The Easiest Way
The Easiest Way | |
---|---|
Frank Sullivan | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 73 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $310,000[1] |
Box office | $903,000[1] |
The Easiest Way is a 1931 American
Plot
Growing up in a poor working-class family, Laura works hard to support her family. Laura's father, Ben encourages his other daughter Peg to marry a hard-working man named Nick. Laura rejects a marriage proposal from the boy-next-door to become involved with William Brockton a wealthy man many years her senior whom she met at a modeling job. She allows him to shower her with expensive gifts and moves into his luxury apartment.
Her newly found wealth does not come without any backlash, though. Her mother Agnes, notices a difference in Laura and that she is working more nights. Dressing in wealthy attire, and arriving in a chauffeur driven car, she pays a visit to Peg, (now married to Nick). Nick noticing her style, demands that she leaves his house immediately, as he wants no association with a kept woman. Even though Laura realizes that she has become estranged from her family, she continues to stay with Brockton.
Sometime later, while vacationing in Colorado, she meets and falls in love with young newsman Jack Madison. After a brief affair, and pledging their fidelity to one another, Jack is stationed in Argentina for several months, as Laura promises him that she will leave Brockton. She breaks the news to Brockton, returns all of his gifts, leaves his apartment, and takes a job at Macy's department store.
Laura, finds work at Macy's but is so financially strapped, she can't pay her rent. She unsuccessfully asks one of her former colleagues Elfie St. Clair for a loan. Laura can't return to her room unless her rent is paid. She takes "The Easiest Way", and calls Brockton, asking for a loan. Brockton refuses and tells her he will only cooperate if she comes back to him on condition that she inform Jack of her decision. She promises Brockton that she will, but deceives him by not telling Jack. Jack returns to New York, phones Laura immediately and Laura invites him to her swank apartment.
Meanwhile, Elfie pops in on Laura to ask for money. Desperate, Laura listens to Elfie, who advises her to leave Brockton and marry Jack, but under no circumstances tell Jack of her current set up. Laura agrees. But her plans to elope with Jack are cut short when Brockton unexpectedly shows up. Brockton, noticing Laura's packed bags, informs Jack of what happened during his absence. Laura tries to explain the situation, but Jack, furious that Laura had broken her promise of fidelity to him, leaves. Despite Brockton's offer to continue to care for her, Laura, leaves heart broken. Traveling to her sister's home, her brother-in-law invites her in. Nick, seeing that Laura had returned to her beginnings, comforts her with the promise that Madison will return when he gets "cool under the collar."
Cast
- Constance Bennett as Laura Murdock, a.k.a. "Lolly" by her immediate family
- Adolphe Menjou as William Brockton
- Robert Montgomery as Jack Madison
- Anita Page as Peg Murdock Feliki
- Marjorie Rambeau as Elfie St. Clair
- J. Farrell MacDonald as Ben Murdock
- Clara Blandick as Agnes Murdock
- Clark Gable as Nick Feliki
Uncredited
- Lynton Brent as Brockton Associate (uncredited)
- John Harron as Chris Swoboda, Laura's Suitor (uncredited)
- Dell Henderson as Bud Williams (uncredited)
- Hedda Hopper as Mrs. Clara Williams (uncredited)
- Charles Judels as Mr. Gensler (uncredited)
Production
In the scene where Jack and Laura are horseback riding in the (ostensibly) Colorado mountains, he has them dismount so he can show her his "pet view"; actually, the famous eastward looking view of El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.
The film is based on a 1909
After
Clark Gable's role in the film
One other notable aspect of The Easiest Way is that Clark Gable's role as the affable, hard-working laundryman Nick was only the future "King of Hollywood's" second credited acting performance in a
Foreign-language version
One
Reception
Ultimately, the film, like many others in the 1930s, was subject to censorship at the hands of the
Box Office
According to MGM records the film earned $654,000 in the United States and Canada and $249,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $193,000.[1]
Home media
Warner Archive Collection released the first Region 1 DVD on March 10, 2010.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study
- ^ The Easiest Way as produced on Broadway at the Stuyvesant Theatre, January 19, 1909 to June 1909
- ^ The Easiest Way, 1917, imdb.com; accessed July 25, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f "Notes for The Easiest Way (1931)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
- ^ Smith, Wendy (2002). "Review: 'Clark Gable, A Biography'". Variety, March 22, 2002. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- RKO as the production company and distributor of The Painted Desert; however, according to AFI, Pathé Exchangewas actually the film's production company and distributor before Pathé's takeover by RKO on January 29, 1931, only 11 days after the release of The Painted Desert.
- ^ Coleman, Bryce P. "Clark Gable Biography", Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "Quand on est belle: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
External links
- The Easiest Way at IMDb
- The Easiest Way at AllMovie
- The Easiest Way at the TCM Movie Database
- The Easiest Way at the American Film Institute Catalog