The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Lowell Sherman

Writers:

Zoe Akins (play)
Sidney Howard (adaptation)

Release Date:

13 February 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

THE MEN THEY "TOOK" CALLED THEM..."Gold-Diggers! - "Loreleis!" - "Man-Hunters!" - Adventuresses!"

Plot:

Sophisticated comedy: a trio of money hungry women who all have sugar daddies who keep them in the lap of luxury...

Plot Keywords:

Gold Digger | Beautiful Woman | Based On Play

Cast

Joan Blondell	...	Schatzi
Madge Evans	...	Polaire
Ina Claire	...	Jean Lawrence
David Manners	...	Dey Emery
Lowell Sherman	...	Boris Feldman
Phillips Smalley	...	Justin Emery
Sidney Bracey	...	The Waiter

Also Known As:

The Greeks Had a Word for It (USA) (working title)
Three Broadway Girls (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

Adapted from a Broadway play by Zoe Akins, "The Greeks Had a Word for It". Since it dealt with a group of modern-day courtesans, the title was on the Hays Office banned list. Therefore, the last word in the title was changed to "Them".

Quotes:

Jean Lawrence: A speakeasy that closes at two o'clock is practically a tea room!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007)

Ina Claire Wants the World

Three "former chorus girls" team up to capture rich husbands. But they spend as much time fighting with each other as they do the men they try to snare. This film is based on a a play by Zoe Akins (THE GREEKS HAD A WORD FOR IT) which is also the basis for the softer and more genteel 50s version HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE.

In this pre-code version, Ina Claire plays the grasping and back-stabbing blonde who will go to any length to get what she wants. Joan Blondell plays the sensible girl (stocks and bonds), and Madge Evans is the sensitive one. All three dish the dirt while they chase after rich David Manners, that is until Claire decides that his daddy is a better catch! Lowell Sherman directs and co-stars as the Russian pianist (from the Bronx) who also dallies with the 3 ladies (and possibly with Manners?).

Ina Claire is totally outrageous here but fun to watch as she chews the scenery. Blondell, Sherman, and Evans are also very good. Manners is rather bland (as usual).