We are told at the beginning of the movie what a party wire is. It's a telephone line shared by several subscribers, or parties, in the same locality for economic reasons. I did a quick search online about party wires, or party lines as they were called in the rural Wisconsin community where I grew up, and found out they were mostly eliminated by phone companies around the year 2000. At any rate, they were in existence for many decades and certainly audiences in the mid-30s knew what they were.
In our rural area, I don't recall any scandals ever being overheard on the phone, but what do I know, since I was a small child. We definitely had gossipy types who liked to eavesdrop, but they didn't always need Alexander Graham Bell's invention to do that. In this 1935 motion picture from Columbia, a scandal occurs when someone hears something they shouldn't and spreads the 'news' (which they misinterpreted).
The story is set in a place called Rockridge U. S. A. Where a rich old bitty (Helen Lowell) has summoned her playboy nephew (Victor Jory) home from Europe. She intends to task him with the responsibility of running the family business, since she has become an invalid. The business is the main source of employment in Rockridge. Since Jory is an eligible bachelor, single women of marrying age are pushed in front of him.
We have to suspend some disbelief since Mr. Jory is no Clark Gable in the looks department. The actor would find his niche in Hollywood playing villains in westerns and crime flicks.
Instead of selecting one of the desperate young maids, someone else even prettier and more self-confident (Jean Arthur) catches Jory's eye. Miss Arthur is just hitting her stride as a contract player at Columbia, and she is playing a career woman. Her character is an accountant at the local bank, but the production code will ensure that by the end of the film, she leaves all that behind to take on wife and mother duties.
This is where the party wire of the plot comes in. A conversation is overheard, and a busybody (Clara Blandick) misinterprets, assuming Arthur is gasp preggers. Call the morality police. Naturally, this causes all kinds of complications. The scandal threatens to derail Arthur's blossoming romance with Jory. She even gets fired from her job.
Yes, this is as bad as Peyton Place and the Harper Valley P. T. A. Of course, today nothing-shocks-people-anymore, so this is rather tame and almost laughable. But by 1935 standards, it was serious stuff-- a young woman supposedly expecting a child out of wedlock. She was certain to be castigated, unless she was the Virgin Mary, then she would have been venerated.
Eventually the misunderstandings are sorted out and the turmoil dies down. Lest there was ever any doubt, our couple in love has their happily ever after restored. I would imagine that soon they were too busy enjoying their honeymoon to worry about answering the phone.
In our rural area, I don't recall any scandals ever being overheard on the phone, but what do I know, since I was a small child. We definitely had gossipy types who liked to eavesdrop, but they didn't always need Alexander Graham Bell's invention to do that. In this 1935 motion picture from Columbia, a scandal occurs when someone hears something they shouldn't and spreads the 'news' (which they misinterpreted).
The story is set in a place called Rockridge U. S. A. Where a rich old bitty (Helen Lowell) has summoned her playboy nephew (Victor Jory) home from Europe. She intends to task him with the responsibility of running the family business, since she has become an invalid. The business is the main source of employment in Rockridge. Since Jory is an eligible bachelor, single women of marrying age are pushed in front of him.
We have to suspend some disbelief since Mr. Jory is no Clark Gable in the looks department. The actor would find his niche in Hollywood playing villains in westerns and crime flicks.
Instead of selecting one of the desperate young maids, someone else even prettier and more self-confident (Jean Arthur) catches Jory's eye. Miss Arthur is just hitting her stride as a contract player at Columbia, and she is playing a career woman. Her character is an accountant at the local bank, but the production code will ensure that by the end of the film, she leaves all that behind to take on wife and mother duties.
This is where the party wire of the plot comes in. A conversation is overheard, and a busybody (Clara Blandick) misinterprets, assuming Arthur is gasp preggers. Call the morality police. Naturally, this causes all kinds of complications. The scandal threatens to derail Arthur's blossoming romance with Jory. She even gets fired from her job.
Yes, this is as bad as Peyton Place and the Harper Valley P. T. A. Of course, today nothing-shocks-people-anymore, so this is rather tame and almost laughable. But by 1935 standards, it was serious stuff-- a young woman supposedly expecting a child out of wedlock. She was certain to be castigated, unless she was the Virgin Mary, then she would have been venerated.
Eventually the misunderstandings are sorted out and the turmoil dies down. Lest there was ever any doubt, our couple in love has their happily ever after restored. I would imagine that soon they were too busy enjoying their honeymoon to worry about answering the phone.