Nothing Sacred


1h 15m 1937
Nothing Sacred

Brief Synopsis

When a small-town girl is diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an ambitious newspaper man turns her into a national heroine.

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Release Date
Nov 26, 1937
Premiere Information
New York opening: 25 Nov 1937
Production Company
Selznick International Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Suggested by the short story "Letter to the Editor" by James H. Street in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan (Oct 1937).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 15m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,685 or 6,747ft (8 reels)

Synopsis

A man posing as the Sultan of Mazipan is exposed as a Harlem bootblack at a banquet sponsored by the New York Morning Star to honor him for offering to donate ten dollars to every dollar given to establish the "Morning Star Temple," supposedly with twenty-seven halls of culture. Editor Oliver Stone assigns the perpetrator of the hoax, star reporter Wally Cook, to write obituaries, but after he suffers several indignities, Cook convinces Stone to send him to Warsaw, Vermont to interview radium poisoning victim Hazel Flagg, who has been diagnosed as having only six months to live. Before Cook meets her, Hazel learns from her doctor, Enoch Downer, that his original diagnosis was in error and that she is not ill. However, when Cook offers to take her to New York as a guest of the newspaper, she jumps at the chance to leave Warsaw. In the city, Hazel is given a ticker tape parade, and she receives the key to the city. She becomes an inspiration to poets and artists, and is guest of honor at a wrestling match and at a nightclub's "Hazel Flagg Night," but the phoniness of the adulation angers Cook, who becomes genuinely concerned about Hazel. She too is falling in love with Cook, and when he sends for radium poisoning expert Dr. Emil Eggelhoffer, she writes a suicide note thanking the city and arranges for Enoch to rescue her following a jump into the river. Cook goes to stop her, but because he can't swim, Hazel rescues him. He proposes and even when he learns after the examination by Eggelhoffer and his three colleagues that Hazel is a phony and will live, he still wants to marry her. To make it appear that she is sick, Cook knocks her cold. When Hazel revives, she, in turn, knocks out Cook. Caught by Stone, Hazel confesses the hoax to the mayor and leading citizens, but they decide that news of her health would not be good for the city. As newspapers exhibit Hazel's suicide note and the city mourns at her funeral, Hazel, Wally and Enoch sail for the tropics.

Cast

Carole Lombard

Hazel Flagg

Fredric March

Wally Cook

Charles Winninger

Dr. Enoch Downer

Walter Connolly

Oliver Stone

Sig Rumann

Dr. Emil Eggelhoffer

Frank Fay

Master of ceremonies

Troy Brown

Ernest Walker

Maxie Rosenbloom

Max

Margaret Hamilton

Drugstore lady

Olin Howland

Baggage man

Alex Schoenberg

Dr. Kerchinwisser

Monte Woolley

Dr. Vunch

Alex Novinsky

Dr. Marachuffsky

Aileen Pringle

Mrs. Bullock

Hattie Mcdaniels

Mrs. Walker

Dick Rich

Moe

Katherine Sheldon

Dr. Downer's nurse

A. W. Sweatt

Office boy

Clarence Wilson

Mr. Watson

Louise Clark

Walker's girl

John Dilson

City editor

Ben Morgan

Wrestler

Hans Steinke

Wrestler

Bob Perry

Mug

Art Lasky

Mug

George Chandler

Photographer

Claire Dubrey

Miss Rafferty

Charles Lane

Rubenstein

Nora Cecil

Schoolteacher

Edwin Maxwell

Mr. Bullock

Phillip Hurlic

Walker's kid

Rudolph Chavers

Walker's kid

Dolores Lilly

Walker's kid

Ernest Whitman

Policeman

Everett Brown

Policeman

Tenen Holtz

Sad waiter

Alex Melesh

D.S.C. head

Betty Douglas

"Helen of Troy"

Eleanor Troy

"Katherine of Russia"

Monica Bannister

"Pocahontas"

Jinx Falkenberg

"Katinka"

Margaret Lyman

"Salome"

Shirley Chambers

"Godiva"

