Carole Lombard
Hazel Flagg
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Synopsis
A reporter seeking a career-saving story brings a woman believed to be dying to New York. She knows the diagnosis was mistaken but accepts a chance to leave her small town and enjoy the attention. Their arrangement becomes harder to maintain as the city turns her supposed tragedy into a public spectacle.
Cast
DirectorsWilliam A. Wellman
Inspirations
James H. Street's story Letter to the Editor became the basis for a satire of news-making and public sentiment. The film treats the manufacture of a celebrity as a comic process, making the press itself a principal target.
Behind the scenes
Ben Hecht began the screenplay, which subsequently passed through several writers. Technicolor and New York background photography give the comedy a visual scale unusual for its type at the time.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Carole Lombard — Photograph by Paul Hesse (1896 – 1973) · Public domain
- Fredric March — Unknown photographer · Public domain
- Charles Winninger — The ad was produced by General Foods/Maxwell House. Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia · Public domain
- Walter Connolly — Trailer screenshot · Public domain
