Design for Scandal
- December 1941 (1941-12)
Design for Scandal is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon and Edward Arnold. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Russell stars as a judge targeted by a newspaper tycoon unhappy with her decision in his divorce case.
Plot
When wealthy newspaper publisher Judson M. Blair divorces his wife Adele, judge Cornelia C. Porter awards Adele alimony of $4,000 per month for five years or until she remarries. After learning from his lawyer Northcott that Porter refuses to hear an appeal, Blair is furious and unsuccessfully tries to wield his influence with Porter's boss Judge Graham to have Porter transferred.
Reporter Jeff Sherman, recently fired by Blair, offers a solution in exchange for a promotion, a raise, a bonus and an unlimited expense account. Blair accedes to all of his demands. Sherman convinces his manicurist girlfriend Dotty to pretend to agree to marry him in the near future. He then tries to romance Porter, intending to threaten her with an alienation-of-affections scandal to force her to reduce Blair's alimony burden.
When Porter takes a two-month vacation, Sherman follows her. Having researched Porter's interests, Sherman pretends to be a sculptor. To obtain an artist's studio in the fully booked resort town, Sherman persuades sculptor Alexander Raoul that Blair has offered him a commission to decorate his building. Sherman then begins to woo Porter. She considers him a nuisance, but he is eventually able to win her love. To his dismay, he finds that he has fallen for her as well.
Porter learns about the scheme before Sherman can confess, and has both Blair and Sherman arrested. At their trial, Sherman acts as his own lawyer and calls Porter to the witness stand, where he asks her to marry him. Under oath, she is forced to admit that she did love him at one point, and she runs out in tears. When Sherman chases after her, he is knocked down. Believing that he has been hurt, Porter rushes back to him, and they are reconciled. Blair becomes irate when he discovers that after he had convinced his ex-wife to agree to a lump-sum settlement, she promptly married another wealthy magnate.
Cast
- Rosalind Russell as Judge Cornelia C. Porter
- Walter Pidgeon as Jeff Sherman
- Edward Arnold as Judson M. Blair
- Lee Bowman as Walter Caldwell, Porter's coworker and admirer
- Jean Rogers as Dotty
- Mary Beth Hughes as Adele Blair
- Guy Kibbee as Judge Graham
- Barbara Jo Allen as Jane, Porter's sister
- Leon Belasco as Alexander Raoul
- Bobby Larson as Freddie, Porter's nephew
- Charles Coleman as Wilton
- Thurston Hall as Northcott
- Anne Revere as Porter's Maid, Nettie
- George Chandler as Taxi Cab Driver
Box office
According to MGM records, the film earned $659,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $398,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $139,000.[1]
References
- ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
External links
- Design for Scandal at IMDb
- Design for Scandal at AllMovie
- Design for Scandal at the TCM Movie Database
- Design for Scandal at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- v
- t
- e
- Lucky Boy (1929)
- The Diplomats (1929)
- In Holland (1929)
- The Medicine Men (1929)
- Troopers Three (1930)
- Sunny Skies (1930)
- Hot Curves (1930)
- Follow the Leader (1930)
- Finn and Hattie (1931)
- Skippy (1931)
- Forbidden Adventure (1931)
- Huckleberry Finn (1931)
- Sooky (1931)
- Hold 'Em Jail (1932)
- The Phantom President (1932)
- If I Had a Million (segments "Prologue" and "Epilogue", 1932)
- A Bedtime Story (1933)
- The Way to Love (1933)
- We're Not Dressing (1934)
- Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)
- College Rhythm (1934)
- The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1936)
- Strike Me Pink (1936)
- Rhythm on the Range (1936)
- Reunion (1936)
- Fifty Roads to Town (1937)
- You Can't Have Everything (1937)
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
- Mad About Music (1938)
- Boys Town (1938)
- The Girl Downstairs (1938)
- Lucky Night (1939)
- Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
- Young Tom Edison (1940)
- Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
- Men of Boys Town (1941)
- Design for Scandal (1941)
- Are Husbands Necessary? (1942)
- A Yank at Eton (1942)
- Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
- Girl Crazy (1943)
- The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
- The Beginning or the End (1947)
- The Bride Goes Wild (1948)
- Big City (1948)
- Words and Music (1948)
- That Midnight Kiss (1949)
- Please Believe Me (1950)
- The Toast of New Orleans (1950)
- Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950)
- Rich, Young and Pretty (1951)
- Room for One More (1952)
- Jumping Jacks (1952)
- The Stooge (1953)
- The Stars Are Singing (1953)
- The Caddy (1953)
- Living It Up (1954)
- You're Never Too Young (1954)
- The Birds and the Bees (1956)
- Pardners (1956)
- Bundle of Joy (1956)
- The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1958)
- Onionhead (1958)
- Don't Give Up the Ship (1959)
- Visit to a Small Planet (1960)
- G.I. Blues (1960)
- All Hands on Deck (1961)
- Blue Hawaii (1961)
- Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
- It Happened at the World's Fair (1962)
- Palm Springs Weekend (1963)
- Tickle Me (1965)
- Sergeant Deadhead (1965)
- Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
- Spinout (1966)
- Double Trouble (1967)
- Speedway (1968)
- Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)