Professional Sweetheart

Plot

Glory Eden (Ginger Rogers) is the "Purity Girl" of the Ippsie Wippsie Hour radio program. The show's sponsor, Sam Ipswich (Gregory Ratoff), discovered the orphan and made her a star in three months. He needs her public image to match her pure radio persona to promote Ippsie Wippsie, "the washcloth of queens". However, Glory longs to be a party girl, going out to nightclubs, drinking, dancing, meeting men and having a good time. All she can do is listen with envy to what her African-American maid Vera (Theresa Harris) does in Harlem after work. Ipswich is anxious for her to sign a new contract, but she throws a tantrum and refuses, as it explicitly prohibits all the things she wants to do.

Along with everything else she has missed out on, she wants a sweetheart. Speed Dennis (Frank McHugh), Ipswich's press agent, considers this a great idea. He thinks the man should be "Anglo-Saxon" (to appeal to the corn belt), while Herbert (Franklin Pangborn), Glory's dressmaker, insists he be under 25. Ipswich's secretary tells them that the "purest Anglo-Saxons" hail from the hills of Kentucky, so Glory picks a fan letter at random from those written by young Kentucky men and ends up with 23-year-old Jim Davey (Norman Foster). She likes the enclosed photo of him. Ipswich, Speed and Herbert want her to choose someone else, but when "sob sister" reporter Elmerada de Leon (ZaSu Pitts) comes to interview Glory, she spots the photo, so they have to play along.

Speed goes to Kentucky and persuades the reluctant rural hick to accept a ten-day stay in New York. When he arrives, the press expects him to marry her, so Speed prompts the bashful Jim into romancing Glory. The wedding is conducted on-air.

Kelsey (Edgar Kennedy) assigns O'Connor (Allen Jenkins) to try steal Glory away for his own radio program, sponsored by the Kelsey Dish Rag Company. O'Connor offers Jim help to slip away with Glory for a private honeymoon in Atlantic City, away from the press. Naive, Jim is stunned when he finds out that O'Connor is doing all this just to get Glory to sign with Kelsey and that the marriage is just a publicity stunt. At first, Jim insists that Glory wants to retire from show business and settle down, but when she learns the Kelsey contract has no restrictions on how she lives her life, she is eager to sign. Jim decides to take matters into his own hands, taking his wife home to rural Kentucky. At first, Glory is miffed, but the couple settle their differences (after a spanking and a punch to the jaw).

As they are settling into country life, Speed arrives, but is unable to persuade Glory to return. He comes up with an idea. He gets Ipswich to let Vera sing as the Purity Girl that night. His plan backfires. Glory does become jealous, as he intended, but O'Connor is present, and she signs his contract. When the couple go to New York, Jim refuses to let his wife perform without him. Speed has hired him for Ippsie Wippsie as a poet. To solve the problem, the two sponsors join forces, merging their companies to form Ippsie-Kelsey Clothies, and have the young couple perform together.

Cast

(Cast list as per AFI database)

Reception

The picture received mixed to good reviews, while Rogers received almost universally good press over her performance. Variety's article led off with the comment, "Had the pace of 'Professional Sweetheart's early moments been sustained throughout the picture, its success rating would have been much more decisive. As is, it has just about enough comedy to cover up the later deficiencies ...." Screenland was more kind, saying the film was a "must" see, and saying of the film, "The complications are fast, furious, and merry. No static here - just clear, loud laughter." They also singled out the work of several of the cast members, including Pitts, McHugh, Foster and Ratoff. Picture Play Magazine called the acting, "capital", highlighting that of Foster and Ratoff, and of course, Rogers. Overall, they felt the film was "genuinely amusing", and "... good fun edged with satire.", The critic for The New York Times stated that RKO "... merits a vote of thanks for an entertaining comedy". He enjoyed the performances of Rogers, Foster, Ratoff, McHugh, Pangborn, Pitts and Kennedy. He also saw the irony of the film playing at Radio City Music Hall, since it was a satirical send-up of the industry the theater was named after.

Other reviews were even more enthusiastic. Photoplay called it one of the best films of the month, calling Rogers a "star", and complimenting the rest of the cast. Motion Picture Magazine called it a "... wholesomely insane satire of the life of a radio queen," while Modern Screen called it a "good comedy", complimenting the acting of Rogers, Foster, Pitts, McHugh and Jenkins.

However, not every critic was receptive to the film. The Film Daily critic wrote that the film "Failed to impress with choppy story and mechanical treatment and situations."