Bill Dunn

Electrician

Lee Phelps

Electrician

Hedda Hopper

Dowager

John Qualen

Fireman

Hilda Vaughn

Mrs. Cartwright

Walter Walker

E. J. Southern

Vera Lewis

Miss Sedgewick/Guest at banquet

Charles Richman

Mayor

Mickey Mcmasters

Referee

Bobby Tracy

Announcer

Cyril Ring

Pilot

Eddie Kane

Guest at banquet

Emily Fitzroy

"Godiva"

Tom Ricketts

Guest at banquet

Allan Cavan

Guest at banquet

Miki Morita

Guest at banquet

E. J. Hertz

Guest at banquet

Ann Doran

Telephone girl

A. R. Haysel

Copy editor

Helen Brown

Secretary

Billy Barty

Midget

Charles Sherlock

Printer

Photo Collections

Nothing Sacred - Movie Poster
Here is the original-release window card movie poster for Nothing Sacred (1937), starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March.

Videos

Movie Clip

Trailer

Hosted Intro

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Release Date
Nov 26, 1937
Premiere Information
New York opening: 25 Nov 1937
Production Company
Selznick International Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Suggested by the short story "Letter to the Editor" by James H. Street in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan (Oct 1937).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 15m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,685 or 6,747ft (8 reels)

Articles

Nothing Sacred


When Wally Cook (Fredric March), an ambitious newspaper reporter for The New York Morning Star, tries to pass off a penniless Harlem resident as the "Sultan of Mazipan" at a charity event, his hoax is discovered and Cook's editor demotes the reporter to writing obituaries as punishment. In his new position, Cook learns about a young woman in Warsaw, Vermont named Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard) who has just learned from her doctor that she has a short time to live due to radium poisoning. Sensing a great news story, Cook rushes to interview the patient, only to learn the diagnosis was incorrect and the woman is in perfect health. Undeterred, Cook convinces Flagg to pretend the original diagnosis was correct, resulting in a series of tearjerking news stories, national headlines and a wave of public sympathy for the young woman. But how long can their charade last before the truth is revealed?

Nothing Sacred (1937) is a key film in that short-lived genre known as 'the screwball comedy," a unique Hollywood creation that flourished between 1933 and 1940. Distinguished by its eccentric characters, irreverent humor, and breakneck pacing, these films usually featured privileged but irresponsible characters running amok against the backdrop of the Great Depression when society was in turmoil. But while the idle rich were mercilessly lampooned in the most popular screwball comedy of the previous year - My Man Godfrey (1936) - the whole human race gets dished in Nothing Sacred, from the newspaper industry to a public that enjoys reading sob stories about someone else's misfortune.

Ben Hecht, a former Chicago newspaper man working as a Hollywood screenwriter, was hired by producer David O. Selznick to come up with a comedy for Carole Lombard in the spring of 1937. After several false starts, Hecht finally heeded Selznick's suggestion to adapt the short story, "Letter to the Editor" by James H. Street, that had appeared in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan. Hecht's screenplay was titled Nothing Sacred and included a part for his friend, John Barrymore. Unfortunately, Selznick incurred Hecht's anger when he refused to use Barrymore who, at this point in his career, had become an incurable alcoholic. The final straw for Hecht was when Selznick demanded a 'happy ending' for what was clearly intended to be a very black comedy and the writer walked off the production. The screenplay was then handed over to Dorothy Parker and Robert Carson to polish the dialogue and eventually Ring Lardner, Jr. and Budd Schulberg were brought in to provide an acceptable ending.

Despite the bad blood between Hecht and Selznick, the actual filming of Nothing Sacred was a high-spirited affair that often resembled a non-stop party. Practical jokes were the order of the day and, at one point, Lombard had director William Wellman bound in a straitjacket by some strong-armed crew members so she could have his undivided attention. Wellman, in turn, showed Lombard how to tackle a man in preparation for her free-for-all with Fredric March at the film's climax. Lombard's zany sense of fun even affected the usually humorless March who went careening around the Selznick lot with her in a rented fire engine during a production break. It was generally known in Hollywood circles that Lombard wasn't particularly fond of March ever since he tried to seduce her on the set of The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) but the two actors got along famously on this picture.

