Vivacious Lady

Vivacious Lady is a 1938 American black-and-white romantic comedy film directed by George Stevens and starring Ginger Rogers and James Stewart. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The screenplay was written by P.J. Wolfson and Ernest Pagano and adapted from a short story by I. A. R. Wylie. The music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Robert De Grasse. The film is a story of love at first sight between a young botany professor and a nightclub singer. The film's comedic elements include repeatedly frustrated attempts by the newlywed couple to find a moment alone with each other. Among the supporting players are James Ellison, Frances Mercer, Beulah Bondi, Franklin Pangborn, and Charles Coburn, as well as an uncredited appearance by Hattie McDaniel. Plot Botany professor Peter Morgan Jr. (Stewart) is sent to Manhattan to retrieve his playboy cousin Keith (Ellison) and immediately falls in love with nightclub singer Francey (Rogers). After a whirlwind one-day courtship, Peter and Francey get married, and they and Keith return to the Morgan family's home, where Peter teaches at the university run by his father Peter Morgan Sr. (Coburn). Mr. Morgan is known for being a proud, overbearing man, so Peter is afraid to tell him about the marriage. When they arrive, Mr. Morgan and Peter's high-society fiancée Helen (Mercer) initially take Francey for another of Keith's girlfriends. While Peter decides how to approach his father with the news, Francey stays at a women-only hotel, and Peter and Keith introduce her as a new botany student.