VAGABOND LADY

US, 1935, 71 minutes. Black and white.
Robert Young, Evelyn Venable, Reginald Denny, Frank Craven.
Directed by Sam Taylor.

Vagabond Lady is a slight star vehicle for Robert Young. He had begun making films in the early 1930s and made several a year. He was considered a charming leading man, sometimes shy, sometimes extroverted as in this film. He portrays the younger brother of a very uptight businessman who is imitating his father who depends on dignity in his department store. The older brother is played with stiff upper lip by Reginald Denny. Berton Churchill is the father.

The drama of the film focuses on the daughter of the janitor, played with alcoholic charm by Frank Craven. She is played by Evelyn Venable, an actress who had a ten-year career from the mid-30s to the mid-40s.

Robert Young appears as the brother who came back from travels over Asia, is loud and expressive in everything he does, is in love with the young woman who seems to be destined to marry the stuffy older brother. The film has comedy, the clash between the janitor and the uptight manager, after thirty years together from college days. There is also comedy in the contrast between the daughter’s wanting to be dignified and then enjoying going out with the younger brother.

The film has a wedding scene as the climax, the daughter marrying the older brother – and suddenly finding she can’t say no, the older brother stepping back, and a happy ending for all.

This was an MGM supporting feature, a touch of the screwball comedy of the period, a star vehicle for Robert Young, a comment about the American way of being too uptight and the joys of being carefree.

The film was directed by Sam Taylor, director of many silent films including Harold Lloyd in The Freshman and writing The Taming of the Shrew with the lines that are often quoted: ‘By William Shakespeare, with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor.’