OVP: The Richest Girl in the World (1934)

Film: The Richest Girl in the World (1934)

Stars: Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Henry Stephenson

Director: William A. Seiter

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Story)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I've always found the concept of the "Poor Little Rich Girl" fascinating, and so has the public.  Young women like Barbara Hutton, Brenda Frazier, Doris Duke, Gloria Vanderbilt, & Christina Onassis have long been the subject of endless speculation from the press, oftentimes more to their detriment than their gain, as the world watches as these women, whose wealth we can only dream of, endure legal hardship & failed romances, proving that even the super-rich aren't immune from pain.  The movies, of course, are a mirror of our pop culture obsessions, and the "Poor Little Rich Girl" concept is no exception.  One of the earliest examples of this is the 1934 film The Richest Girl in the World, starring Joel McCrea & Miriam Hopkins, which was cited for a writing Oscar that year.

(Spoilers Ahead) Left an orphan after the sinking of the Titanic, Dorothy Hunter (Hopkins) has known only obscene wealth her whole life.  Oftentimes trying to stay away from the prying eyes of the press, she sends her secretary Sylvia (Wray) in her place so as not to be seen by the public.  After a failed engagement, she realizes that the only way to know if a man will truly love her for her (and not her money, as she's the "richest girl in the world") is to trick him.  When she meets Tony (McCrea), she pretends to be her secretary Sylvia, and Sylvia pretends to be Dorothy.  The real-Dorothy tries to encourage Tony to date the pretend one, to see if he ultimately will choose her, setting up a classic series of mishaps, particularly one late game-changer when Sylvia's real-life husband is spotted by Tony (who at this point has failed the test & proposed to the pretend Dorothy) going into his "fiancee's" room at night.  In the end, of course, Tony realizes that he loves the actual Dorothy not for her money, but for herself, and they run off together.

The movie is not treading ground by today's standards, but was surely more original at the time than it would be now.  The 1930's had a lot of films that featured glamorous figures like Hopkins with exorbitant amounts of wealth, a sharp contrast to the everyday troubles of people dealing with the Depression.  The film, though, spends much of its runtime downplaying Dorothy's material needs, frequently making her seem like a girl-next-door who would happily trade in the fortune if she could, making the money that the audience desperately needed feel like something they shouldn't care about (in an era where we've reevaluated the debts of the "have's" to the "have not's" I'm curious how a modern-day filmmaker would tactfully approach a tale like this).

That said, it's a bit of a trial, and while it's fun (I gave it three stars for a reason), Hopkins' motives remain so murky throughout the film (and the movie's sexual politics read so outdated that the late act move of Tony having to love Dorothy not just in spite of her money, but also in spite of her fidelity is mildly confusing) that it doesn't always make sense the further it gets into the picture.  The story itself is strong enough, though, to keep you entertained & Hopkins' moments of game competitiveness (I loved the scene where she runs Fay Wray's canoe over with a boat) will keep you hooked for the run time, even if it won't stay with you much after that.