Love Has No Price
Billy (Clark Gable) and Ruby (Jenette McDonald) are two very rich Chicagoans who have grown up together and have always been expected to marry when they reach an appropriate age. Neither of them were hit by the depression and enjoy all the luxuries that immense wealth entails. Ruby is madly in love with William and is waiting for him to ask her to become something more than friends, but William is hesitant, not sure if he loves Ruby the way he is expected to. He confides this in his best friend, Carlton (Maurice Chevalier).
One day, William goes out to get a newspaper and runs into Peggy (Jean Harlow). He is dressed as a common person as to avoid attention in the main part of the city. He finds her very attractive, and she does not realize how rich he is. From then on, he goes to get a newspaper everyday just to see Peggy. Against her arguing, William buys her a coffee after seeing her everyday for a week straight. They quickly fall in love, Peggy thinking that he is just a commoner like she is. Toward the end of that week, Ruby sees them together through a shop window while she is going to get a dress tailored downtown. Being that Ruby and William aren’t actually a couple, she does not say anything on the spot. Instead, Ruby figures out where Peggy live and pays her a visit. Ruby tries to pay off Peggy - who obviously needs the money - to stay away from William but Peggy resists. At this point, Peggy realizes that William ("Billy") is not who he has been pretending to be; instead of making her feel angry or hurt, this only makes her love him more. Having been unable to bribe Peggy, Ruby thinks of other ways to get rid of Peggy. Eventually, Peggy fears for her wellbeing and tells Billy she needs to leave town. Billy insists on coming with her, and they leave town together. Carlton, who has been madly in love with Ruby this whole time, jumps at the chance to win Ruby's heart in her state of devastation. He succeeds, and everyone gets their happy ending in this romantic drama.
Being that this is during the Great Depression, everyone is looking for a happy ending, especially when it comes to the lower class. Audiences will love that the rich man chooses the poor girl over the wealthy girl. But just so that there are no sad faces in the end (and to please our upper class audience), we decided that Ruby should get a happy ending, too. The message we are trying to send is that love trumps money, and you do not need to be wealthy to be happy. This shows through Peggy and William's love. The movie also shows that happiness can come from unexpected places (and people), as shown through Carlton and Ruby's unification at the end.
We decided that MGM should produce this movie. MGM has made a few big romance movies like Gone With The Wind, Sweethearts, and Camille, so we know that it will be a good choice regarding the genre of our film. MGM also has several famous actresses and actors signed on to their studio; specifically, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, who have costarred in a few romance movies. The two have great onscreen chemistry, as seen in Red Dust and Wife vs. Secretary, so we just knew that they would work great together. We picked Victor Flemming to be our director because he directed Red Dust, a romance film in which Gable and Harlow work alongside each other as the protagonists/love interests. He also directed Gone With The Wind, a romantic great which we hope this movie will be as good as.
We chose to focus on the costumes and make up in this movie. Being a romantic drama, this movie will attract a lot of female attention, and everyone knows that women love fashion and make up. We also think it important to create a significant juxtaposition between the rich and poor, and what better way to do that than with clothes? We dressed Ruby in extravagant gowns and sparkly jewelry, all in flamboyant colors like crimson and purple, with heavy lipstick and eye makeup. Peggy is clothed in plain colors like white and beige and grey, with minimal (if any) makeup.
The Hays Code can greatly restrict a romance movie. However, we did not find it to be much of a hindrance. Since Ruby and William are not in an official relationship, there wasn't an issue of adultery. The love between William and Peggy is an innocent infatuation rather than a passionate affair. No allusions to sex or anything of the like are included in the movie. This movie is in black and white. Since the storyline is a classic tale of (almost) forbidden love, we decided that it should look classic, too, so we avoided using color.
I agree with everything my group decided on, and would not have wanted this movie to be done any other way.
Billy (Clark Gable) and Ruby (Jenette McDonald) are two very rich Chicagoans who have grown up together and have always been expected to marry when they reach an appropriate age. Neither of them were hit by the depression and enjoy all the luxuries that immense wealth entails. Ruby is madly in love with William and is waiting for him to ask her to become something more than friends, but William is hesitant, not sure if he loves Ruby the way he is expected to. He confides this in his best friend, Carlton (Maurice Chevalier).
One day, William goes out to get a newspaper and runs into Peggy (Jean Harlow). He is dressed as a common person as to avoid attention in the main part of the city. He finds her very attractive, and she does not realize how rich he is. From then on, he goes to get a newspaper everyday just to see Peggy. Against her arguing, William buys her a coffee after seeing her everyday for a week straight. They quickly fall in love, Peggy thinking that he is just a commoner like she is. Toward the end of that week, Ruby sees them together through a shop window while she is going to get a dress tailored downtown. Being that Ruby and William aren’t actually a couple, she does not say anything on the spot. Instead, Ruby figures out where Peggy live and pays her a visit. Ruby tries to pay off Peggy - who obviously needs the money - to stay away from William but Peggy resists. At this point, Peggy realizes that William ("Billy") is not who he has been pretending to be; instead of making her feel angry or hurt, this only makes her love him more. Having been unable to bribe Peggy, Ruby thinks of other ways to get rid of Peggy. Eventually, Peggy fears for her wellbeing and tells Billy she needs to leave town. Billy insists on coming with her, and they leave town together. Carlton, who has been madly in love with Ruby this whole time, jumps at the chance to win Ruby's heart in her state of devastation. He succeeds, and everyone gets their happy ending in this romantic drama.
Being that this is during the Great Depression, everyone is looking for a happy ending, especially when it comes to the lower class. Audiences will love that the rich man chooses the poor girl over the wealthy girl. But just so that there are no sad faces in the end (and to please our upper class audience), we decided that Ruby should get a happy ending, too. The message we are trying to send is that love trumps money, and you do not need to be wealthy to be happy. This shows through Peggy and William's love. The movie also shows that happiness can come from unexpected places (and people), as shown through Carlton and Ruby's unification at the end.
We decided that MGM should produce this movie. MGM has made a few big romance movies like Gone With The Wind, Sweethearts, and Camille, so we know that it will be a good choice regarding the genre of our film. MGM also has several famous actresses and actors signed on to their studio; specifically, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, who have costarred in a few romance movies. The two have great onscreen chemistry, as seen in Red Dust and Wife vs. Secretary, so we just knew that they would work great together. We picked Victor Flemming to be our director because he directed Red Dust, a romance film in which Gable and Harlow work alongside each other as the protagonists/love interests. He also directed Gone With The Wind, a romantic great which we hope this movie will be as good as.
We chose to focus on the costumes and make up in this movie. Being a romantic drama, this movie will attract a lot of female attention, and everyone knows that women love fashion and make up. We also think it important to create a significant juxtaposition between the rich and poor, and what better way to do that than with clothes? We dressed Ruby in extravagant gowns and sparkly jewelry, all in flamboyant colors like crimson and purple, with heavy lipstick and eye makeup. Peggy is clothed in plain colors like white and beige and grey, with minimal (if any) makeup.
The Hays Code can greatly restrict a romance movie. However, we did not find it to be much of a hindrance. Since Ruby and William are not in an official relationship, there wasn't an issue of adultery. The love between William and Peggy is an innocent infatuation rather than a passionate affair. No allusions to sex or anything of the like are included in the movie. This movie is in black and white. Since the storyline is a classic tale of (almost) forbidden love, we decided that it should look classic, too, so we avoided using color.
I agree with everything my group decided on, and would not have wanted this movie to be done any other way.
