Rich Man, Poor Girl

Rich Man, Poor Girl (MGM 1938)

Lana looking concerned in "Rich Man, Poor Girl" (1938). Lou Valentino Collection

Production Dates: June 24, 1938-July 1938

Release Date: August 12, 1938.

Credited Cast and Crew:

Robert Young, Lew Ayres, Ruth Hussey, Lana Turner.

Directed by: Reinhold Schunzel

Writing Credits: Edgar Franklin (story), Edith Ellis (play adaptation), Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov (screenplay)

Produced by: Edward Chodorov

Original Music by: William Axt

Non-Original Music by: H.R. Bishop and Godfrey Marks

Cinematography by: Ray June

Synopsis: Ruth Hussey and Robert Young star in this MGM programmer about a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who brings her new love home to meet her eccentric family (which includes her baby sister Helen, played by ingénue Lana.)

My Review: Although Lana was given a chance to show off her stuff in her first film for MGM, Love Finds Andy Hardy, she had a very small (three scene) part and was really only being used as support for Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. She was having to learn how to act and express herself on the job. Here, for the first time, she has a chance to show off what she had been learning and she is delightful as baby sister Helen, who dreams (very enthusiastically!) of finding her fortune. Although The Postman Always Rings Twice was still years away, her charisma, even as a green kid was VERY apparent. She is probably the most animated in the whole cast, with actress Ruth Hussey just going through the motions and Lew Ayres too old for his part (wasn't he cast as "Dr. Kildaire" only a short time later?).

Formula rags to riches stuff that is saved only by sharp writing and stand out performances by Sara Padden as "Ma" Thayer and Guy Kibbee as "Pa" Thayer, with a young Lana coming on strong in support.

Your Review: What are YOUR thoughts on this film? Contact me at Liza@lanaturneronline.com

Highlights and Trivia

* Began production under the title, It's Now or Never.

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