Blu Ray Review: Hot Saturday (1932)

Kino Lorber has released the first film in which Cary Grant played the leading role (it was his sixth film), the seamy pre-code drama Hot Saturday. He throws a party at his place about which a rumor springs up that a proper girl named Ruth (Nancy Carroll) spent the night with him. The rumor destroys her reputation, and any attempt to proclaim her innocence falls on deaf ears. People simply want to believe the scandalous story. Despondent, but ultimately rebellious and angry, she reacts by attempting to live up to her reputation as a “bad girl.”

Hot Saturday judges those who pass judgement in an indictment of small town gossip mongers. There is a real division – a generation gap of sorts – in the small town. Cary Grant’s character, Romer, is the wealthiest man in town, and also brash and carefree. The parties he holds for the younger people are looked upon by the town elders as decadent, while they perceive Romer as an unscrupulous playboy. Hot Saturday features a great collection of significant, sometimes iconic, stars including Grant, Carroll, Randolph Scott, Jane Darwell, Grady Sutton, Edward Woods, Nora Cecil, and Marjorie Main.

What is also fascinating is the edginess of the film’s precode trappings. The Nancy Carroll discovers her younger sister (14 year old actress Rose Coghlan) is wearing her new panties, so she wrestles her onto the bed and forcibly removes them. There is a scene when Ruth’s jealous boyfriend (Edward Woods) drunkenly tries to force himself on her while they’re out in a canoe, causing her to swim back. When Ruth swims back, she takes refuge with Romer, who sends her home in his limousine. That is what ignites the rumors about her having spent the night with him when, in fact, nothing did happen.

When Ruth’s old beau Bill (Randolph Scott) returns to town, he is unaware of the rumors and Ruth refrains from telling him, hoping he doesn’t find out. He does, of course, and he also responds with anger and judgment. This is when Ruth finally gives up.

Hot Saturday is a quintessential example of precode drama that has historical significance along with the aesthetic of William Seiter’s surefooted direction. The performances are striking, and the audio commentary by Lee Gambin on Kino’s blu ray is typically enlightening, informative, and interesting.

Hot Saturday is recommended for precode fans, and can be purchased here: HOT SATURDAY