Carole Lombard often said Nothing Sacred was one of her favorite films and it's certainly an ideal showcase for this dazzling blonde comedienne who deservedly became the "Queen of Screwball Comedy" after her performances in this, Twentieth Century (1934), and My Man Godfrey (1936). Besides Lombard's performance, Wellman's expert direction, and the sharp dialogue, Nothing Sacred also deserves a footnote in film history as the first use in a color film of process effects, montage and rear screen projection. Backgrounds for the rear projection were filmed on the streets of New York and Paramount would later refine this method in their subsequent color features.

Nothing Sacred would later serve as the basis for the Broadway musical, Hazel Flagg, which premiered in 1953. Then Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin starred in a 1954 remake entitled Living It Up with Lewis in the Lombard role, Dean Martin as the doctor, and Janet Leigh as the reporter.

Producer: David O. Selznick
Director: William Wellman
Screenplay: Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner Jr., Budd Schulberg
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler
Cinematography: Howard Greene
Costume Design: Travis Banton, Walter Plunkett
Film Editing: Hal Kern, James Newcom
Original Music: Oscar Levant
Principal Cast: Carole Lombard (Hazel Flagg), Fredic March (Wally Cook), Charles Winninger (Dr. Enoch Downer), Walter Connolly (Oliver Stone), Sig Rumann (Dr. Emile Egglehoffer).
C-74m.

by Jeff Stafford

Nothing Sacred

Nothing Sacred

When Wally Cook (Fredric March), an ambitious newspaper reporter for The New York Morning Star, tries to pass off a penniless Harlem resident as the "Sultan of Mazipan" at a charity event, his hoax is discovered and Cook's editor demotes the reporter to writing obituaries as punishment. In his new position, Cook learns about a young woman in Warsaw, Vermont named Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard) who has just learned from her doctor that she has a short time to live due to radium poisoning. Sensing a great news story, Cook rushes to interview the patient, only to learn the diagnosis was incorrect and the woman is in perfect health. Undeterred, Cook convinces Flagg to pretend the original diagnosis was correct, resulting in a series of tearjerking news stories, national headlines and a wave of public sympathy for the young woman. But how long can their charade last before the truth is revealed? Nothing Sacred (1937) is a key film in that short-lived genre known as 'the screwball comedy," a unique Hollywood creation that flourished between 1933 and 1940. Distinguished by its eccentric characters, irreverent humor, and breakneck pacing, these films usually featured privileged but irresponsible characters running amok against the backdrop of the Great Depression when society was in turmoil. But while the idle rich were mercilessly lampooned in the most popular screwball comedy of the previous year - My Man Godfrey (1936) - the whole human race gets dished in Nothing Sacred, from the newspaper industry to a public that enjoys reading sob stories about someone else's misfortune. Ben Hecht, a former Chicago newspaper man working as a Hollywood screenwriter, was hired by producer David O. Selznick to come up with a comedy for Carole Lombard in the spring of 1937. After several false starts, Hecht finally heeded Selznick's suggestion to adapt the short story, "Letter to the Editor" by James H. Street, that had appeared in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan. Hecht's screenplay was titled Nothing Sacred and included a part for his friend, John Barrymore. Unfortunately, Selznick incurred Hecht's anger when he refused to use Barrymore who, at this point in his career, had become an incurable alcoholic. The final straw for Hecht was when Selznick demanded a 'happy ending' for what was clearly intended to be a very black comedy and the writer walked off the production. The screenplay was then handed over to Dorothy Parker and Robert Carson to polish the dialogue and eventually Ring Lardner, Jr. and Budd Schulberg were brought in to provide an acceptable ending. Despite the bad blood between Hecht and Selznick, the actual filming of Nothing Sacred was a high-spirited affair that often resembled a non-stop party. Practical jokes were the order of the day and, at one point, Lombard had director William Wellman bound in a straitjacket by some strong-armed crew members so she could have his undivided attention. Wellman, in turn, showed Lombard how to tackle a man in preparation for her free-for-all with Fredric March at the film's climax. Lombard's zany sense of fun even affected the usually humorless March who went careening around the Selznick lot with her in a rented fire engine during a production break. It was generally known in Hollywood circles that Lombard wasn't particularly fond of March ever since he tried to seduce her on the set of The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) but the two actors got along famously on this picture. Carole Lombard often said Nothing Sacred was one of her favorite films and it's certainly an ideal showcase for this dazzling blonde comedienne who deservedly became the "Queen of Screwball Comedy" after her performances in this, Twentieth Century (1934), and My Man Godfrey (1936). Besides Lombard's performance, Wellman's expert direction, and the sharp dialogue, Nothing Sacred also deserves a footnote in film history as the first use in a color film of process effects, montage and rear screen projection. Backgrounds for the rear projection were filmed on the streets of New York and Paramount would later refine this method in their subsequent color features. Nothing Sacred would later serve as the basis for the Broadway musical, Hazel Flagg, which premiered in 1953. Then Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin starred in a 1954 remake entitled Living It Up with Lewis in the Lombard role, Dean Martin as the doctor, and Janet Leigh as the reporter. Producer: David O. Selznick Director: William Wellman Screenplay: Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner Jr., Budd Schulberg Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler Cinematography: Howard Greene Costume Design: Travis Banton, Walter Plunkett Film Editing: Hal Kern, James Newcom Original Music: Oscar Levant Principal Cast: Carole Lombard (Hazel Flagg), Fredic March (Wally Cook), Charles Winninger (Dr. Enoch Downer), Walter Connolly (Oliver Stone), Sig Rumann (Dr. Emile Egglehoffer). C-74m. by Jeff Stafford

