With a den of wolves outside his office door, the aging Charles Winninger remains locked inside, that is until a pretty young architect (Miriam Hopkins) innocently gets rid of all the debt collectors who have been waiting for him to make an appearance. She has a letter of introduction (from herself) but unfortunately, as much as he'd like to, he can't hire her. His son (Joel McCrea) who is off on a cruise with his gold-digging fiancée (Leona Maricle) and the man claiming to be her uncle (Eric Rhodes) whom she really loves. When they get back, McCrea finds Hopkins as the absent Winninger's secretary and Broderick Crawford as a bumbling butler and feisty Ella Logan the cook/maid. He has no idea that Winninger is hiding out, hoping that Hopkins will get McCrea to sign a check so he can go ahead with a real estate project he promises Hopkins can design if she carries out her part of the deal.
Oh, did I forget to mention that McCrea's practically a tea-totaler, having only one glass of champagne since more than one drink makes him a free-for-all with his checkbook? Revealing this innocently to both Maricle and Hopkins, this sets a scheme up for the two of them to get their hands on his John Hancock. Mixing both champagne and brandy sets McCrea up for a fall, and before long, he's lounging in a tree with Hopkins as the new servants and the gold diggers try to get to McCrea first. Sort of a reverse in screwball comedy since the heroine is usually the heiress, this shows Hopkins at her screwball best and is just another indication how much she resembled fellow former drama queen Constance Bennett who the same year as this was committing ghostly laughs in "Topper".
Once again, McCrea shows his versatility, going from studious and serious to a delightfully seemingly sober drunk who still sees two fingers as three and is willing to buy everybody the world. Winninger is a delightful old codger whom you want to see get everything he desires from his son even if his inventions are wackier than Dick Van Dyke's in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". (Wait until you see the machine that helps you sign five checks at a time!) As for Maricle and Rhodes, the only love they seem to really have is the love of the green. Logan and Broderick are delightfully bumbling as the servants, and it is a great rare opportunity to see Logan who would go on to Broadway history as the originator of the Broadway standard "How are Things in Glocca Mora?" in "Finian's Rainbow".
Although rather mild entertainment in the screwball comedy genre, "Woman Chases Man" speeds by at a frantic pace at just over 70 minutes. Even if her character does seem at times to be interested purely in McCrea's money, it is her you want to get it, not the obvious Maricle. When it comes to these classic comedy blonde heroines, all their methods of wacky schemes are worth it, even if nothing is sacred!
Oh, did I forget to mention that McCrea's practically a tea-totaler, having only one glass of champagne since more than one drink makes him a free-for-all with his checkbook? Revealing this innocently to both Maricle and Hopkins, this sets a scheme up for the two of them to get their hands on his John Hancock. Mixing both champagne and brandy sets McCrea up for a fall, and before long, he's lounging in a tree with Hopkins as the new servants and the gold diggers try to get to McCrea first. Sort of a reverse in screwball comedy since the heroine is usually the heiress, this shows Hopkins at her screwball best and is just another indication how much she resembled fellow former drama queen Constance Bennett who the same year as this was committing ghostly laughs in "Topper".
Once again, McCrea shows his versatility, going from studious and serious to a delightfully seemingly sober drunk who still sees two fingers as three and is willing to buy everybody the world. Winninger is a delightful old codger whom you want to see get everything he desires from his son even if his inventions are wackier than Dick Van Dyke's in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". (Wait until you see the machine that helps you sign five checks at a time!) As for Maricle and Rhodes, the only love they seem to really have is the love of the green. Logan and Broderick are delightfully bumbling as the servants, and it is a great rare opportunity to see Logan who would go on to Broadway history as the originator of the Broadway standard "How are Things in Glocca Mora?" in "Finian's Rainbow".
Although rather mild entertainment in the screwball comedy genre, "Woman Chases Man" speeds by at a frantic pace at just over 70 minutes. Even if her character does seem at times to be interested purely in McCrea's money, it is her you want to get it, not the obvious Maricle. When it comes to these classic comedy blonde heroines, all their methods of wacky schemes are worth it, even if nothing is sacred!