Private Number (1936)

Private Number (1936)

„Private Number“ is a 1936 Black & White drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth. The screenplay by Gene Markey and William M. Conselman is based on the 1915 play „Common Clay“ by Cleves Kinkead.

17-year-old Ellen Neal is looking for a job as a servant. At the wealthy Winfield family home she meets servant Gracie, and the family’s butler, Thomas Wroxton. Wroxton rules the household staff like a tyrant, demanding a large cut of their weekly wages as his „commission“. Wroxton agrees to give Ellen a month’s trial and tells her to report to him only. Ellen then meets Mrs. Winfield and charms her so much that she is asked to become her personal maid.

The Winfield’s son, Richard returns home from college and meets Ellen at a party, having no clue she’s a servant. Later, Gracie and her boyfriend, Smiley Watson, take Ellen on a double date, setting her up with a blind date. A riot breaks out. Ellen flees and meets a man willing to give her a ride home, Coakley. But both are arrested. Wroxton bails her out of jail.

On a family trip to Maine, Ellen finds out that Richard is set to marry another woman. Despite this, Richard tells her that she is his only romantic interest and that he doesn’t care that she is a servant. He suggests they marry, but she thinks it would be a mistake. Later, Wroxton asks Ellen to marry him. She rejects him. A fellow servant tells him that she knows Ellen is pregnant and has secretly married Richard. Mr. Winfield wants to terminate her employment, but Mrs. Winfield expresses how much she likes Ellen. Gracie arrives and blurts out that Ellen and Richard are married. Frustrated and pregnant, Ellen storms out without taking any money the family offered. Richard searches for her.

Ellen has her baby alone and lives on a farm now. Gracie and Smiley come to visit her, but two men show up and hand her a letter detailing how Richard wants to annul their marriage on grounds of fraud. Smiley calls over his attorney, Stapp. Richard has no clue the letter exists since it was sent by his family without his knowledge.

Mr. Winfield shows Richard that Ellen is paying for an apartment and is spending large sums of money in his name as Mrs. Winfield, furthering their suspicion that she is a gold digger. The whole scandal is sensationalized in the local newspaper. Richard finds Ellen and he signs the annulment papers after realizing that she had in fact been arrested before. Stapp prepares Coakley as their witness. Ellen testifies that she is not a gold digger and that she just loves Richard and wants to protect their baby. Coakley is called by the prosecutor as a witness. He lies about what happened. Stapp calls for him to be arrested. Panicked, Coakley and the prosecution team meet and it is revealed that Wroxton paid him to switch sides and to lie for his testimony. Richard punches Wroxton and asks the court to throw out the case. He then gives a speech about how much he loves Ellen and that he believed she was innocent the entire time. The couple are finally reconciled.

Cast:

• Robert Taylor – Richard Winfield
• Loretta Young – Ellen Neal
• Basil Rathbone – Wroxton
• Patsy Kelly – Gracie
• Joe E. Lewis – Smiley Watson
• Marjorie Gateson – Mrs. Winfield
• Paul Harvey – Perry Winfield
• Jane Darwell – Mrs. Meecham
• Paul Stanton – Rawlings
• John Miljan – Stapp
• Monroe Owsley – Coakley
• Billy Bevan – Frederick
• Frank Dawson – Graham
• George Irving – Judge
• May Beatty – Grandma Gammon
• Alexander Pollard – Footman
• Jack Pennick – Gus Rilovitch
• John Van Eyck – John
• Kane Richmond – Joe
• Lilyan Irene – Hazel
• Maxine Elliott Hicks – Olga
• Betty Morris – Teena
• Lillian Worth – Maud
• Anne Howard – Violet
• Prince – Hamlet, Dog
• Barbara Dodd – Baby
• Lutra Winslow – Black Maid
• Bud Geary – Brawler
• Paul McVey – Court Clerk
• Herbert Ashley – Detective Finding Ellen
• Fred Kelsey – Detective in Ellen’s Apartment
• Lynn Bari – Gambler
• Dennis O’Keefe – Gambler
• Scotty Mattraw – Houseman
• Edna Mae Harris – Lulu
• Allen D. Sewall – Minor Role
• Tom McGuire – Policeman Arresting Ellen
• Bob Kortman – Policeman in Raid
• Douglas Fowley – Sheik, Man Causing Brawl

„Frauenehre“ (Private Number) ist ein Schwarz-Weiß-Drama von 1936 unter der Regie von Roy Del Ruth. Das Drehbuch von Gene Markey und William M. Conselman basiert auf dem Theaterstück „Common Clay“ von Cleves Kinkead aus dem Jahr 1915.

Die 17-jährige Ellen Neal ist auf der Suche nach einer Stelle als Dienstmädchen. Im Haus der wohlhabenden Familie Winfield lernt sie die Dienerin Gracie und den Butler der Familie, Thomas Wroxton, kennen. Wroxton herrscht über das Hauspersonal wie ein Tyrann und verlangt einen großen Teil des Wochenlohns als „Provision“. Wroxton willigt ein, Ellen einen Monat auf Probe einzustellen, und sagt ihr, sie solle nur ihm Bericht erstatten. Ellen lernt daraufhin Mrs. Winfield kennen und findet sie so charmant, dass sie gebeten wird, ihr persönliches Dienstmädchen zu werden.

Richard, der Sohn der Winfields, kehrt vom College nach Hause zurück und lernt Ellen auf einer Party kennen, ohne zu ahnen, dass sie ein Dienstmädchen ist. Später nehmen Gracie und ihr Freund Smiley Watson Ellen zu einem Doppel-Date mit und verkuppeln sie mit einem Blind Date. Ein Aufruhr bricht aus. Ellen flieht und trifft einen Mann, der bereit ist, sie nach Hause zu fahren, Coakley. Doch beide werden verhaftet. Wroxton holt sie gegen Kaution aus dem Gefängnis.