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Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men

Director: Mark Sandrich (Dir) Release Date: 3 Nov 1933 Premiere Information: New York opening: week of 19 Oct 1933 Duration (in mins): 73 Duration (in reels): 8			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Charles Farrell	(Adoniram Schlump)
	Wynne Gibson	(Agnes "Aggie" Appleby)
	William Gargan	(Red Branahan)
	ZaSu Pitts	(Sibby)
	Betty Furness	(Evangeline)
	Blanche Friderici	(Aunt Katharine)
	Jane Darwell	(Landlady)

Summary:

After her mug boyfriend, Red Branahan, is arrested for beating up two policemen, broke Agnes "Aggie" Appleby is evicted from their New York apartment. Desperate for lodging, Aggie shows at the apartment building where her friend Sibby works as a maid and sneaks into an empty room to sleep. Before she wakes, the room's tenant, timid Adoniram Schlump, returns from an unsuccessful day of job hunting. Although Schlump is startled to find Aggie in his bed, he offers her dinner and tells her about his well-to-do family in upstate New York and his fiancée Evangeline. After Aggie describes Red as a doctor who has been imprisoned as a social reformer, Schlump insists that she stay with him, rent free. Soon Aggie transforms the soft-spoken Schlump into a tough-talking mug and changes his name to Red Branahan before taking him to interview for a job with a construction crew. Based on Red's reputation as a fighter, Schlump is hired as a gang boss and his new job and image inspire him to romance Aggie with gentlemanly force. A few months later, Schlump proposes to Aggie, unaware that Red has been released from prison and is looking for her. Although Aggie loves Schlump, she refuses to marry him because of her past with Red, and runs from his apartment when Evangeline and Schlump's snobby aunt Katharine arrive unannounced. Schlump eventually tracks Aggie to her old apartment, where she "confesses" that she is already married to Red. After a love-sick Schlump fights with Red in a speakeasy, he reunites with Evangeline, who is ecstatic over her fiancé's newfound masculinity. Red then returns home and accepts Aggie's orders that he marry her, change his name to Adoniram Schlump, and learn some manners.

Production Company:	RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Production Text:	A Pandro S. Berman Production
Distribution Company:	RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Director:	Mark Sandrich	(Dir)
	James Hartnett	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Merian C. Cooper	(Exec prod)
Writer:	Humphrey Pearson	(Scr)
	Edward Kaufman	(Scr)
Photography:	J. Roy Hunt	(Photog)
Art Direction:	Van Nest Polglase	(Art dir)
	Carroll Clark	(Art dir)
Film Editor:	Basil Wrangell	(Ed)
Music:	Max Steiner	(Mus dir)
Sound:	Bert S. Hodges	(Rec)
Country:	United States

Source Text:	Based on the play Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men by Joseph O. Kesselring (copyrighted 3 Dec 1932).
Authors:	Joseph O. Kesselring

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number	Passed By NBR:
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.	24/11/1933 dd/mm/yyyy	LP4360	Yes

Physical Properties:	b&w;:
	Sd:	RCA Victor System


Genre:	Romantic comedy

Subjects (Major):	Class distinction
	Love affairs
	Manhood
	Ruffians
	Self-sacrifice
	Transformation

Subjects (Minor):	Aunts
	Construction workers
	Engagements
	Fistfights
	Maids
	New York City
	Police
	Prisons
	Reputation
	Snobs and snobbishness
	Speakeasies
	Unemployment
	Upper classes

Note:	According to a HR news item, Mark Sandrich replaced Sidney Lanfield as director on this production. Lanfield was pulled to direct RKO's 1935 film Romance in Manhattan , but was eventually replaced by Stephen Roberts on that film. Wynne Gibson replaced Helen Mack in the film's lead, according to another HR news item.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Daily Variety	23 Sep 33	p. 2.
Film Daily	19 Oct 33	p. 6.
HF	12 Aug 33	p. 8.
Hollywood Reporter	1 Jun 33	p. 1.
Hollywood Reporter	20 Jul 33	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	18 Aug 33	p. 4.
Motion Picture Daily	20 Oct 33	p. 2.
Motion Picture Herald	28 Oct 33	pp. 58-59.
New York Times	20 Oct 33	p. 14.
Variety	24 Oct 33	p. 17.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.

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