By Glenn Erickson
Hat, Coat, and Glove
Brief Synopsis
A lawyer gets mixed up in a net of intrigue when he witnesses a suicide.
Cast & Crew
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Worthington Miner
Director
Ricardo Cortez
Robert Mitchell
Barbara Robbins
Dorothea [Mitchell]
John Beal
Jerry Hutchins
Dorothy Burgess
Ann Brewster
Paul Harvey
The prosecuting attorney
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Adaptation
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Aug
27,
1934
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 26 Jul 1934
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play A Hat, a Coat, a Glove by Wilhelm Speyer (New York, 31 Jan 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
After New York defense attorney Robert Mitchell runs into his estranged wife Dorothea in a department store, where he is buying a coat, she, a hat, and her new lover, Jerry Hutchins, a pair of gloves, he is invited to her Greenwich Village studio for a friendly dinner. During the evening, Dorothea receives a telephone call from Jerry, and Robert, who had been hoping to convince his wife to return to him, suddenly leaves. The next day, Robert spots Jerry, a struggling painter, in a Greenwich Village shop and, after learning his name, shows up at his apartment. Instead of finding Jerry there, however, Robert is greeted by model Ann Brewster, a former lover of Jerry who is trying to force her way back into his life with threats of suicide. Though drunk, Ann deduces Robert's relationship to "Jerry's woman" and, out of deluded spite, grabs a gun, dials a telephone number that she believes is Dorothea's, and shoots herself. To avoid a scandal, Robert slips away from Jerry's apartment, unaware that his wife's hat and an old coat of his are there. After Jerry is accused of Ann's murder, Dorothea begs Robert to defend him, and Robert agrees on condition that she not provide Jerry with an alibi, and that, once the trial is over, she return to him without seeing her lover again. During the trial, the prosecutor introduces Dorothea's hat, Jerry's gloves and Robert's coat as evidence to implicate Jerry in a love triangle. To counter, Robert calls in Mme. Du Barry, a milliner, who Robert knows is the person that Ann mistakenly telephoned on the night of her death. After Mme. Du Barry identifies the male voice she heard that night as being exactly like Robert's, not like Jerry's, Robert tricks Thomas Sullivan, Jerry's young neighbor, into identifying him as the man he saw leaving Jerry's building. Because of Robert's clever questioning, Jerry is acquitted, and Dorothea is spared from scandal. Although Robert magnanimously offers to renege on the second part of the bargain, Dorothea, who watched her husband's performance at the trial with renewed love and pride, ends her affair with Jerry and returns to Robert's side.
Director
Worthington Miner
Director
Cast
Ricardo Cortez
Robert Mitchell
Barbara Robbins
Dorothea [Mitchell]
John Beal
Jerry Hutchins
Dorothy Burgess
Ann Brewster
Paul Harvey
The prosecuting attorney
Sara Haden
The secretary
Margaret Hamilton
Madame Du Barry [also known as Mrs. Pansy Jones]
David Durand
Thomas Sullivan
Murray Kinnell
The judge
Frederick Sullivan
The court clerk
Gayle Evers
The saleslady
Irving Bacon
Coat salesman
Wilbur Higby
Mr. Gardner
Samuel Hinds
John Walters
Louise Beavers
Imogene
Marcelle Corday
Edith Van Cleve
Joseph Anthony
Tom Brown
Crew
Pandro S. Berman
Executive Producer
Ralph Dietrich
Editing
George D. Ellis
Recording
Francis Faragoh
Screenwriter
J. Roy Hunt
Photography
Charles Kirk
Art Director
Kenneth Macgowan
Associate Producer
John Miehle
Still Photographer
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Eddie Pyle
Camera Operator
Max Steiner
Music Director
C. C. Thompson
Assistant Director
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Adaptation
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Aug
27,
1934
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 26 Jul 1934
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play A Hat, a Coat, a Glove by Wilhelm Speyer (New York, 31 Jan 1934).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Hat, Coat, and Glove
