · 9/10 · 25 October 2019]

Sexist, outdated, racist? Sure! But also sexy, saucy, sharp, still relavent, an incredible insight into what people were thinking in 1933 and much more provocative than you might expect - unless you know just how repressive the Hays Film Code was. As someone noted elsewhere, this movie touches on many aspects of celebrity that remain absolutely true now, especially how hard entire teams of professionals work to create a "celebrity" and to manipulate the public image of such. Anyone who thinks social media is unique and new in its negative influence should watch this. I don't want to spoil, so I'll just say that the person that replaces Ginger Rogers' Ippsie Wippsie girl is QUITE a progressive choice for its time (and makes you want her to have had many more films)! As someone else also said, there is a male character who is obviously gay but without degradation or judgement - something more common in pre code movies than you might expect. Ginger Rogers rocks 1930s lingerie better than anyone ever on screen! Yet another film that makes me wonder what we missed out on because of the oh-so-represive Hays Code. Wish the last scene had been in Harlem!

Miss Purity With Pretty Racy Dialogue!!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 21 November 2011]

"Professional Sweetheart" proved to be an important picture for Ginger Rogers. She had just left Warners and went over to RKO for what she thought was yet another unpretentious programmer - and it was, sort of, but the script poked satirical fun at radio sponsors and commercialized purity. Frank Nugent, of the New York Times, who had never shown much interest in Ginger, thought that she had rarely been so entertaining. RKO thought she had a future and placed her under contract and even though she was soon over at Poverty Row filming "A Shriek in the Night", they remembered her when Dorothy Jordan dropped out of "Flying Down to Rio", giving her her first screen teaming with Fred Astaire.

Miss Glory Eden (Rogers) is the Purity Girl of the air - the girl beloved by "dwellers in Manhattan penthouses and country folk on Main Street". She is supposed to represent everything sweet and good but she is getting pretty fed up with her lifestyle - the food she is forced to eat is healthy and bland - no champagne, caviar or chocolate for her and she longs to kick up her heels in a real New York nightclub with sexy underwear and a slinky dress. She feels she had more freedom back in the orphan's home. More than anything else Glory wants a man - a playboy!!! "No second hand goods for you"!!! Gregory Ratoff declares - "you must have a virgin"!!! Yes he really does say that!! In the same scene Glory bemoans the fact that she wants to be like her girlfriend - the one who came to town, found a man, got a fur coat and even got into trouble!!! Glory says enviously "Yes, she even got into trouble - but I'm not even getting there"!!! Pretty racy dialogue - even for a pre-code!!

They (all the wonderful stable of character actors - Zasu Pitts, Frank McHugh, Franklin Pangborn) organise a "date" for her with one of her many fans, a taciturn country boy, Jim Davey (Norman Foster) who is suspicious of city slickers!!! There is so much publicity about her country sweetheart that the press demand a wedding!! - which takes place broadcast coast to coast!! It is orchestrated to the last degree - even to how much applause there is to be and there is even a reference to television when the wedding gifts are described. Lucien Littlefield describes them as high class and elegant but in reality they are cheap and tasteless.

When a rival sponsor appears on the scene Jim realises that Glory's dreams of a house in the country, a little white picket fence etc was all talk and once she knows that the new contract carries no clauses - she can smoke, drink, go to nightclubs and eat chocolate she is eager to sign but Jim has a trick or two up his sleeve. He takes her to the country and she starts to thrive - all the skills she learned as an orphan - cooking, cleaning etc she just loves!! But all her domesticity goes out the window when she learns her maid has taken over her singing duties on the radio and the public love her!!!

This is a really fun movie, all the team of wacky funsters are in it and because there are quite a few there is no chance that their comedy gets too much or too labored. Apart from the few I have already mentioned there is also Allen Jenkins and Sterling Holloway.