History Film / TheShopwornAngel

Notable for having the first credited screenplay by Waldo Salt, who decades later would win Oscars for ''Film/MidnightCowboy'' and ''Film/ComingHome''.

Notable as the first credited screenplay by Waldo Salt, who decades later would win Oscars for ''Film/MidnightCowboy'' and ''Film/ComingHome''.

The year is 1917. Daisy Heath (Sullavan) is a hard-drinking, hard-partying, hard-living actress and performer on the New York stage, headliner of a Broadway musical revue. She is in what appears to be a sort of casual sex relationship with Sam Bailey (Pidgeon), the boss of the revue. The United States has just entered UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, but with all the wild parties she goes to and all the hangovers she has afterwards, Daisy hardly notices.

* SpinningPaper: The opening scene is a Spinning Paper montage of newspapers dated April 6, 1917, announcing America's declaration of war on Germany.

''The Shopworn Angel'' is a 1938 film directed by H.C. Potter, starring Margaret Sullavan, Creator/JamesStewart, and Creator/WalterPidgeon.

It is 1917. Daisy Heath (Sullavan) is a hard-drinking, hard-partying, hard-living actress and performer on the New York stage, headliner of a Broadway musical revue. She is in what appears to be a sort of casual sex relationship with Sam Bailey (Pidgeon), the boss of the revue. The United States has just entered UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, but with all the wild parties she goes to and all the hangovers she has afterwards, Daisy hardly notices.

It is 1917. Daisy Heath (Sullavan) is a hard-drinking, hard-partying, hard-living actress and performer on the New York stage, headliner of a Broadway musical revue. She is in what appears to be a sort of casual sex relationship with Sam Bailey (Pidgeon), the boss of the revue. The United States has just entered UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, but with all the wild parties she goes to and all the hangovers she has afterwards, Daisy hardly notices.

Also in New York is Bill Pettigrew (Stewart), a country boy from Texas who joined the army at the outbreak of war and is undergoing basic training in a camp outside the city. After Daisy's chauffeur nearly runs Bill over in the street, an irate traffic cop orders her to give Bill a ride back to the army base. Bill's buddies back at the base are boggled when he is dropped off by a gorgeous actress riding in a fancy car. Bill starts telling lies about how she's his childhood sweetheart, which leads his buddies to demand he back his stories up, which leads to Bill shamefacedly approaching Daisy and asking her to pretend to be his sweetheart--and sure enough, sparks start to fly between them. Sparks which Sam Bailey, who is witty and urbane and the polar opposite of guileless hick Bill, does not like at all.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Bill, who's gone AWOL to see Daisy as his troop transport is leaving in a matter of hours, finally spits it out as they are dancing. They hurriedly get married before he leaves, even though Daisy's figured out by now that she really loves Sam.
* BlatantLies: Bill, basking in the admiration after Daisy drops him off at the camp, starts telling tall tales about how she's his long-time sweetheart. The other soldiers call his bluff and demand to meet Daisy, and, much to Bill's relief, she plays along.
* CouldSayItBut: The messenger who brings orders to Bill's camp, and then tells the extremely curious soldiers "I ain't saying anything...but if any of you guys get seasick, you'd better not eat a full meal." They are shipping out to France that night.
* CountryMouse: Bill the rube from Texas, who stares at the skyscrapers and twice nearly gets flattened by traffic because he's just not used to so much of it. He notes how much more expensive stuff in New York is.

* LoveTriangle: Daisy, Bill, and Sam. The presence of eager, adoring suitor Bill causes Sam to realize just how deep his feelings for Daisy are.

* RomanticFalseLead: Bill, suprisingly enough, since he's played by James Stewart. While Daisy clearly develops feelings for Bill she realizes that she truly loves Sam. However, she marries Bill anyway, because she feels she owes it to him and she doesn't want to break his heart.
* RomanticRain: Lampshaded. Daisy says it's about to rain and then muses about how in New York, the rain always waits for the right moment. Then when it finally starts to rain as Bill is making his AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, Daisy says "I told you it always rains at the right time!"