I've Got Your Number (1934)

I love this movie so much

Why so much hype?

Memorable, crazy movie

Fresh and Exciting

For those of us who are interested in how telephones work – or at any rate, used to work – this is the perfect film. True, Pat O'Brien is at his bumptious best – or worst, depending on your point of view – but there's a fair bit of action along with all the instructional material, plus the presence of blonde Joan Blondell and blonde Glenda Farrell. And for comic relief, here comes Allen Jenkins and – to a lesser or greater extent depending upon your point of view – Eugene Palette. Some striking stock footage helps out too! Directed at a fast clip by Ray Enright and edited at a super-fast pace by Clarence Kolster, you need to be quick on your toes to catch many members of the support cast, including the lovely Loraine Marshall as a Clayton's girl friend – along with the more sassy Rita La Roy, she's the girl friend you have when you're not having a girl friend – plus Bess Flowers as the switchboard supervisor, and many others, too numerous to list, including Hobart Cavanaugh as Happy Dooley and Selmer Jackson – of all people! – on the wrong side of the law! And it's all wrapped up in just 69 minutes. I'd rate it at least 7+. Available on an excellent Warner Archive DVD.

While I must admit that I enjoyed watching "I've Got Your Number", I must also admit that the film had serious flaws. First off, Pat O'Brien's character was a real pig--a sexual harassing jerk. Second, the plot was a bit silly.This film begins with O'Brien working as a telephone repair man. He is good at his job but he's also a pig--and sexually harasses his clients repeatedly. With one woman, he slaps her on the behind. With another (Joan Blondell), he's a bit of a stalker--a guy who won't accept 'no' for an answer. Back in 1934, he might have been seen as a cute fellow--today he would have been arrested! And, true to the ridiculous attitudes of the day, he was the hero--a guy who really was NOT very heroic. To make it worse, after sexually harassing Bondell repeatedly, she responded by falling in love with the guy!!! Today, it's a seriously screwed up relationship to say the least.Overall, this is a film that IS enjoyable but also seriously flawed and stupid. Worth seeing if you love classic Hollywood--otherwise it might just seem trivial and silly.

This one looks like it was originally planned as another inexpensive vehicle for Cagney, like THE PICTURE SNATCHER (in which he played a photographer) or TAXI!: ordinary Joe roles that the men in the audience could identify with, and when Jimmy snaps into action, they can imagine themselves doing it. After all, what's he got that I don't? But he again threatened to walk, so they tried O'Brien out in the role. He's an Irish sort of actor too. Maybe the audience won't notice.Unfortunately, I noticed and it became something of a chore to make my way through this movie when the top-billed actor doesn't get much screen time. As often happens in lesser Warner Bs, it's the supporting players that kept me watching, particularly Eugene Palette. But you can skip this one.

Joan and Glenda together in a scintillating comedy - or so I thought but, as usual, I was disappointed (just as I was with "Havana Widows"). I suppose the idea of them starring together looks good on paper but Joan Blondell was a more conventional leading lady with a zippy mouth for a wise crack. Glenda Farrell was zany and sassy and I just adore her and unfortunately she was never going to be the star when Joan was around. To see Glenda in a snappy comedy I recommend "Girl Missing" - unfortunately she didn't get the leading man ( pastel pretty Mary Brian was around for that) but she did get to show off some of her mile a minute speeches.Not in "I've Got Your Number" unfortunately. In this movie, for all her co-star billing she had one scene as a zany phoney medium and another small one where she was Allen Jenkins rather drunk date!!! She and Joan shared no scenes together. The real star was Pat O'Brien, in the sort of part he was perfecting in the early 30s - Terry, a wise cracking ladies man who knows all the answers. Along with Allen Jenkins as John, they play a couple of trouble shooting telephone repairmen who are the despair of their boss, Joe Flood (Eugene Palette). In this inconsequential story, Terry meets Marie (Blondell) a telephonist who has just had to resign due to some unsavoury gossip linking her to a betting scandal. She needs employment and Terry remembers Mr. Schuyler (Henry O'Neil) and his promise to help if Terry was ever in a jam. Marie is soon efficiently working the switchboard but Nicky (her friend's boyfriend and the originator of the betting scam) turns up like a bad penny and once again Marie is up to her ears in a bonds theft - completely innocent of course!!! It finishes very quickly, Terry is captured but with his inside knowledge of telephone wiring methods is, unbeknownst to the crooks, able to alert his office and have help on the way.Just a so-so movie, good for a rainy afternoon but not memorable.