Nothing Sacred - Carole Lombard & Fredric March in NOTHING SACRED


The delightfully cynical Nothing Sacred holds a proud place at the center of the Screwball Comedy tradition. Just a mention of the film will elicit broad smiles from people that have seen it. Ben Hecht's disarming screenplay embraces what in 1937 had to be considered sick, morbid humor. The film's gags come from the plight of a beautiful woman dying of slow radiation poisoning, a premise that doesn't exactly promise big laughs. The satire targets the dominant medium of the day, the competitive New York tabloid papers that feed the public's voracious appetite for maudlin news. Ex- newspaperman Hecht opens his tale with a mock-pious quote lauding the heart of a great city, and then proceeds to demolish his own premise. Nothing Sacred is the third great Screwball Comedy from Carole Lombard, after Gregory La Cava's hilarious My Man Godfrey and the 1934 Howard Hawks film that helped launch the fad, Twentieth Century.

The sarcasm starts early and doesn't let up. Star reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) has been exiled to the obituary department for inadvertently making his paper the Morning Star the butt of a cheap hoax. To make amends with his publisher Oliver Stone (Walter Connelly), Wally rushes to the small Vermont town of Warsaw to get an exclusive on Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard), a young woman expected to die in just a few weeks from radium poisoning. Wally suffers at the hands of the locals, who are hostile to all strangers and particularly newsmen from New York. It just so happens that Hazel's quack of a doctor, Enoch Downer (Charles Winninger) has discovered that his diagnosis was completely wrong, that she isn't going to die after all. Excited by the prospect of being flown south for an all expenses paid madcap Manhattan weekend or two, Hazel decides not to inform Wally about her miraculous "recovery". Greeted as a combination angel and martyr, Hazel is cheered by thousands and given the Key to the City. She's toasted and sobbed over wherever she goes. So touched is Wally by the beautiful Hazel's courage that he's inspired to propose marriage, for the little time she has left. Oliver is overjoyed to be sponsoring such a newsworthy, and non-fraudulent, person. But Hazel knows that "her little secret" will probably get both her and Wally tarred and feathered.

Nothing Sacred begins with an outrageous non-PC joke that completely justifies the film's title. There's this black potentate from the Far East, see, who has promised to fund the construction of a vast civic project sponsored by the Morning Star. This Magi in a turban (Troy Brown) isn't exactly who he says he is. Writer Hecht next aims his lampoon at the hostility of the Vermont locals toward city folk. A monosyllabic baggage man (Olin Howland) and a stingy storekeeper (Margaret Hamilton) shock Wally with their rudeness and lack of generosity. It's so bad up in Warsaw that a tiny kid runs out and bites Wally on the leg, just out of meanness.

