Line #16 Film/HavingWonderfulTime


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3	''Having Wonderful Time'' is a 1938 RomanticComedy film directed by Alfred Santell, [[TheFilmOfThePlay based on]] the stage play of the same name by Arthur Kober.
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5	Thelma "[[GenderBlenderName Teddy]]" Shaw (Creator/GingerRogers), a young secretary in New York, goes off to "Camp Kare-Free", a rural vacation resort somewhere in the mountains. She is vaguely disenchanted with the resort (a "semi-private cabin" means she has three roommates), and her two weeks off starts with her getting into a nasty little argument with Chick (Creator/DouglasFairbanksJr), a porter/waiter at the resort.
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7	Chick, as it turns out, has a law degree but for some reason has had to settle for a job as a waiter at a tourist resort. His dissatisfaction with his lot in life results in sniping with Teddy – but naturally enough, romantic sparks soon fly.
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9	Creator/LucilleBall and Creator/EveArden both appear in the kind of comic supporting roles that were their specialty at this stage of their careers, respectively playing Miriam and Henrietta, Teddy's roommates at the resort who are also unapologetically hunting for a man. Creator/RedSkelton, in his screen debut, appears as "Itchy", the camp's social director. And a pre-stardom, 15-year-old Creator/AnnMiller has a bit part as a camp guest.
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12	!!Tropes:
13	* AbhorrentAdmirer: Jack Carson plays Emil Beatty, a persistent admirer of Teddy's, whom she clearly dislikes because he's obviously a smarmy prick. This does not stop Teddy's mother from trying to fix her and Emil up together.
14	* BelligerentSexualTension: It's not very hard to guess what will happen when Teddy's peremptory demand for a harried Chick to carry her luggage leads to them sniping nastily at each other all the way to the resort.
15	* TheCasanova: Buzzy Armbruster, a businessman who has a habit of luring women to his cabin. Chick goes storming into Buzzy's cabin in a jealous rage, only to find out that Teddy and Buzzy are playing backgammon.
16	* ComicallyCrossEyed: One of Itchy's desperately unfunny comedy routines has him joking about how cross-eyed people who dunk their doughnuts dunk them in another person's coffee.
17	* CompleteTheQuoteTitle: Comes from the cliché postcard message ''"Having wonderful time, wish you were here"''.
18	* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Chick's fondness for a pipe marks him out as a man of refinement. He says it helps him think.
19	* FallenOnHardTimesJob: There's no explanation how it happened (other than maybe just TheGreatDepression) but Chick, who has a degree in law, works at a tourist camp. His duties don't just include waiting on tables and toting luggage; the young men who work at the camp are expected to dance with the unattached ladies at evening dances. One of Chick's friends actually uses the word "gigolo".
20	* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Buzzy in makes a proposal of sex with Teddy that is surprisingly frank; UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode typically [[https://productioncode.dhwritings.com/multipleframes_productioncode.php permitted "scenes of passion" only when essential to the plot.]]
21	-->'''Buzzy''': When I like a girl, and a girl likes me, I think it's only fair to suggest we get together, if you know what I mean.
22	* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Seemingly a lot of the people who come to the camp are young singles looking for matches, and one of the popular activities is taking a boat on the lake. Teddy and Chick eventually do so.
23	* RaceLift: The original play was about Jewish people from the Bronx vacationing in the Catskills, and was consequently suffused with ethnic humor. At the behest of the Hays Office, RKO had Arthur Kober (who'd authored the play, and wrote the screenplay adaptation) turn the characters into gentiles.
24	* SarcasmFailure: Buzzy, irritated after Teddy turns down his request for sex, says "Maybe you play ''backgammon''." Teddy responds with an excited "'''Do I?!?'''", and the two of them wind up playing backgammon, much to Buzzy's frustration.
25	* ThunderEqualsDownpour: Played straight, as a clap of thunder is followed immediately by torrential rain. This is what causes Teddy and Buzzy to scurry for cover to Buzzy's cabin, which leads to more romantic complications.
26	* TimePassesMontage: A picture of the daily activities at the camp is superimposed over a montage of Teddy and Chick doing those activities, as they're falling in love.
27	* UnableToSupportAWife: Chick makes a tentative proposal to Teddy, then immediately withdraws it because he has no job prospects and can't support her. Teddy is hurt, which produces the third-act complication in the relationship.
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Context Film / HavingWonderfulTime