A Feather in Her Hat
(1935), 72 minutes, b&w

We fast forward to 1935. Richard is now 21 years old (and played by Louis Hayward).  On his birthday, Clarissa tells Richard that he is not her son but the child of a famous actress who must remain nameless. She says that his real mother couldn't keep him because it would have caused a scandal. She gives Richard money that was supposedly provided by this actress. Courtney tells Richard that Clarissa used to work for an actress named Julia Trent. Richard suspects that Trent might be his mother.

With the money Clarissa has given him, Richard is able to move to the West End. Confident that the stage is in his blood, he seeks a career as a playwright. He actually rents a room in Julia Trent's house, but doesn't tell her of his suspicions. Romance begins to bloom between Richard and Julia's stepdaughter, Pauline (Wendy Barrie).

Richard writes a play especially for Julia Trent. She loves it, but her producer friend won't spend the money to produce the play. When Clarissa learns of this, she sells her shop to finance Richard's play.

"Hello. Where'd you come from?" asks Richard (William Martin) of Courtney (Basil Rathbone) when his mother (Pauline Lord) brings Courtney to their home. photo by Earl Crowley, Columbia Pictures

Louis Hayward, Pauline Lord, and Basil Rathbone Richard's 21st birthday dinner

Unknown to anyone but Clarissa and her doctor, she has very high blood pressure. The doctor warns her to avoid any kind of excitement. She ignores the warning and pretends that everything is fine.

Clarissa, Captain Courtney, and Richard's childhood friend Emily go to the opening night performance of Richard's play. Clarissa insists on sitting in the gallery, but climbing the steps to their seats proves a strain on Clarissa's heart. That strain combined with the excitement of seeing her son's play (a great success) results in Clarissa having a heart attack immediately following the play.

Clarissa is taken home. Richard finds her in bed. She confesses that she lied to him; she really IS his mother. She explains that she wanted him to have quality. Then she dies.

In the touching final scene, Courtney tells Richard that he wished that Clarissa had lived longer so that they could be together. It is never made clear if Clarissa and Courtney have become romantically involved, married, or are just good friends. When Richard left home, Courtney commented that his job was done, so he should be on his way, but Clarissa asked him to stay so that she wouldn't be alone. At the very least, they cared about one another.

Clarissa and Courtney, watching her son's play

Captain Courtney laments Clarissa's death

A Feather in Her Hat is a sweet love story — some might say it's sickeningly sweet. The film won't appeal to everyone, and neither did it appeal to everyone in 1935. The reviews were mixed, but even the negative ones praised the fine acting and lamented that the talents of capable actors were wasted in this film. Here's the review from Variety:

Read the New York Times review here: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B07E4D91F3DE53ABC4D51DFB667838E629EDE

Clarissa rushes to Richard's bedside when she learns of his injuries in an automobile accident. Although she insists that Richard is not her son, even though she has raised him to manhood, she is desperately worried about him. photo by Irving Lippman, Columbia Studios

Basil Rathbone and Pauline Lord

Theater owners reported to Motion Picture magazine how the film fared in their theaters. The owner of a theatre in Texas reported, "The slow tempo and British atmosphere of this picture did not please our patronage, and business would have suffered had it not been for a strong supporting feature. Pauline Lord gives a stirring performance and is assisted by an able cast, but the film belongs in the class picture category" (Motion Picture, Feb 29, 1936). A theatre owner in Ontario played the film one night and then pulled it. "It did not suit our situation," he wrote (Motion Picture, May 23, 1936). A theatre owner in South Sioux City, Nebraska wrote, "This English stuff don't go in our town. Can't see why they insist on making it" (Motion Picture, April 25, 1936).

