The Girl Habit
Cast & Crew
Edward Cline
Charles Ruggles
Tamara Geva
Sue Conroy
Margaret Dumont
Allen Jenkins
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Charlie Floyd, a wealthy bachelor known for his "nibbling" at the opposite sex, becomes engaged to the well-to-do Lucy Ledyard, which disgruntles his string of girl friends. Charlie meets Lucy and her overbearing mother Blanche at Rendel's department store to pick out Lucy's trousseau at the same time he is supposed to meet Sonya, a Russian saleslady with whom he has been involved. At the advice of Huntley Palmer, who wants to marry Lucy for her money, Sonya lures Charlie to her flat in hopes of blackmailing him with incriminating love letters. Sonya is married to New York's infamous killer, Tony Maloney, who vows to kill Charlie after walking in on him as he wrestles with Sonya on the couch while attempting to grab the letters. Scared for Charlie's life, Sonya interrupts his dinner at the Ledyards' and returns the letters, but further tarnishes his reputation with his future in-laws when Palmer reads aloud a letter about pajamas and French panties. Maloney, meanwhile, has knocked out the caterer and has entered the house in order to kill Charlie. Maloney and his thugs follow Charlie out of the house, and he finally escapes when a car full of giggling girls picks him up. Palmer, who is Maloney's lawyer, convinces Charlie that jail is the only safe place for him, and he gets himself arrested for accosting a woman, while Maloney takes the rap when Charlie hits a policeman with a brick. Charlie is assigned to keep the prison books and discovers that Henry the warden has embezzled $5,000, and uses the information to blackmail Henry into protecting him from Maloney. The day of Maloney's and Charlie's release, Lucy and Blanche arrive with Palmer to inspect the prison and find Charlie hiding under the bed of Hattie, the warden's wife, whom Charlie befriended when he found Henry abusing her. When Charlie exits the prison, Maloney's men surround him, but Sonya intervenes. Maloney then forces Palmer to confess that he framed Charlie with the letters in order to replace him in Lucy's affections, and then landed Charlie and Maloney in jail. Despite her mother's objections, Lucy runs off with Charlie and leaves her mother to take the blame when Charlie hits another policeman with a brick.
Director
Edward Cline
Cast
Charles Ruggles
Tamara Geva
Sue Conroy
Margaret Dumont
Allen Jenkins
Donald Meek
Douglas Gilmore
Jerome Daley
Betty Garde
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a news item in Motion Picture Daily on May 21, 1931, "about one-third" of this film was made on location at New Hyde Park, Long Island, NY. According to the Variety review, this film marks the first time Charles Ruggles' name appeared above the title. Ballet dancer Tamara Geva made her screen debut in this film, although she does not dance in the film. This film was a remake of the 1922 Famous Players-Lasky film Thirty Days, which was directed by James Cruze and starred Wallace Reid and Wanda Hawley (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.5634).