Carole Lombard's Hazel Flagg is so bored with rural Vermont that she volunteers herself and Dr. Downer to be honored and worshipped without thinking of the consequences. Vermont's most famous resident can't wait to get a taste of urban corruption. For the weary Oliver Stone the reveal of the truth would mean more embarrassment and disgrace. A group of bearded medical experts (including Sig Ruman and Monty Wooly) realize this immediately. After they give Hazel their own tests, they adjust their bill for services for keeping the results confidential. Meanwhile, the Big Apple's generosity is expressed in ever more grotesque ways. One nightclub builds an entire floorshow around Hazel, comparing her to great women in history. Everywhere she goes, Hazel sees at least one person that can't keep from crying, thinking about her imminent demise. And she doesn't know how to handle Wally's reverent, worshipful gestures. No wonder Hazel's responds to her bizarre predicament by getting totally soused.

Hecht has an ornate way of having characters describe each other. Wally Cook on Oliver Stone: "He's sort of a cross between a Ferris wheel and a werewolf. But with a lovable streak if you care to blast for it." Dr. Enoch Downer on Wally Cook: "You're a newspaperman. I can smell 'em. Excuse me while I open the window." Looking at a silly wrestling exhibition, Wally pronounces them phonies, and then adds, "I head the list." A montage of cynical headlines and signs honoring Hazel Flagg is a string of jokes worthy of Tex Avery. One newspaper dripping with concern for Hazel is shown being used to wrap a fish.

Director William Wellman avoids clever camera tricks but imposes his own brand of eccentricity. The ex-Eastern potentate casually enters Hazel's hotel room to collect a bouquet for his wife out of the many floral honorariums sent to ease Hazel's demise. When Oliver Stone needs a thug to drag Hazel back to his office, the nod goes to an ex-wrestler played by the unflappable Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom. And the first real conversation between Wally and Hazel is an intimate scene purposely played out while a large tree blocks the actors' faces. Interestingly, Hazel's purported malady is based on fact. Her hometown is dominated by a watch factory, and in 1917 an appalling worker safety scandal broke out in the industry that manufactured glowing radium dials. The Radium Girls fell sick and died through the criminal negligence of the factory owners, who knew the danger well. They shielded technicians and scientists, but hid the truth from workers that painted the radium on the watch faces. The practice went on for years, and should be taught in schools as an example of the ruthlessness of 'free enterprise'. The workers at one Illinois Radium Dial plant were called "The Living Dead Women".

Nothing Sacred dispenses with the threat to Hazel almost immediately, leaving us to laugh at the spectacle of a media darling without a malady to stand on. The show amplifies its laughs with some hilarious third-act reversals, but the macabre concept ultimately hits a brick wall. Producer David O. Selznick hired a brace of top writers to concoct an acceptably upbeat conclusion. The crazy fable doesn't let us down, but even confirmed fans often can't recall exactly how it ends. Nobody would call this comedy a message picture, but it does express some truths about the madness of a media-driven public that craves bigger-than-life winners and losers, villains and heroes.

Kino Classics' Blu-ray of Nothing Sacred was sourced from an original nitrate Technicolor print preserved by the George Eastman House. An actual Technicolor release print normally makes a poor source for a video transfer; previous video versions of this title have had terrible contrast problems. Those drawbacks have been minimized in Kino's new HD scan of the print, and the use of new digital tools. The film's color varies, as does its contrast and grain. Some scenes look quite good while others resemble colorized B&W. I've never seen an original Tech print to compare but this Blu-ray is intact and sharp. It also has excellent sound lacking in most copies for many years. Oscar Levant's original music score is no longer broken up by splices, pops and dropouts.

After being turned into a Broadway play, the story of Nothing Sacred became a 1954 comedy vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Living it Up.

