The greatest movie ever made..!

A different way of telling a story

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Supposed to be a light romantic comedy satirizing several aspects of radio programs. Ginger Rogers, in her first RKO film, plays an ex-orphan who has been remade into 'the Purity Girl'(Glory Eden), singing and talking on the radio program sponsored by Ippsie Wippsie wash cloth, owned by Sam Ipswich(Greggory Ratoff). She is billed as a girl who doesn't do any of the usual 'sinful' things of girls her age. In fact, the company insists that she actually live up to her image 24 hr. a day, something she resents, since such a life is very dull to her. Thus, she balks at signing a 5 year contract to continue this lifestyle. This is a satire on manufactured squeaky clean images of radio stars promulgated by sponsors and studio bosses. Another bit of sarcasm is directed at radio sponsors, whose often inane jingles tells the listener nothing important about their product. Also, obviously, this is a simple inexpensive item which is not bought very often., thus is of low value for expensive advertisement. In later years the occasional film(as "Always Fair Weather" satirized similar commercials on TV. Interestingly, the word 'television' is mentioned once, suggesting that it was a recognized term 15 years before it was commercialized, having been invented already. There are a few scenes that would have been censored out by the Production Code going into effect late the next year. Several times, Ginger removes her dress to show her underwear, even dancing around in it. Nothing special for today's audiences, but considered daring at that time. What about the brief spanking scene? I don't know how often such scenes were censored out once the Production Code went into full effect, but I do know that the occasional film slipped through, as in "Frontier Gal", "Across the Wide Missouri", "McClintock", and "Kiss Me Kate". I'm surprised such scenes were allowed in the era of strict censoring. After the women's lib movement, I haven't noticed any such incidents.....Toward the end, Ginger signs a contract with the Kelsey dish rags company , to continue her radio singing, because they allowed her to cheat on her 'Purity Girl' image. Her new husband, Jim(Norman Foster) simultaneously signed a contact with the Ippsie Wippsie company to recite poetry over the radio. But, he insisted on his wife singing between his poetry readings. This problem was solved by a merger of the two companies. Yes, very silly, as is a good part of the film in general. But, it's seldom really funny, which is the main problem with this film. The other featured players include Zasu Pitts, who provides a bit of humor, Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, swishy Frank Pangborn, Edgar Kennedy, and Frank Kalrien. See it on YouTube

As a fan of Ginger Rogers, it was fun to see her in her first film for RKO, where she plays the part of Glory, a young woman whose fortunes changed when she was taken from an orphanage to play the role of radio's "Purity Girl"--a popular singer who is supposed to represent all that is virginal and pure.She is unhappy with her life, because the owner of the company that sponsors her show insists she play the innocent role twenty-four hours a day, while her greatest desire is to "sin and suffer"--frequent nightclubs, drink, and carouse with men.Being a pre-Code production, "Professional Sweetheart" is allowed liberties that will soon disappear from American screens, but like most of the titillation of its time, it consists primarily of suggestiveness.Backed by a great cast of character actors (e.g. Zasu Pitts and Franklin Pangborn), Ginger plays her part with spirit, but the script fizzles out slightly more than halfway through this mild comedy. In the end, the film's performances cannot raise it above the mediocrity of the story, but it has elements of entertainment and enjoyment.

I'd been looking forward to this RKO programmer because it's by Maurine Watkins, a pretty smart writer who also was responsible for the play "Chicago," which became the movie "Roxie Hart," then the musical "Chicago." So she clearly knows about the value of publicity and the hypocritical nature of advertising and sponsorship. But those satirical targets are swiped at very broadly in this one, which keeps parading the name of the sponsor--Ippsie Wippsie--as if it were in itself hilarious. They're sponsoring a singing sweetheart, a dubbed Ginger Rogers, who personifies wholesome values and, predictably, is really the opposite of those values. I find Ginger's outbursts and shifts of mood unpersuasive and a little tedious, and she's surrounded by a supporting cast of Warners and RKO players who do what they always do--a simpering ZaSu Pitts, genial Frank McHugh, Brooklyn-streetwise Allen Jenkins, sputtering-in-a-foreign-accent Gregory Ratoff, swishy Franklin Pangborn, etc. Her leading man, Norman Foster, as a Kentucky farm boy who successfully woos her, is no great shakes, and Ms. Watkins also asks us to believe that a short time with him in the mountains would turn Ginger from a grasping spoiled brat who can't cook into a darling, kitchen-trained little wifey. The plot reversals are quick and unconvincing, and the bashing of the advertising industry is positively sledgehammer.

Mostly boring pre-code comedy with some nice direction and very few laughs. With a cast like this, it really should be better. The story is about a radio star (Ginger Rogers) known as America's Sweetheart who wants to live it up and go dancing, drinking, having sex, etc. So her PR team compromises by getting her a husband: a rube from Kentucky (Norman Foster). Some slightly saucy pre-code dialogue seems to be the main selling point for many. But it's still pretty tame stuff. Ginger dancing around in her underwear and one scene where she gets spanked are the movie's racier moments. Funniest scene is when Frank McHugh cons the rube into proposing. Ginger gives it her best but the script just isn't strong. Only a must for hardcore Ginger fans.