"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.
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.