Expensive Husbands

"Your name my be Rupert...But it ought to be Bill...BILL...BILL!"

Nov 27 1937 Passed 1h 2m
Comedy, Musical, Romance

Unable to get work in her home country, Laurine Lynne (Beverly Roberts) travels to Vienna where her press agent, Joe Craig (Allyn Joslyn), convinces her to marry royalty. The lucky fellow is Prince Rupert (Patric Knowles), an impoverished nobleman now working as a waiter. Do the two of them fall in love despite this marriage of convenience?

Plot

The career of Hollywood actress Laurine Lynne is on the decline. In negotiation with her press agent Joe Craig, Associated, her studio, is contemplating not executing her contract extension option as she is losing roles once that naturally would have gone to her to her contemporaries. Taking the play from one of those contemporaries who won a role solely on her notoriety of marrying someone with a title, Laurine, already in a public relationship with polo player Ricky Preston, places a discreet ad looking to pay to enter into a marriage of convenience with someone of royalty. She is surprised that the person answering the ad is the not very adept and very forthright hotel waiter she met earlier on a trip to Vienna. He, really Prince Rupert Heinrich Franz Von Rentzau, is equally as surprised by the identity of the ad placer. She eventually learns the Prince has had a number of odd jobs like that of waiter since the war, presumably the reason he lost his money, and is working all these odd jobs solely for money, why he has answered the ad for this lucrative paying "job". Even Joseph, the Prince's still faithful servant, doesn't know why the Prince wants only to earn 200 shillings before moving on from each job. While their marriage does have the intended effect of boosting her career, it also adds some complications to her life, one being his extravagant spending which may ruin her financially. Another issue is that both, while entering into that marriage as a platonic relationship and even on the premise that it may be a long distance one in he needing to "maintain his royal duties" in Europe, have actually fallen in love with the other, misadventures which ensue in both taking actions so as to hide his/her feelings.

Written by

Lillie Hayward, Jean Negulesco, Jay Brennan

Directed by

Bobby Connolly

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

Languages

English

Awards

N/A

Scores
# of Votes
160
Average Rating
5 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA