The Richest Girl in the World

Heiress Dorothy Hunter (Miriam Hopkins) was left an orphan by the Titanic sinking. She is known as the Richest Girl in the World. She was raised by fellow survivor John Connors who kept her in reclusive isolation. So much so that only her inner circle knows what she looks like. When she is to meet her business managers, her secretary Sylvia Lockwood (Fay Wray) takes her place as her double. Her fiancé cancels their wedding and she's perfectly fine with it. She didn't love him anyways. After his comment, she wonders if any man would love her for her and not her money. Instead of announcing the cancellation, she continues with the engagement party where she meets Tony Travers (Joel McCrea) while pretending to be Sylvia. She keeps pushing him to woo the heiress Dorothy as a test of his real motivation. Sylvia is eager to join the ruse despite her new husband's objection.

This has some fun screwball concept. It's able to stay light and fluffy. The main issue is that Tony has to thread the needle in this movie. He has to play along with Dorothy's crazy test but he also can't play along with her. The story is actually set up for a love triangle but this movie isn't trying for one. Everything is kept light as there is never any doubt of the two leads getting together. No matter how hard Dorothy pushes, Tony is never really convincing in his pursuit of rich Dorothy. This is fine but it could have been more interesting.

Hopkins is Dorothy Hunter, the richest girl in the world who has her secretary front for her in public. Due to her wealth she is positive that she will never fall in love. Once she meets McCrea though, she falls and falls hard.. The only question - can he pass the test? Will he prefer Wray, because he thinks she's the rich one, or will he go for Hopkins, pretending to be the secretary. Charming and fun romantic comedy. Hopkins looks really lovely.

Thanks to a fine and intelligent script by Norman Krasna and to some very good acting, this is a very entertaining and charming little film, about a "poor" rich girl (sort of Barbara Hutton type), seeking for true, "uninterested" love.

Miriam Hopkins is very good and looks pretty as Miss Dorothy Hunter, "the richest girl in the world", and works very well for the first time (they did four more pictures in the following years) with Joel McCrea, who is thoroughly believable as a regular average guy, being (unknowingly) tested by this heiress, who's pretending to be a secretary.

Beautiful Fay Wray, who had worked with McCrea once in 1932, in the very good chiller "The Most Dangerous Game", also at RKO, is excellent as the heroine's pal and secretary, Sylvia, who has to pass as the millionairess, and old pro Henry Stephenson is just right as Hopkin's Tutor.

This nice little movie (short by to today's standards) has good pacing, real, likeable romance and some funny (not so screwballish)situations, even some pretty racy ones (due to the fact that "married" Sylvia impersonates "single" Dorothy), considering it was made in the 1930s, so I believe it must have been released before the Production Code was fully enforced in 1934.

Richest Girl in the World, The (1934)

** (out of 4)

Miriam Hopkins plays Dorothy Hunter, the richest girl in the world who also happens to be a recluse. Mrs. Hunter always sends her secretary (Fay Wray) out to pretend to be here. One day at a party Hunter, pretending to be the secretary, meets a man (Joel McCrea) who claims that he could fall in love with a rich woman even if she didn't have money. This RKO comedy was certainly inspired by Barbara Hutton, who at the time really was the richest girl in the world. The built up love story was probably the creation of someone in the RKO front office but the end results are fairly disappointing considering the cast involved. The story itself is the biggest problem as is goes from A to B to C without anything new being done and by the time the film is over you can't help but feel as if you've witness nothing but one cliché after another. The highlight of the film would be a scene where McCrea and Wray are out in a canoe when a jealous Hopkins comes up in a large part to tip them over. This sequence was a very funny one but there aren't too many laughs after it. McCrea and Hopkins made enough films together to be charming and they do that here. The two of them bring their characters to life even though the screenplay doesn't offer them much. Wray is also pretty good in her role but again, the screenplay doesn't give you anything. In the end this is a completely forgettable movie that most people will overlook so unless you're a fan of the stars then it's best to just keep this one in the vault.

Miriam Hopkins may be the richest girl in the world, but no one knows what she looks like. Under the direction of her guardian, Henry Stephenson, there are no pictures of her, and her secretary, Fay Wray, poses as her, even to her board of trustees, while Miss Hopkins appears to be Miss Wray, which annoys her husband, Reginald Denny. Along comes Joel Macrea, who quite obviously falls in love with Miss Hopkins, and she with him. However, he doesn't realize it, and when they discuss things, he says he expects to marry one of these days, to some nice girl, and if his bride had an immense pot of money, that would be nice. So Miss Hopkins, in a fit of self-loathing pride, pushes him to go after Miss Wray.

This was a big hit for RKO, and they remade it twice. Like many of their shows, the original is best. Among the reasons are that as society changed, the an attempt to update the themes made the movies seem irrelevant. The two ladies are absolutely gorgeous, and The under-rated Nick Musuraca's camerawork is dark and sharp, and flattering, the glossy look that RKO sought in its society comedies.

The show centers on Miss Hopkins, and director William Seiter shows a lot of the movie through her reaction shots. Hers was an odd beauty. She could look like a rubber-faced dolt in high fashion, but dress her in simple styles and no one looked more gorgeous.

In many ways this is a confluence of three talents respected at the time, but largely forgotten now. Miss Hopkins, if she is remembered, is recalled for being in Lubitsch's Trouble In Paradise; Seiter, if anyone thinks of him, for a couple of early Shirley Temple features; and almost no one thinks of Musuraca, who started as J. Stuart Blackton's chauffeur and worked through the 1960s. Just three of the innumerable talents that populated Hollywood during the Studio period.

The other people who worked on this movie were no slouches either.