Wonderful character development!

Good concept, poorly executed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It doesn't take long to figure out who is going to be the archvillain. Basil Rathbone frequently played villains. For example, he opposed Errol Flynn in fencing duels in "Captain Blood", and "The Adventures of Robin Hood". Here, he plays the imposing dictatorial Wroxton, who functions as the butler in the mansion of Mr. and Mrs. Winfield. More importantly, he is given the authority to hire and fire other household functionaries, besides which he takes a cut of their salaries to insure his continued approval of their work. He is uncommonly stiff and formal, and treats the staff as a drill sergeant treats his recruits. He reluctantly offers Loretta a job. She doesn't accept right away, and is about to leave, as she can't imagine working under the thumb of the zombie-like Wroxton. However, maid Patsy Kelly, as Gracie, flags her down, and convinces her to give it a try. Patsy becomes her friend throughout the film. The son of the Winfields: Richard)Robert Taylor) is immediately smitten by Loretta's beauty, initially assuming she is a guest, rather than a maid. Soon, he's talking marriage, but she initially objects that a marriage between a scion of a wealthy family and their maid wouldn't be accepted socially. He nixes this objection, and eventually, she gives in, not telling his parents, initially. Meanwhile, evil Wroxton finally makes his move, proposing marriage. She flatly turns him down. Wroxton spends the remainder of the film trying to get Loretta in trouble with the family or the law. He announces to the parents, that one of the staff is going to have a baby, of which Richard is the father. Loretta admits such, but informs them that they are married. Wroxton's major success relates to an incident in which a broke Loretta hesitantly accepts a ride with an unfamiliar man((Monroe Owlsey, as Coakley),who supposedly stops to introduce her to his grandmother(May Beatty, as grandma Gammon), but it turns out to be an illegal gambling den. Unfortunately, the police stage a raid just then, and Loretta winds up at the police station, with no money. Loretta reluctantly calls Wroxton to take a taxi to the police station and pay her fine. This he does. Thus, he finds out about her entrance to the gambling den. When, he tells the Winfields about this, they demand an annulment of the marriage. Richard is not so demanding at first, and refuses to sign the annulment, but after talking to Loretta, he gives in and signs it. However, there has to be a trial. Her lawyer finds Coakley, who agrees to tell about his role in her being found in that gambling den. However, Wroxton pays Coakley to lie, and make it look like Loretta was the sleazy one, which seemed to cook her goose. But, Loretta's lawyer finds out about the dirty deal between Wroxton and Coakley, and tells Richard, who promptly socks Wroxton's jaw, causing him to fall over backwards over a desk: the most satisfying moment in the film! Loretta's lawyer called her to the stand once more, and she testified that she was only 17 at the time, thus underage to be in such an establishment This sealed Richard's mind to withdraw the annulment request........Besides the police raid, there was another episode of pandemonium when a guy who talked like a mobster got fresh with Loretta while she was seated in a nightclub. The big sailor with buck teeth, who hardly talked, got up and socked this guy. In response, his buddies came at the sailor, followed by various sailors coming to his defense. Soon, everybody was fighting, and Loretta's salary was stolen from her purse....... As always, Loretta is extraordinarily beautiful, with many closeups of her face, with those big soulful eyes. Robert Taylor was also in his prime, and made a very handsome groom.

