The Girl Downstairs

A love-triangle farce, with Franchot Tone. and any film that has Walter Connolly, Franklin Pangborn, Billy Gilbert, and Reginald Gardiner must be pretty good. Paul (Tone) falls for Rosalind, the rich man's daughter, but is banned from the house. He decides to ask out Katerina, the maid, just to get into the house. (Franciska Gaal, from Budapest. she had emigrated to the US in the 1930s.) so the maid goes all in, and thinks it's a whirlwind romance, but Paul is still really in love with Rosalind. he gets in deeper and deeper with Katerina, but doesn't have the guts to break her heart. we know it's all going to blow up at some point. what's the best way out of all this? Directed by Norman Taurog, who had won for Skippy in 1931. Taurog had directed Jackie Cooper and of course, Elvis! Girl Downstairs is pretty good. Too bad they didn't use Pangborn and Billy Gilbert more.. they were masters. it's a fun caper.

Franciska Gaal came to stardom in Europe for her portrayal of Katharina in a much darker though no less romantic German film called Katharina Die Letzte -- Catherine the Last (a pun on Catherine the First, Empress of all the Russias). In the German version, Gaal as the schlub of a scullery wench is much dirtier, more clumsy, and totally believable as an overlooked bumpkin skivvy. Her metamorphosis through loving the blackguard cad is, therefore, more amazing and heartrending. Dear Franchot Tone is hardly believable as a immoral seducer, out to marry an heiress only for her money and willing to betray the innocent country girl to obtain his black ends. His German counterpart oozes villainy and smarminess, forced by Katherina's utter belief in his goodness to mend his ways until the ultimate scene. All the same jokes are there in the Hollywood version, scene for scene, but the morphing of the villain into a hero in the German version is what makes that film an exalting and memorable experience, traveling from dark cynicism to -- yes -- a happy Hollywood ending!

A case of mistaken identity (impersonation) drives this fluffy piece of frippery. The Girl Downstairs did not make much of an impression on me until Franciska Gaal, as Katerina, came on screen. I found her to be charming.

This comedy does not delve very deeply into darker feelings or emotions (distrust, self-doubt, fear, disappointment, sadness), though they have a place in the story. Instead, the character of Katerina provides a disarmingly optimistic view of life that overrides all negativity.

I found the supporting cast to be more than adequate. Especially Franklin Pangborn, whose character adds a level of levity that is not overdone.

I recommend this film not despite its simplicity, but because of its simplicity, which allows the performance of Ms. Gaal to shine through.

When the story begins, Paul Wagner (Franchot Tone) is trying to woo a rich young lady. However, in the process he manages to completely alienate her father and he is so infuriated with Paul that he instructs all his household staff to keep him off the property...all but the lowly scullery maid, Katerina (Franciska Gaal). So, Paul pretends he's a chauffeur and begins romancing Katerina in order to also be able to sneak into his girlfriend's house late at night. In other words, Paul acts like a jerk and antagonizes a lady's father. To get around this, he uses a maid and strings her along. Wow...what a piece of work!! In fact, this is a big problem with the story...Paul is just too unlikable and it's hard to watch a romance where you dislike one of the leads.

An additional problem with the story is Gaal's character. While she's in her mid 30s, here she is dressed and acts like a teenage and simple-minded version of Heidi...and it comes off as a bit weird.

So is this worth seeing? Not especially. It's not so much terrible...more fatally flawed from the outset.

A pleasant enough ironing movie, this is quite annoying the more you concentrate on it. The plot is as flimsy as it is ridiculous, seeming more appropriate to a second-rate operetta, with lots of grimacing and winking. Why would Franchot Tone (looking quite dishy in chauffeur's uniform) need to court a scullery maid in order to see his girlfriend, the daughter of the house, whose father disapproves of him? This enormous mansion certainly has a telephone. And there is nothing to stop the daughter from going to Tone's house or to bars and cafes he frequents. Then there is the rather unpleasant moral aspect--his pretense of courtship is very caddish behaviour. The social aspect (a sophisticated playboy in love with a girl who cannot read and has never made a phone call?) is as absurd as the maid's appearance--folk-dance costumes and pigtails that turn up the end (how? why?) like a clodhopper in a cartoon (but lots of fashionable makeup). The plot is so simple that, when it has clearly come to an end, it has to be extended by a pointless and unfunny chase sequence to eke out the movie. It is also very pleasant to see Walter Connolly, the funniest exasperated man in pictures. But it is frustrating to see Reginald Gardner, Robert Coote, and Franklin Pangborn in roles that are too brief and ill written to exploit their talent.