Motion Picture Daily wrote:

By dint of an able cast fired with a "do or die" spirit, the palsied plot of A Feather in Her Hat has been literally forced into an entertainment realm that must have been far beyond its author's most ambitious fancies; to wit, the realm of an average program feature. What toll in histrionic effort was paid to accomplish this may best be judge, perhaps, by the situations in which the principals are found in the closing sequences. Pauline Lord has passed on to her just reward; Basil Rathbone, the companion of her declining years, disappears wearily, yet gratefully, into a London fog, while the young lovers, Wendy Barrie and Louis Hayward, joined forever at last, relax in silence before the hearth fire. The Lawrence Hazard screen play from the I.A.R. Wylie story presents again the saga of mother love which endureth much in order that the child may be free of its mean beginnings and enjoy the better things. To accomplish this Miss Lord, the mother, brings into her shopkeeper's home off the streets a gentlemanly drunkard, played by Rathbone, and commissions him to impart to her growing son the secrets of gentlemanly behavior in return for his (Rathbone's) board and keep. When the boy, Hayward, comes of age she tells him she is not his mother, then turns over her life's savings to him and orders him from the house lest he become, like herself, one of the accursed, but comfortable middle class. Instead, he becomes a playwright and, in order to put his first effort on the boards, mother sells the old shop and turns the proceeds over to the cautious producer, who refuses to risk his own cash. But the strain, or perhaps the surprise, of the successful first night is too much for mother. Not even "God Save the King" from the theatre orchestra can keep her on her feet longer. Rathbone wanders off in the fog and Miss Barrie, whom Harward wanted for wife but hesitated, because of his confused ancestry, to propose, enters bearing silent comfort. Billie Burke, Victor Varconi and Nydia Westman strive with the others to invest this with credibility. Alfred Santell's direction evinces sheer bravery. The camera work of Joseph Walker is excellent. Motion Picture Daily, October 25, 1935

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"Beautifully acted, sentimental but strongly appealing story of humble English mother devotedly sacrificing all to make her son a gentleman. Fine realism in character, dialog, and London atmosphere." —The Educational Screen magazine (1935)

"Story of a poor shopowner's success in raising her son to be a gentleman. Excellent, restrained acting by the entire cast make it an immensely moving and appealing picture." —National Board of Film Review

Courtney with two of his drinking buddies (J.M. Kerrigan and ?)

Captain Courtney tells Richard that Clarissa has died. photo by Earl Crowley, Columbia Pictures

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GOOD HUMAN INTEREST DRAMA IN MOTHER-SON STORY WITH NICE ACCOMPANYING ROMANCE A generally appealing production has been made from the I.A.R. Wylie story about a British shopkeeper widow who, on her son's 21st birthday, disowns herself as mother in order to make him go forth and become one of the "quality" folk. The theme holds a strong vein of human interest, aided greatly by the performance of Pauline Lord as the mother and Louis Hayward as the son, plus excellent surrounding portrayals by Basil Rathbone, a down and out veteran whose soapbox oratory inspires the mother to make the sacrifice for her son; Billie Burke, a former stage star in whose home Louis goes to live and for whom he writes a play that becomes a hit; Wendy Barrie, the girl of class whom he finally marries, and other. After having achieved her ambition for her son and witnessing the successful opening of his play, the mother is stricken and dies, but not before she reveals to him that she really is his mother. The direction by Alfred Santell is appropriately sympathetic. The Film Daily, October 25, 1935

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Trivia—

• The role of Courtney is one of the few non-villain roles that Rathbone played in the 1930s.
• Ruth Chatterton was originally cast as Clarissa. After working on the film for two weeks, she bowed out. and was immediately replaced by Pauline Lord
• Pauline Lord, a stage actress, made only two movies; A Feather in Her Hat was the second one.
• Louis Hayward, who played "Richard Orland," later married Ida Lupino, Rathbone's co-star in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Both of them were friends of Rathbone and were invited to parties at Rathbone's home.
• David Niven had had a few bit parts in films, but his role in A Feather in Her Hat was his first significant role, the first meaty part.
• The Frank Benson who is listed as part of the uncredited cast (playing "man") is an Australian actor; he is NOT Sir Frank Benson, cousin of Basil Rathbone.

Buy A Feather in Her Hat on DVD at Loving the Classics

Go to Page Two to see more pictures from the film.

Go to Page Three for pictures of posters, lobby cards and promo photos from A Feather in Her Hat.

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All original content is © Marcia Jessen, 2015