RKO bought a play by Wilhelm Speyer for the star John Barrymore, but his unavailability resulted in the studio borrowing Warners' Ricardo Cortez to fill the part. The tricky courtroom drama Hat, Coat and Glove (1934) was released after the enforcement of the Production Code, yet displays ample pre-Code content. Attorney Robert (Cortez) is separated from his wife Dorothea (Barbara Robbins) but agrees to defend her artist lover Jerry (John Beal) on a murder charge, on the condition that Dorothea return home after the case is won. Robert's casual attitude regarding the justice system is clear when he tells Jerry, "You're no criminal. Nor murderer. I'm sure I could prove that. If I want to." Dorothea's infidelity is played up, along with the seductive moves of Jerry's ex-lover, Ann (Dorothy Burgess), whose only costume is a sheer nightgown. As directed by Worthington Miner, the film's second half is a drawn-out trial ordeal without much in the way of visual interest. But the story sounds like a natural for Alfred Hitchcock. The characters are introduced in a department store when each buys one of the title items, each of which becomes pertinent evidence at the trial. Robert is certain he can free Jerry of the murder charge because he was present when Ann died, and knows exactly how to undercut the prosecution's case without implicating himself as a possible murderer. It's never fully established that Robert is faultless in Ann's death, another moral wrinkle overlooked by the Production Code Office. Ricardo Cortez continued to play suave leading men and shifty villains, but leading lady Barbara Robbins never made another theatrical feature, and Dorothy Burgess's screen roles also declined after the pre-Code period. This was one of the first films of stage star John Beal, whose fame never transferred to the screen despite a long and varied career. Worthington Miner never directed another theatrical feature, but entered television on the ground floor and enjoyed success in that medium directing and eventually producing. Miner produced the Sidney Lumet/Jason Robards TV adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1960) as well as Lumet's artistic theatrical film The Pawnbroker (1965) with Rod Steiger.
By Glenn Erickson
By Glenn Erickson
Hat, Coat, and Glove
RKO bought a play by Wilhelm Speyer for the star John Barrymore, but his unavailability resulted in the studio borrowing Warners' Ricardo Cortez to fill the part. The tricky courtroom drama Hat, Coat and Glove (1934) was released after the enforcement of the Production Code, yet displays ample pre-Code content. Attorney Robert (Cortez) is separated from his wife Dorothea (Barbara Robbins) but agrees to defend her artist lover Jerry (John Beal) on a murder charge, on the condition that Dorothea return home after the case is won. Robert's casual attitude regarding the justice system is clear when he tells Jerry, "You're no criminal. Nor murderer. I'm sure I could prove that. If I want to." Dorothea's infidelity is played up, along with the seductive moves of Jerry's ex-lover, Ann (Dorothy Burgess), whose only costume is a sheer nightgown. As directed by Worthington Miner, the film's second half is a drawn-out trial ordeal without much in the way of visual interest. But the story sounds like a natural for Alfred Hitchcock. The characters are introduced in a department store when each buys one of the title items, each of which becomes pertinent evidence at the trial. Robert is certain he can free Jerry of the murder charge because he was present when Ann died, and knows exactly how to undercut the prosecution's case without implicating himself as a possible murderer. It's never fully established that Robert is faultless in Ann's death, another moral wrinkle overlooked by the Production Code Office. Ricardo Cortez continued to play suave leading men and shifty villains, but leading lady Barbara Robbins never made another theatrical feature, and Dorothy Burgess's screen roles also declined after the pre-Code period. This was one of the first films of stage star John Beal, whose fame never transferred to the screen despite a long and varied career. Worthington Miner never directed another theatrical feature, but entered television on the ground floor and enjoyed success in that medium directing and eventually producing. Miner produced the Sidney Lumet/Jason Robards TV adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1960) as well as Lumet's artistic theatrical film The Pawnbroker (1965) with Rod Steiger.
By Glenn Erickson
Quotes
Trivia
This was originally a 'John Barrymore' vehicle. However Barrymore's alcoholism was catching up with him and his memory repeatedly failed. After three days of production with virtually nothing shot, the producers were forced to replace him with 'Ricardo Cortez' .
Notes
According to news items, RKO originally bought Wilhelm Speyer's play as a vehicle for John Barrymore. After Barrymore dropped out of the production, Adolphe Menjou was offered the role, and Paul Lukas was also considered in the part. RKO borrowed Ricardo Cortez from Warner Bros. for the production. In 1944, Gordon Douglas directed Tom Conway in an RKO remake of Speyer's play called A Night of Adventure.
