The Gorgeous Hussy

The Gorgeous Hussy is a 1936 American period film directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor. The screenplay was written by Stephen Morehouse Avery and Ainsworth Morgan, which was based on a 1934 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams. The supporting cast includes Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart. The film's plot tells a fictionalized account of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and an innkeeper's daughter, Peggy O'Neal. Peggy O'Neill had a central role in the Petticoat affair that disrupted the cabinet of Andrew Jackson. Synopsis In 1823 Washington D.C., Major O'Neal (Gene Lockhart) and his daughter Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal (Joan Crawford) run an inn that is frequented by politicians. Peggy is outspoken for a woman of her time, and when Tennessee senator Andrew Jackson (Lionel Barrymore) visits, she affectionately refers to him as "Uncle Andy." Peggy is secretly in love with the well-known Virginia senator John Randolph (Melvyn Douglas), but her feelings are seemingly unrequited. When new inn resident "Beau" Timberlake (Robert Taylor) refers to Peggy as a "tavern girl" while drinking, John slaps him in defense of Peggy. Beau soon falls in love with Peggy himself and proposes, but she refuses, because her affections are reserved for John. John spurns her advances, thinking that she is too young and does not really mean it, but begins to have a change of heart. When he finally realizes that they are both in love, however, he learns from Beau that Peggy has finally consented to marry him. Peggy again talks to John about their future, but John again rejects her, thinking that the younger Beau would be a more suitable husband.