Some people are born losers. No matter what they do they'll find a way to ruin themselves. Ralph 'Skid' Johnson (Hal Skelly) was such a loser.
He was part of a smalltime traveling show in which he played the "comic" which was basically a hobo clown. He left one night in a huff after the show manager blew off Bonny Lee King (Nancy Carroll), a showgirl who'd traveled a long way to land a spot in the show. The two decided they'd pair up and try to make it big together.
They found a spot in Lester 'Lefty' Miller's show out of Milwaukee. The two were a hit on and off the stage. On the stage they were indispensable and off the stage they had a goofy, playful romance that another dancer named Sylvia Marco (Dorothy Revier) was always trying to bust up. Bonny and Skid were perfectly alright when Skid was sober, but the problem was that he was a souse. He couldn't stay sober to save his life, yet Bonny found a way to do just that.
When he got a break to go to New York and perform sans Bonny it was bittersweet news. The two had always wanted to make it big together, but the Ziegfeld Follies only wanted Skid and Sylvia (the woman who wanted to steal Skid from Bonny). And that was a problem. Bonny had to decide between sending her husband off to New York to the same show as her rival, or be selfish and keep Skid in the midwest with her.
She opted to be unselfish and demand that Skid go to New York when he was hemming and hawwing about it. He did a bunch of self-effacing talk about how the show would probably fail and he'd be back; how he couldn't get along without her and how he simply wouldn't go. It was easy to believe him because he'd before chosen to relinquish part of his salary in order to keep Bonny on the payroll. So, when he went into his sad routine about going to New York without Bonny it was very romantic in a puppy dog way.
Skid went to New York and was a big hit. So big he completely forgot about his wife. The indication was that he didn't intentionally ghost his wife. The indication was that he was busy and, above all, absentminded. But how absentminded could a person be? He went weeks without contacting his wife AND he didn't even acknowledge her letter(s) to him; all to Sylvia's liking. She had him all to herself and Skid did nothing to repel her. In other words, he didn't look like a married guy.
When Bonny visited Skid in New York she saw him gayly at a party with Sylvia draped all over him. That was enough for Bonny--the ghosting and now he was with another woman--she didn't need to see anymore to file for divorce. Besides, Harvey Howell (Ralph Theodore), a wealthy admirer from Wyoming, was waiting in the wings to marry Bonny if Skid didn't treat her right.
Skid was a clown at all times. If he wasn't on stage being an actual clown, he was hitting the booze and making a fool of himself. Bonny hitting him with a divorce was probably the first time he'd even thought about her while he was living it up in New York. She was the best thing that ever happened to him and he threw it all away being an idiot. Skid hit it bigtime and ghosted his wife after proclaiming how much he needed her and so on and so on kind of like James Cagney did his S. O. in "Winner Take All."
The divorce news sent Skid into a tailspin. He began boozing to the point he couldn't keep his New York gig. He got another shot with Lefty on the promise he would stay away from drinking. It was a fool's request on Lefty's part because Skid was too far gone by that point. The only one who could save him from himself was Bonny and she was on a ranch in Wyoming trying to forget about him.
In my version Bonny moves on and goes on to be happy with a stable man who takes care of her and worries about her instead of the other way around. But this isn't my script and that wouldn't have been the Hollywood ending. Instead, Bonny went back to Lefty's show to help him out by helping out Skid. She got Skid sober, even if for one show, and promised to stay there with him forever.
I didn't like that ending. Bonny deserved better and furthermore I don't think Skid can be helped. He was an incorrigible drunk that needed a babysitter to keep him sober and I don't have time for such feeble individuals. Bonny loved him and couldn't bear to see him kill himself, but that was a love that was going to drain her of her own life. That may have been a happily ever after for Skid, but it definitely wasn't for Bonny.
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He was part of a smalltime traveling show in which he played the "comic" which was basically a hobo clown. He left one night in a huff after the show manager blew off Bonny Lee King (Nancy Carroll), a showgirl who'd traveled a long way to land a spot in the show. The two decided they'd pair up and try to make it big together.
They found a spot in Lester 'Lefty' Miller's show out of Milwaukee. The two were a hit on and off the stage. On the stage they were indispensable and off the stage they had a goofy, playful romance that another dancer named Sylvia Marco (Dorothy Revier) was always trying to bust up. Bonny and Skid were perfectly alright when Skid was sober, but the problem was that he was a souse. He couldn't stay sober to save his life, yet Bonny found a way to do just that.
When he got a break to go to New York and perform sans Bonny it was bittersweet news. The two had always wanted to make it big together, but the Ziegfeld Follies only wanted Skid and Sylvia (the woman who wanted to steal Skid from Bonny). And that was a problem. Bonny had to decide between sending her husband off to New York to the same show as her rival, or be selfish and keep Skid in the midwest with her.
She opted to be unselfish and demand that Skid go to New York when he was hemming and hawwing about it. He did a bunch of self-effacing talk about how the show would probably fail and he'd be back; how he couldn't get along without her and how he simply wouldn't go. It was easy to believe him because he'd before chosen to relinquish part of his salary in order to keep Bonny on the payroll. So, when he went into his sad routine about going to New York without Bonny it was very romantic in a puppy dog way.
Skid went to New York and was a big hit. So big he completely forgot about his wife. The indication was that he didn't intentionally ghost his wife. The indication was that he was busy and, above all, absentminded. But how absentminded could a person be? He went weeks without contacting his wife AND he didn't even acknowledge her letter(s) to him; all to Sylvia's liking. She had him all to herself and Skid did nothing to repel her. In other words, he didn't look like a married guy.
When Bonny visited Skid in New York she saw him gayly at a party with Sylvia draped all over him. That was enough for Bonny--the ghosting and now he was with another woman--she didn't need to see anymore to file for divorce. Besides, Harvey Howell (Ralph Theodore), a wealthy admirer from Wyoming, was waiting in the wings to marry Bonny if Skid didn't treat her right.
Skid was a clown at all times. If he wasn't on stage being an actual clown, he was hitting the booze and making a fool of himself. Bonny hitting him with a divorce was probably the first time he'd even thought about her while he was living it up in New York. She was the best thing that ever happened to him and he threw it all away being an idiot. Skid hit it bigtime and ghosted his wife after proclaiming how much he needed her and so on and so on kind of like James Cagney did his S. O. in "Winner Take All."
The divorce news sent Skid into a tailspin. He began boozing to the point he couldn't keep his New York gig. He got another shot with Lefty on the promise he would stay away from drinking. It was a fool's request on Lefty's part because Skid was too far gone by that point. The only one who could save him from himself was Bonny and she was on a ranch in Wyoming trying to forget about him.
In my version Bonny moves on and goes on to be happy with a stable man who takes care of her and worries about her instead of the other way around. But this isn't my script and that wouldn't have been the Hollywood ending. Instead, Bonny went back to Lefty's show to help him out by helping out Skid. She got Skid sober, even if for one show, and promised to stay there with him forever.
I didn't like that ending. Bonny deserved better and furthermore I don't think Skid can be helped. He was an incorrigible drunk that needed a babysitter to keep him sober and I don't have time for such feeble individuals. Bonny loved him and couldn't bear to see him kill himself, but that was a love that was going to drain her of her own life. That may have been a happily ever after for Skid, but it definitely wasn't for Bonny.
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