Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

Sylvia Scarlett Overview:

Sylvia Scarlett (1935) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by George Cukor and produced by Pandro S. Berman.

SYNOPSIS

A cult curiosity that finds Hepburn in boyish drag for most of the movie. Hepburn dons boys' clothes to evade detection by the police and to help her father, Gwenn, smuggle some expensive stolen lace. They're caught when jewel thief Grant tips the cops. Hepburn gives Grant a pop in the nose, but earns a place in his racket. When she meets wealthy Aherne, their mutual attraction has Aherne scratching his head, until he figures out the gender switch. Hepburn gets to perform much derring-do, something she couldn't have done in a role that required a dress.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Sylvia Scarlett BlogHub Articles:

Silver Screen Standards: Sylvia Scarlett (1935)

By Jennifer Garlen on Mar 8, 2022 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Silver Screen Standards: Sylvia Scarlett (1935) Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant starred in four movies together, two of which, Bringing Up Baby (1938) and The Philadelphia Story (1940), are now widely celebrated classics, but their first pairing went so badly at the box office that it’s somewh... Read full article

DVD Review: Katharine Hepburn in Sylvia Scarlett (1935) and Undercurrent (1946)

By KC on Sep 22, 2017 From Classic Movies

A new wave of Katharine Hepburn flicks recently released on DVD from Warner Archive drew me to a pair of titles that, while not among her most celebrated, were of interest to me because of their unusual quirks. Sylvia Scarlett (1935) and Undercurrent (1946) vary in critical, box office and artistic ... Read full article

Sylvia Scarlett (1935)

By Beatrice on Jun 3, 2013 From Flickers in Time

Sylvia Scarlett Directed by George Cukor 1935/USA Radio Pictures First viewing This box-office bomb has everything going for it but a coherent script.  Sylvia Scarlett (Katharine Hepburn) has lost her mother and her father (Edmund Gwenn) is an embezzler.  They flee France for England, Sylvia dis... Read full article

Classic Films in Focus: SYLVIA SCARLETT (1935)

By Jennifer Garlen on Aug 22, 2012 From Virtual Virago

Before they made well-remembered classics like Bringing Up Baby (1938) and The Philadelphia Story (1940), Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant first starred together in the more obscure Sylvia Scarlett (1935), a George Cukor picture with a plot straight out of Shakespeare’s play book. The story, a... Read full article

Classic Films in Focus: SYLVIA SCARLETT (1935)

By Jennifer Garlen on Aug 22, 2012 From Virtual Virago

Before they made well-remembered classics like Bringing Up Baby (1938) and The Philadelphia Story (1940), Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant first starred together in the more obscure Sylvia Scarlett (1935), a George Cukor picture with a plot straight out of Shakespeare’s play book. The story, a... Read full article

See More Sylvia Scarlett Articles

Sylvia Scarlett Quotes:

Jimmy Monkley: Oh, what's 'appened to me ideas?
Sylvia Scarlett: They're *all* bad.
Jimmy Monkley: What's that?
Sylvia Scarlett: These eggs.
Jimmy Monkley: Little friend of all the world, nobody's enemy but me own.
Sylvia Scarlett: Yeah, I can tell that by the look of you.
Michael Fane: I say! I know what it is that gives me a queer feeling when I look at you.
Sylvia Scarlett: Well, we're all fools sometimes. Only you choose such awkward times.
Michael Fane: [speaking to Sylvia dressed as a boy] "I say, uh! I know what it is that gives me a queer feeling when I look at you. There's something in you to be painted."
See More Quotes from Sylvia Scarlett
Sylvia Scarlett Facts
Dennie Moore's first film appearance.
After a disastrous preview, director George Cukor and Katharine Hepburn went to RKO producer Pandro S. Berman's home and offered their services for free for another film. Berman, who was furious at the quality of the movie, replied tersely, "Don't bother please."
Howard Hughes visited the set one day, landing his amphibious plane near the beach where they were filming. Hughes said he stopped by to say hello to his good friend Cary Grant but in actuality he wanted to meet Katharine Hepburn, whom he was fascinated by. The film The Aviator recreates this first meeting of theirs.
After a disastrous preview, director George Cukor introduced the Marseilles scene as an introduction to the original film, thus showing the feminine Sylvia Scarlette, with tresses and in a skirt, before showing the tom-boyish side of the character.
Despite the poor reviews of the movie, most critics noted the performance of Cary Grant. It has since been recognized as one of Grant's break-out performances.
See More Facts about Sylvia Scarlett >>