Plot Summary - Screwball comedy starring Jean Arthur as Mary Smith, NYC working girl who ends up with a sable coat on top of her head as she rides the upper section of a double-decker bus as it drives by a penthouse where wealthy banker J.B. Ball - aka "The Bull of Broad Street" - has just tossed the coat out the window 'cause his wife spent 58,000 bucks for new fur (and boy is her closet full of it!). When Mary tries to locate the owner of the coat, she finds Ball and he not only tells her she can keep the coat but takes her to a shop to buy her a fancy new hat to replace the now feather-damaged one she is wearing - lucky girl. Now here's something weird - when she arrives at her job at a boy's magazine (where works a slew of old bitties) sporting the new fur hat and coat, she is fired, seemingly 'cause she took presents from some man! Meanwhile, the hat shopkeeper has come to the wrong conclusion and let's the world know that the famous banker Ball is keeping Mary Smith as a mistress. She is found and offered luxurious rooms (gotta love that tub!) at the floundering Hotel Louis to help bring in new business (and given a real break on the price - $7 a week, plus daily breakfast). With not much more than a nickel to her name though, she heads to a local Automat where the good-looking busboy (Ray Milland) - who, coincidentally happens to be the rich son of Ball, working in an effort to prove to dad he can be a success on his own - sneaks her some free food, gets caught by security, and fired. A fight breaks out in the Automat leading to the food compartments to all fly open with free food for the taking - oddly causing the (hungry?) masses to run wild and food to start flying! While she continues to be be given gifts like gowns as Ball's mistress, romance sparks between her and young Ball.
Review - Smart and stylish, with screenplay by Preston Sturges (yes, I'm a fan) this film is quite funny - with some slapstick, that really great Automat scene, and other humorous stuff that made me laugh out loud. Wonderful Jean Arthur is one of my favorite actresses from the thirties/forties - she is perfect for this role. Okay - Edward Arnold as J.B. Ball is absolutely great in this film - loud, aggressive, straight talking, really funny. Of course, I always enjoy seeing character comic actor Franklin Pangborn, who plays the hat shopkeeper, on screen. Ray Milland doesn't appear in this film perhaps as much as I'd like, but his charm is still showing. Now where can I go to one of those thirties Automat's - I wonder if there is still one in existence - hmm, here's an interesting site about an Automat history book.
Rating - 9/10 stars
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