Ladies of Leisure Overview:

Ladies of Leisure (1930) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by Frank Capra and produced by Frank Capra and Harry Cohn.

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LADIES OF LEISURE ( 1930 )

By Crystal Kalyana on Sep 22, 2015 From In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood

There was nothing ordinary about the famous partnership of Frank Capra and Barbara Stanwyck. He was one of the worlds most influential directors. She was Hollywood’s greatest asset, and together they produced five notable films that have now been stapled as cinematic masterpieces. The teaming... Read full article


"Ladies of Leisure," or Easel to Love

By David on Jan 9, 2013 From The Man on the Flying Trapeze

Barbara Stanwyck enters the 1930 film "Ladies of Leisure" -- and film history -- in a rowboat. The oars squeak. Her face is marked by mascara-streaked tears and she's clutching a broken dress strap. She's Kay, a party girl who just left a wild one on a yacht. On shore is Ralph Graves as Jerry, who'... Read full article


"Ladies of Leisure," or Easel to Love

By David on Jan 9, 2013 From The Man on the Flying Trapeze

Barbara Stanwyck enters the 1930 film "Ladies of Leisure" -- and film history -- in a rowboat. The oars squeak. Her face is marked by mascara-streaked tears and she's clutching a broken dress strap. She's Kay, a party girl who just left a wild one on a yacht. On shore is Ralph Graves as Jerry, who'... Read full article


Ladies of Leisure (1930)

By Lindsey on Nov 21, 2012 From The Motion Pictures

A note from Lindsey: This film was viewed as a part of TMP’s Barbara Stanwyck Filmography Project. It was also viewed in celebration of the fact that I finally have TCM’s Frank Capra: The Early Collection DVD set in my possession. Woohoo! Artist Jerry Strong made the mistake of letting h... Read full article


Ladies of Leisure (Frank Capra, 1930)

By Judy on Sep 5, 2011 From Movie Classics

I haven’t had much time for blogging lately, even for the shorter postings I keep vaguely promising – but here are a few thoughts on another Capra pre-Code melodrama, again starring Barbara Stanwyck as a fish out of water. This is said to be the movie which made her a star. Here she is w... Read full article


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Quotes from

Bill Standish: Ever done any posing before?
Kay Arnold: I'm always posing.
Bill Standish: How do you spend your nights?
Kay Arnold: Re-posing.


Kay Arnold: I feel like getting into trouble!


Jerry Strong: I'm over 18 years old, you know.
Bill Standish: Well, most men never get to be 18. And most women are over 18 when they're born.


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Facts about

Frank Capra wrote the first draft of Ladies of Leisure, before Jo Swerling took over. According to his interview "I went to my hotel, locked myself in my room and for five days pounded out a rewrite story of the plot I'd heard, interrupting the writing only long enough for black coffee, sandwiches and brief snitches of sleep. I was simply writing a newspaper yarn with a longer deadline than usual. The result was Ladies of Leisure."
The play "Ladies of the Evening" by Milton Herbert Gropper opened at the Lyceum Theatre in New York on 23 December 1924 and closed in May 1925 after 159 performances. The opening night cast included Beth Merrill as "Kay," and James Kirkwood as "Jerry Strong." The play was produced by David Belasco
According to Frank Capra's autobiographical book, he dismissed using Barbara Stanwyck when their interview went badly. Frank Fay, Stanwyck's husband at the time, called Capra up, furious over Stanwyck's having come home from the interview, crying. Capra blamed Stanwyck, saying she acted like she didn't even want the part. Fay responded, "Frank, she's young, and shy, and she's been kicked around out here. Let me show you a test she made at Warner's." (The test was for "The Noose," a Broadway play Stanwyck starred in and also a film made without Stanwyck in 1928 by John Francis Dillon for First National.) Capra was so impressed that he left the screening immediately to get Harry Cohn, who ran Columbia, to sign up Stanwyck as quickly as possible.
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