In today's world, imperious butler Basil Rathbone would be slammed immediately with a ton of sexual harassment suits and all sorts of other charges as he demands a take from the salary packets of each of the servants he hires, and can fire at will. When first seen, Rathbone is berating each of the staff for little things he considers unacceptable, whether it be maid Patsy Kelly's hair, or the condition of cook Jane Darwell's condition. Kelly is busy minding the birds when Loretta Young appears at a side door looking for a job. Rathbone, obviously ogling her from the moment he turns around in his office and sees her, offers her a position with a $15 a month cut, then later makes his intentions clear when he saves her from the advances of a lecherous chauffeur. Young is promoted to the ladies' maid for the gracious mistress of the house (Marjorie Gateson) whose son (Robert Taylor) arrives home from college and is immediately enchanted by Young whom he believes is a party guest. After Rathbone gets Young out of a scrape with the law, Young (along with Kelly) accompanies Gateson and Taylor to the country where a romance blossoms between ladies maid and the wealthy son, leading to potential scandal where Rathbone uses Young's legal past against her.A light hearted first half turns a bit cold in the last few reels where Young must declare her innocence of any wrong doing, and I found myself losing interest at that point. Up until then, the film had been a mixture of upstairs/downstairs style drawing room comedy (an American version of "Downton Abbey") with some interesting drama, but then after a scene where the master of the house (Paul Harvey) accuses Young of luring his son into marriage, it becomes an overly chatty courtroom mess where all the humor of the first half turned into gushy soap opera. As horrid as his character is, Basil Rathbone is excellent, an example of somebody abusing his power in every way he can. Gateson, who could play society matrons both snobbish and dizzy, makes her character here extremely likable, an understanding woman of conscience who wants to stand up to imperious husband Harvey and support Young but feels trapped under his thumb. Taylor, like Young, seems too old to be believable as a college age student, but I found them an attractive pairing together. As usual, Patsy Kelly gives a raucous and scene stealing performance, with Joe E. Lewis very funny as her date in one scene, bringing along a shy toothy sailor (actor unknown) who can only say hello, but can give a great punch when an intruder makes a pass at Young in front of him. The sequence involving obvious May Beatty seems like something out of another movie, utilized only as leverage for Rathbone to have something on Young. This has a lot going for it, but some twists in the screenplay prevents it from being as satisfying as it could have been.

"Common Clay," a play by Cleves Kincaid, opened in August of 1915 on Broadway. It was relatively successful and ran for 316 performances. In 1919 a silent film of the stage play was released starring Fannie Ward as Ellen and W. E. Lawrence as Hugh. "Common Clay" was filmed again as a talkie in 1930, starring Constance Bennett and Lew Ayres. Both films were well reviewed with the New York Times commenting on the 1919 film as "the amazing adventures of 'that common clay girl' are still amazing, and Miss Ward and her company first wring and then cheer the hearts of their spectators." (March 3, 1919).The 1930 version of the film was pre-code and had a number of racy elements. The 1936 version, retitled "Private Number," was cleaned up, slimmed down and simplified. Some of the character names were changed. (The new title is a complete mystery since telephones don't enter into the story at all.) Although Robert Taylor received top billing, the film actually belongs to Loretta Young. Ms. Young portrays a young girl, down on her luck and penniless who becomes a maid for a wealthy family. Basil Rathbone is delightfully slimy as the lecherous and crooked butler for whom Ms. Young works.Of course, Ms. Young (Ellen) and Mr. Taylor (Dick, the Winfield's son) fall in love. The progress of their romance at the family's summer house in Maine is photographed beautifully. Ms. Young looks gorgeous in a bathing suit, a long gown and her maid's outfit. Mr. Taylor, wearing far too much makeup as he did in those days, is nonetheless affecting as the love-struck college boy. Both stars combine physical beauty with polished performances. Patsy Kelly is always good and she is very good here as Ms. Young's fellow maid and friend. Marjorie Gateson and Paul Harvey are stuffy but sympathetic as Mr. and Mrs. Winfield, Dick's parents. Prince, a Great Dane, is excellent as Hamlet, a Great Dane.In the earlier versions, Hugh, now Dick, loves Ellen and leaves her high and dry (and pregnant) when he goes back to college. In Private Number they marry and she makes him go back to finish his degree. Although the acting continues to be first rate, as is the direction and cinematography, the script creaks along from one implausibility to another. Probably the worst one is when Ellen is thrown out of the Winfield's home and fetches up immediately in a lovely farmhouse that someone (never specified) has lent her.It all comes to a climax in a totally unbelievable but nonetheless absorbing trial where evildoers are unmasked and justice triumphs. At the end of the film Ms. Young forgives Mr. Taylor for not trusting her and they go into a final clinch.Private Number shouldn't be a good movie but it is. The creaky script is more than made up for by the direction by Roy del Ruth, the extraordinary visuals and the thoroughly professional acting.

Loretta Young is hired as a servant. The son of the family for whom she works is Robert Taylor. Of course, they fall in love. But the scenes in which the two kiss do not support this idea: They hug and nuzzle each other's necks. Possibly there is one brief kiss on the mouth. But these two give no sense of being more than cousins -- and cousins who don't like each other much, at that.The movie, however, is entertaining. It has a superb supporting cast. Basil Rathbone is deliciously evil as the tyrannical butler who has design on Young. Patsy Kelly is fun (albeit rather bland, toned-down fun) as another servant who befriends her.The title is a puzzle. I may have missed something. But whose number is private?