For more information about Nothing Sacred, visit Kino Lorber. To order Nothing Sacred, go to TCM Shopping.

by Glenn Erickson

Nothing Sacred - Carole Lombard & Fredric March in NOTHING SACRED

The delightfully cynical Nothing Sacred holds a proud place at the center of the Screwball Comedy tradition. Just a mention of the film will elicit broad smiles from people that have seen it. Ben Hecht's disarming screenplay embraces what in 1937 had to be considered sick, morbid humor. The film's gags come from the plight of a beautiful woman dying of slow radiation poisoning, a premise that doesn't exactly promise big laughs. The satire targets the dominant medium of the day, the competitive New York tabloid papers that feed the public's voracious appetite for maudlin news. Ex- newspaperman Hecht opens his tale with a mock-pious quote lauding the heart of a great city, and then proceeds to demolish his own premise. Nothing Sacred is the third great Screwball Comedy from Carole Lombard, after Gregory La Cava's hilarious My Man Godfrey and the 1934 Howard Hawks film that helped launch the fad, Twentieth Century. The sarcasm starts early and doesn't let up. Star reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) has been exiled to the obituary department for inadvertently making his paper the Morning Star the butt of a cheap hoax. To make amends with his publisher Oliver Stone (Walter Connelly), Wally rushes to the small Vermont town of Warsaw to get an exclusive on Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard), a young woman expected to die in just a few weeks from radium poisoning. Wally suffers at the hands of the locals, who are hostile to all strangers and particularly newsmen from New York. It just so happens that Hazel's quack of a doctor, Enoch Downer (Charles Winninger) has discovered that his diagnosis was completely wrong, that she isn't going to die after all. Excited by the prospect of being flown south for an all expenses paid madcap Manhattan weekend or two, Hazel decides not to inform Wally about her miraculous "recovery". Greeted as a combination angel and martyr, Hazel is cheered by thousands and given the Key to the City. She's toasted and sobbed over wherever she goes. So touched is Wally by the beautiful Hazel's courage that he's inspired to propose marriage, for the little time she has left. Oliver is overjoyed to be sponsoring such a newsworthy, and non-fraudulent, person. But Hazel knows that "her little secret" will probably get both her and Wally tarred and feathered. Nothing Sacred begins with an outrageous non-PC joke that completely justifies the film's title. There's this black potentate from the Far East, see, who has promised to fund the construction of a vast civic project sponsored by the Morning Star. This Magi in a turban (Troy Brown) isn't exactly who he says he is. Writer Hecht next aims his lampoon at the hostility of the Vermont locals toward city folk. A monosyllabic baggage man (Olin Howland) and a stingy storekeeper (Margaret Hamilton) shock Wally with their rudeness and lack of generosity. It's so bad up in Warsaw that a tiny kid runs out and bites Wally on the leg, just out of meanness. Carole Lombard's Hazel Flagg is so bored with rural Vermont that she volunteers herself and Dr. Downer to be honored and worshipped without thinking of the consequences. Vermont's most famous resident can't wait to get a taste of urban corruption. For the weary Oliver Stone the reveal of the truth would mean more embarrassment and disgrace. A group of bearded medical experts (including Sig Ruman and Monty Wooly) realize this immediately. After they give Hazel their own tests, they adjust their bill for services for keeping the results confidential. Meanwhile, the Big Apple's generosity is expressed in ever more grotesque ways. One nightclub builds an entire floorshow around Hazel, comparing her to great women in history. Everywhere she goes, Hazel sees at least one person that can't keep from crying, thinking about her imminent demise. And she doesn't know how to handle Wally's reverent, worshipful gestures. No wonder Hazel's responds to her bizarre predicament by getting totally soused. Hecht has an ornate way of having characters describe each other. Wally Cook on Oliver Stone: "He's sort of a cross between a Ferris wheel and a werewolf. But with a lovable streak if you care to blast for it." Dr. Enoch Downer on Wally Cook: "You're a newspaperman. I can smell 'em. Excuse me while I open the window." Looking at a silly wrestling exhibition, Wally pronounces them phonies, and then adds, "I head the list." A montage of cynical headlines and signs honoring Hazel Flagg is a string of jokes worthy of Tex Avery. One newspaper dripping with concern for Hazel is shown being used to wrap a fish. Director William Wellman avoids clever camera tricks but imposes his own brand of eccentricity. The ex-Eastern potentate casually enters Hazel's hotel room to collect a bouquet for his wife out of the many floral honorariums sent to ease Hazel's demise. When Oliver Stone needs a thug to drag Hazel back to his office, the nod goes to an ex-wrestler played by the unflappable Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom. And the first real conversation between Wally and Hazel is an intimate scene purposely played out while a large tree blocks the actors' faces. Interestingly, Hazel's purported malady is based on fact. Her hometown is dominated by a watch factory, and in 1917 an appalling worker safety scandal broke out in the industry that manufactured glowing radium dials. The Radium Girls fell sick and died through the criminal negligence of the factory owners, who knew the danger well. They shielded technicians and scientists, but hid the truth from workers that painted the radium on the watch faces. The practice went on for years, and should be taught in schools as an example of the ruthlessness of 'free enterprise'. The workers at one Illinois Radium Dial plant were called "The Living Dead Women". Nothing Sacred dispenses with the threat to Hazel almost immediately, leaving us to laugh at the spectacle of a media darling without a malady to stand on. The show amplifies its laughs with some hilarious third-act reversals, but the macabre concept ultimately hits a brick wall. Producer David O. Selznick hired a brace of top writers to concoct an acceptably upbeat conclusion. The crazy fable doesn't let us down, but even confirmed fans often can't recall exactly how it ends. Nobody would call this comedy a message picture, but it does express some truths about the madness of a media-driven public that craves bigger-than-life winners and losers, villains and heroes. Kino Classics' Blu-ray of Nothing Sacred was sourced from an original nitrate Technicolor print preserved by the George Eastman House. An actual Technicolor release print normally makes a poor source for a video transfer; previous video versions of this title have had terrible contrast problems. Those drawbacks have been minimized in Kino's new HD scan of the print, and the use of new digital tools. The film's color varies, as does its contrast and grain. Some scenes look quite good while others resemble colorized B&W. I've never seen an original Tech print to compare but this Blu-ray is intact and sharp. It also has excellent sound lacking in most copies for many years. Oscar Levant's original music score is no longer broken up by splices, pops and dropouts. After being turned into a Broadway play, the story of Nothing Sacred became a 1954 comedy vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Living it Up. For more information about Nothing Sacred, visit Kino Lorber. To order Nothing Sacred, go to TCM Shopping. by Glenn Erickson

