The Gilded Lily (1935 film)

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The Gilded Lily
Directed by	Wesley Ruggles
Starring	Claudette Colbert Fred MacMurray Ray Milland C. Aubrey Smith
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	1935
Running time	80 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Gilded Lily is a 1935 film directed by Wesley Ruggles, and starring Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland and C. Aubrey Smith. The film reached #5 in Best English Language Films, National Board of Review Awards 1935.

[edit] Plot

New York stenographer Marilyn David (Colbert) has become good friends with Peter Dawes (MacMurray), a newspaper reporter who takes the same subway as she does each morning. Peter is crazy about Marilyn, but she meets and has her eye on wealthy Englishman Charles Gray (Milland), and they fall in love. Charles is the son of Lloyd Granville (Smith), a titled British nobleman, which means Charles is rich, good looking, and minor royalty, tipping the scales in his favour. Charles proposes marriage to Marilyn, but after a sudden argument, she turns him down. Charles leaves town and Marilyn discovers he is a duke's son and already engaged. Marilyn confides in Peter, her platonic friend, who is ecstatic at this bit of news and publicizes her as the 'No Girl', the working girl who refused a chance to marry into money nobility. So Marilyn is suddenly famous, and she cashes in on her sudden and unwelcome notoriety by becoming a cafe entertainer. In an unexpected way, she succeeds. Marilyn's fame causes Charles to take a second look at her; he asks her to reconsider, but Marilyn wonders if she might be better off with Peter after all. But can she decide between her two loves?

The Gilded Lily was the first co-starring vehicle for Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, who would go on to make seven movies together.