Directed by Monty Banks
Produced by Irving Asher
Written by Yves Mirande (play), Guy Bolton
Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Laura La Plante
Cinematography Basil Emmott
Editing by Bert Bates
Release date(s) September 1935
Running time 82 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Man of the Moment is a 1935 romantic comedy film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Laura La Plante.

Plot

Office worker Mary Briany (Laura La Plante) finds out she is being demoted by the boss she secretly loves in order to make room for his girlfriend. She tries to commit suicide by jumping into the river. Tony Woodward (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) is driving by and rescues her, much to her annoyance.

He takes her back to his mansion, but he and his butler Godfrey (Donald Calthrop) have great difficulty getting her to behave. Meanwhile, Tony is to be married the next day to childish heiress Vera Barton (Margaret Lockwood). She reveals to Tony’s friend Lord Rufus Paul (Claude Hulbert) that she plans to change Tony’s lifestyle completely – no more smoking or drinking, among other things. Her millionaire father (Peter Gawthorne) promises his nearly penniless future son-in-law 5000 pounds to pay for a partnership in a company.

Later, Mary crashes Tony’s bachelor party, dressed in drag in his younger brother’s clothes. The next day, Vera and her father find Tony, Mary and his friends passed out on the floor. As a result, Vera breaks off the wedding.

With only £300 and deeply in debt, Tony proposes a suicide pact to Mary. They will fly to Monte Carlo to try to win a fortune at the casino. If they lose, they will kill themselves. The first day does not go well. They are ready to jump off a cliff when a gentleman finds them and gives them £20 they didn’t know they had won. On their second chance, they split up to gamble. Tony loses, but Mary has an incredible lucky streak and wins a large amount of money.

Meanwhile, Vera decides she wants to marry Tony after all. Rufus brings news about Tony’s whereabouts and they go to Monte Carlo. Vera embraces Tony before Mary can tell him the good news. Heartbroken, Mary climbs out on the hotel ledge, but Tony finds her and tells her he loves her. (Annoyed at being jilted, Vera decides that she wants to marry a man that no other woman would desire; she picks Rufus.)

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as Tony Woodward
Laura La Plante as Mary Briany
Claude Hulbert as Lord Rufus Paul
Margaret Lockwood as Vera Barton
Peter Gawthorne as Mr. Barton
Morland Graham as Jason Randall
Eve Grey as Miss Madden

Links

• Man of the Moment at the Internet Movie Database

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Directed by: Harold French
Produced by: Harold French
Written by: Noel Langley (story), George Barraud, Nicholas Phipps, Lesley Storm
Starring: Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons
Release date: May 31, 1949 (1949-05-31)
Running time: 70 minutes

Adam and Evelyne, released in the U.S. as Adam and Evelyn, is a 1949 romance film starring Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons. According to Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, this suited the stars, as they were romantically involved at the time, despite their age difference. They married the next year.

Plot

When jockey Chris Kirby (Fred Johnson) is fatally injured in a horse race, he gets his best friend, gambler Adam Black (Stewart Granger), to promise to take care of his teenage daughter, Evelyne (Jean Simmons), who has been raised apart from her father. Unbeknownst to Adam, Evelyne had been led to believe that Adam is her father in correspondence between parent and child. Adam is unable to tell her the truth; his butler and friend Bill Murray (Edwin Styles) tries and fails as well. Finally, Adam’s sometime girlfriend Moira (Helen Cherry) breaks the news to the girl.

Adam sends Evelyne to an exclusive boarding school. When she has grown up, she reappears unexpectedly in his life. Because of the hatred she has for gambling, Adam does not reveal that he stages illegal gambling sessions; instead he tells her that he makes his money on the stock exchange. She begins casually dating Adam’s no-good brother Roddy (Raymond Young).

When Adam tells Moira that he is getting out of the business, she accuses him of being in love his “ward”. Roddy has his own grudge against his brother – Adam refuses to finance a shady deal – and the two of them tip off the police about Adam’s last operation. Roddy also brings Evelyne to see what Adam really does for a living.

Shocked, she quarrels with Adam and leaves. A kindly gambler, Colonel Bradley (Wilfred Hyde-White), gives her some sage advice and convinces her to reconcile with Adam.

Cast

• Stewart Granger as Adam Black
• Jean Simmons as Evelyne Kirby
• Edwin Styles as Bill Murray
• Raymond Young as Roddy Black
• Helen Cherry as Moira
• Beatrice Varley as Mrs. Parker, a gambler
• Joan Swinstead as Molly
• Wilfred Hyde-White as Colonel Bradley
• Fred Johnson as Chris Kirby
• Geoffrey Denton as Police Inspector Collins

Links

• Adam and Evelyne at the Internet Movie Database

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.