Quotes

I am sitting here, Mr.Cook, toying with the idea of cutting out your heart, and stuffing it, like an olive!
- Oliver Stone
For good clean fun, there's nothing like a wake.
- Wally Cook
Oh please, let's not talk shop.
- Hazel Flagg
It's kind of startling to be brought to life twice - and each time in Warsaw!
- Hazel Flagg

Trivia

Notes

According to various New York Times articles, this film cost over one million dollars to make, model Betty Douglas was loaned by Walter Wanger's company, and the film marked the first use in a color film of process effects, montage and rear projection. Backgrounds for the rear projection scenes were filmed on the streets of New York. New York Times notes that after this first use in a color film of process shots, which involved the projection of film onto transparent screens, Paramount developed the method further.
       New York Times rated the film "one of the most entertaining shows of the season" and Variety agreed, calling it "one of the top comedies of the season." Modern sources note that Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay in two weeks on a train, and that Budd Schulberg and Dorothy Parker were called in to write the final scenes. Modern sources also list the following additional credits: Contract Writer David O. Selznick, William Wellman, Sidney Howard, Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman and Robert Carson; Aerial photog Wilfred M. Cline; Music Director Louis Forbes; Production Manager Raymond A. Klune; Scen asst Barbara Keon ; Publicity dir Russell Birdwell. A musical based on this film and James Street's story, entitled Hazel Flagg, book by Ben Hecht, music by Jule Styne, opened in New York on February 11, 1953. Paramount produced a remake entitled Living It Up in 1954 starring Jerry Lewis in the Lombard role, Dean Martin as the doctor and Janet Leigh as the reporter.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1937

Released in United States October 6, 1985

Released in United States January 1996

Shown at New York Film Festival (Retrospective) October 6, 1985.

Released in United States 1937

Released in United States October 6, 1985 (Shown at New York Film Festival (Retrospective) October 6, 1985.)

Released in United States January 1996 (Shown at Sundance Film Festival (William Wellman: American Storyteller) in Park City, Utah January 18-28, 1996.)