Directed by Sidney Lanfield, Society Girl is a tale of middleweight boxing contender Johnny Malone (James Dunn), who falls for the high-class society girl Judy Gelett (Peggy Shannon) in Fox’s take on the short-lived Broadway play of the same name. Johnny begins spending too much time with Judy, which distracts him from his training and leads to a rift with his manager Doc Briscoe, played by a still relatively unknown Spencer Tracy. Briscoe fears that the society girl’s affections for Johnny are nothing more than a passing fancy. Judy, however, has begun to develop real feelings for him, but plans to dump him anyway, fearing that her society friends would mock the unrefined boxer. Seeing heartbroken Johnny quickly knocked out in the championship match, Judy changes her mind.
While Society Girl received mixed reviews from contemporary critics, Tracy’s performance consistently garnered praise. Still relatively unknown at the time of Society Girl’s release, Tracy steals the show in the supporting role of Johnny’s manager. Modern Screen states “the real acting laurels go to Spencer Tracy” and a review in the Los Angeles Times asserts, “Tracy is excellent as usual.” Having started out as a theater actor in the 1920s, Tracy was signed to a contract by Fox Films in the early 1930s. Despite positive critical reviews for his performances in many of his early films, including Society Girl, Tracy’s career would not flourish until he moved to MGM later in the decade.
This film is also notable for being the first to employ a “living stage.” That is, an outdoor set made up of various varieties of flowers, trees and shrubs, enough bio-diversity to simulate the environment of a number of different locations. Up until the “Garden of All Nations,” as the Fox Movietone City set was called, outdoor garden scenes required renting private gardens. —Staci Hogsett
Director: Sidney Lanfield. Production: Fox Film Corp. Distribution: Fox Film Corp. Screenwriter: Elmer Harris. Based on the play Society Girl by John Larkin Jr. and Charles Beahan. Cinematographer: George Barnes. Art Direction: Gordon Wiles. Editor: Margaret Clancy. Music: George Lipschultz. Cast: James Dunn, Peggy Shannon, Spencer Tracy, Bert Hanlon, Walter Byron. 35mm, b/w, 73 min.
Restored from a 35mm nitrate print. Laboratory services by YCM Laboratories, Audio Mechanics, DJ Audio, Simon Daniel Sound. Special thanks to: Schawn Belston, Caitlin Robertson—20th Century Fox.
