Professional Sweetheart
| Professional Sweetheart | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | William A. Seiter |
| Produced by | Merian C. Cooper (executive producer) |
| Written by | Maurine Watkins |
| Starring |
Ginger Rogers Norman Foster ZaSu Pitts Frank McHugh |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | Edward Cronjager |
| Edited by | James B. Morley |
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Release date
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Running time
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72 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Professional Sweetheart is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic comedy directed by William A. Seiter from a screenplay by Maurine Watkins. It starred Ginger Rogers in her first film with RKO Radio Pictures, along with Norman Foster, ZaSu Pitts, and Frank McHugh. The film is a comedic satire of the radio industry.
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.
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Wikipedia