Did you people see the same film I saw?

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This mid 30's back and forth romantic drama has a humorous element. Some times a woman just thinks she knows what she wants. Ann Southern stars a the lovely Miss Kitty, that gets torn between two lovers. She off and on goes out with mechanic Bill Lowery(Paul Kelly); the problem with Bill is he loves his job too much. Actually it is the chance at making money that he places above all else; and that means standing up Kitty on the night of her birthday. She accepts a blind date with a considerably older wealthy clothing store owner Bob Hartwell(Neil Hamilton). Hartwell plies her with fancy clothes and even a job at his store. He even buys Bill's wrecker service/mechanic shop. When Kitty feels beholden to her first love, Bill; and wants to try over again with him, he breaks the relationship off. Now, what is a girl to do? Roy William Neil directs this 71 minute mini-soap opera. Veteran actress Jane Darwell plays Kitty's mother aptly. Other players rounding out the cast: Geneva Mitchell, Joan Gale, Spencer Charters and a young, but still growing Mickey Rooney.

This is a disappointing drama about a hard-working model (Ann Sothern) supporting her lazy family and torn between two men: an honest mechanic (Paul Kelly) who works long hours yet seems to be intent on dominating her once they get married, and a rather lecherous wealthy playboy (Neil Hamilton) whose intentions do not seem at all honorable. The lack of likable characters, with the exception of Sothern and a very young Mickey Rooney as the younger brother who hasn't had the opportunity to become like his parents Jane Darwell and Spencer Charters yet, makes this difficult to tolerate at times. All this family seems to do is bicker over nothing and makes no effort to resolve any conflicts.While this is certainly a good looking film, there isn't enough to recommend it past that. Ann Sothern is certainly a lovely heroine, but even though she had been in films for several years (mainly as a chorus girl), she was still too green in her acting to hold together an entire movie when everything else around her was mediocre. While Kelly tries to add some softer dimensions to his character, he never fully hits the mark. Hamilton seems to be just stuck in the rut of playing less than noble wealthy men, sort of a poor man's Ralph Bellamy who never got the girl even though he used every dirty trick in the book. Sothern would have better luck when she went over to RKO for some frivolous comedies and of course much more success at MGM with the "Maisie" series and a string of musical successes.

In a Film In Review article Ann Sothern was very reticent about her early screen work ("Hold Everything", "Whoopee") - MGM signed her to a contract under her real name of Harriet Lake but she only made one movie for them - "Doughboys" (1930) and was then dropped. Columbia signed her to a contract in the mid thirties and she made a series of light hearted programmers with co-stars such as Edmund Lowe and Gene Raymond. Even though Harry Cohn often boasted that by changing Harriet Lake's name to Ann Sothern he had made her a star, Columbia didn't really seem interested in promoting her and it was up to MGM to come up trumps with "Maisie".Kitty (Sothern) is the bread winner of her improvident family - as well as keeper of the peace and advice dispenser and she is getting pretty fed up with it. Especially her full of beans boyfriend Bill (I have never seen Paul Kelly so animated before)!! who puts work before romance!! When he stands her up on her birthday she listens to her friend and goes on a blind date where she meets debonair Bob Hartwell (Neil Hamilton). She starts to live the high life when he gets her a job as a model in his department store but when she dismisses his cave man tactics she suddenly finds herself out of a job. Of course the thing is, Bob is completely in the dark about things - his father has sacked her during cutbacks but requests the news be kept from his son. Bob goes on a cruise with his mother, not knowing that Kitty is desperately looking for a job. Bill comes to the rescue with a job for her father and the pressure is now on for Kitty to patch things up with Bill - even though she doesn't love him.Bob comes back but Kitty is determined to stick by Bill - he has been involved in an awful accident at work - courtesy of Kitty's father and a blow torch!!! Flora (Joan Gale), Kitty's sister over hears Kitty and Bob's tearful parting and wants to make it right for them. This is a really nice way to pass an afternoon with the "little" actors you get to know if you watch enough old movies. Matinée idol Neil Hamilton, most people know him from the Batman TV show as Commissioner Gordon but he had a huge career starting in the 1920s - he was a D.W. Griffith discovery. Mickey Rooney showed that even during his awkward age there were always roles to be had!!!

"Blind Date" is one of three stories-made-into-movie by author Vida Hurst. Lots of familiar faces in this oldie from 1934. Mickey Rooney as a mouthy little punk. He seems to be in the film for comedic and homey "family values". Jane Darwell again plays the strong-willed mother, just as she had in Grapes of Wrath and the Oxbow Incident. Ann Sothern is Kitty, who has been dating Bill (Paul Kelly), but meets up with rich Bob Hartwell, played by Neil Hamilton, who may or may not be better for her. You can certainly tell that this was made at the very beginning of the Hays production code -- at one point, Kitty says she can't be up there alone with him if there isn't anyone else in the house...what a change from just a year or two prior, when anything and everything was OK. Good solid plot, but a whole lot of conversation and mushy love talk. It raises the question over what a girl should be searching for in a man; should she hold out for a man with integrity who treats her nice, or just find a man with big bucks, as most of the movies from the previous 20 years had advocated...? and how do men change when their situation changes ? watch out for some violence in the strange dance marathon scene. TV viewers from the 1960s will recognize Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon from Batman..... Also some weird drama in the off-screen lives for some of the cast in this one --Paul Kelly had gone to jail for being accessory to murder in a love triangle. Mickey Rooney had an affair with Norma Shearer, who was 20 years older; Rooney ended up being married eight times. Tyler Brooke (Emory) and Spencer Charters (Pa) both knocked themselves off in real life. The title "Blind Date" has been reused many times, for films, TV series, and even cartoons, but none of them seem to have the same plot as this one.