Suzy is a 1936 drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice, starring Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, and Cary Grant.
Suzanne Trent (Harlow) is an American showgirl in London in 1914. Suzy has grown tired of struggling on the fringes of show business and has decided to use her good looks to land a rich husband. Instead, she winds up falling for Terry Moore (Tone), a humble but smart fellow who works in a factory and has invented his own aircraft stabilizer.
Suzy and Terry get married. But just a few hours after saying their vows, Terry gets shot—it turns out that his boss at the factory was a German spy. When the landlady screams "She did it!" as Suzy bends over the body of her husband, Suzy dives out the window and runs for her life, running all the way to France.
The movie's set in 1914 for a reason, as Suzy makes it to Paris just in time for World War I to break out. She gets a job as a singer in a nightclub, and meets handsome, rich French flying ace Andre Charville (Grant). Andre sweeps Suzy off her feet, and she gets married again. Unfortunately she doesn't know two things. First, the suave, charming Andre is actually a cad who basically forgets about Suzy after a while and cheats on her every second that he can. Second, Terry isn't dead.
Grant's only screen pairing with Harlow, who died of kidney failure a year later. Also a rare example of Grant playing an unsympathetic character.
Tropes:
- Accidental Adultery: Accidental bigamy, as Suzy is shocked to find out that Terry is still alive.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Andre's buddy approves of Suzy.Andre: What does she look like? Thick or thin?
The buddy: Mixed, but in the right places. - Call-Back: Andre's father says that when Andre was a little boy and his father was scolding him, Andre would say "Make a smile" and his father would smile. As he's dying, Andre does the same with Suzy.
- Casting Couch: A slimy producer makes a very thinly veiled demand for sex with Suzy. When she refuses he refuses to give her the part in the chorus.
- Chorus Girls: They don't even do any leg kicking, but early in the movie Suzy has an audition that provides an excuse for the camera to pan down a long line of chorus girls wearing short shorts.
- Eek, a Mouse!!: Why Suzy causes a clattering racket in Terry's apartment, while clad in pajamas, causing a flirtatious moment when he comes dashing in.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: How else will one know the movie has moved to Paris?
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Maybe a car that was being strafed by an airplane actually will burst into flame.
- Femme Fatale Spy: Dark, sexy Diane, who shoots Terry in London and then, back in France, seduces Andre.
- A Foggy Day in London Town: The London fog sets up the Meet Cute, as Terry's car runs into Suzy on a foggy London street.
- Genre Mashup: An odd mixture of Jean Harlow romcom and World War I spy fiction.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: When Suzy gives a broke showgirl some money, she says it's from her rich uncle. When the showgirl expresses surprise that Suzy has an uncle in London, she says "I haven't got any relatives anywhere, but I got a rich uncle." In other words, she has a sugar daddy, in violation of Section II of the Hays Code
. - Golddigger: Suzy is utterly unashamed about it, saying that she's sick of struggling to make it as a performer, she's good-looking, and she wants a rich husband to take care of her.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: How Diane is exposed. Terry says they saw her at Schmidt's factory, Diane says she's never even heard of Mrs. Schmidt, and Terry nails her with "Then how did you know it was Mrs. Schmidt?"
- Meet Cute: Suzy is carelessly striding across a foggy street when Terry hits her with his car. Luckily he's traveling very slowly so she's only knocked down.
- No Romantic Resolution: Will Suzy and Terry get back together? We'll never know, as they walk away after Andre's funeral.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Suzy and Terry walking away after the ceremony in Andre's memory.
- Old-School Dogfight: Terry, who has taken Andre's plane, defeats the German pilots in an old school dogfight at the end.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Jean Harlow wore one of these in every movie she made over her too-brief film career and she does here. Suzy even wears sexy backless outfits when she's hanging out at home with her elderly father-in-law.
- Sexy Shirt Switch: They didn't even have sex, but Suzy looks so hot in Terry's borrowed pajamas that he can barely speak.
- Worthy Opponent: At Andre's funeral, a German pilot flies overhead and drops a wreath out of his plane.
