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Primrose Path

Play trailer Poster for Primrose Path Released Mar 22, 1940 1h 33m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Ellie May Adams (Ginger Rogers) lives with her dysfunctional family in a rundown home on Primrose Hill. Hoping not to become a prostitute like her mother (Marjorie Rambeau) and grandmother (Queenie Vassar), Ellie fights to keep her dignity by marrying the charming Ed Wallace (Joel McCrea) and lying about her embarrassing relatives. But Ellie's lies backfire when Ed finally meets the family, and she realizes that she may have to become a prostitute after all.
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Primrose Path

Critics Reviews

View All (4) Critics Reviews
Otis Ferguson The New Republic Quite a hideous time all around. Just about the time the story has completely double-crossed everybody in it, the sun came out with an apple in its mouth and everybody had a happy ending, I'll leave you to guess how. May 7, 2024 Full Review Michael Barrett PopMatters The script, by actress Leah Baird, has more far-fetched hoops to jump through than necessary even for this type of brisk B production, but it gets there. May 5, 2022 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews It's an amiable romantic comedy that has pleasing performances by stars Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea, but little else to recommend it. Rated: B- Sep 7, 2012 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: B- Aug 12, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (14) audience reviews
Bill T Completely surprising drama here about a woman desperate to get out of descrepit homelife (the ladies of the family are ahem, ladies of the evening (but don't tell the censors that) and woos a partially-respectable guy (he's got his problems too) into marrying him. Of course, her path catches up with him, and then tragedy strikes. I was VERY shocked to see Ginger Rogers in the title role (I thought she was playing the mother!). She really glammed down for this role. Good for her, it really surprised me and thought she should have been nommed for the oscar (Ironically, the lady who DID play her Mom got nommed!) and it's also interesting to see Joel Mcrea in a bit of an odder part than usual, granted that it's not much, but still interesting. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review steve d Ginger makes it worth the watch. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member No one, even the most backward, uneducated person -- talks like this all the time. The actors are forced to use incorrect grammar in every sentence they speak and it comes off as inauthentic. You can't follow the film properly because of the way they are always figuring out how they should talk. Poor Joel McCrae (Sullivan's Travels) is terribly miscast, and Ginger Rogers showed she could act in Kitty Foyle. But here they are forced to "hick it up" and do so in the most unnatural of ways. It all comes across as amateurish and juvenile. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member As raw material, it's a potpourri of Eugene O'Neill manque and Preston Sturges first-draft; as sociology, it's pretttty close to consummate. Anyone who sees the name Gregory LaCava on the director's line, just a few years after "My Man Godfrey," won't be surprised at the fluency of the portrayal of the differences between lower-middle-class striving and underclass, from Rogers' wrong-side-of-the-tracks family to the 'Portuguee girls' down the road and the Mexican cook at the greasy spoon McCrea and his father proudly run. This is a smart movie within the studio system, and it thrashes hundreds and hundreds of more glib entries from every generation. Watch and see what you think. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member A strong cast and intelligent script make this a step above the common film. 2 parts chick-flick and 1 part social-morality tale, this one has a lively repartee throughout. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review ashley h Primrose Path is an incredible film. It is about a girl from the "wrong" side of the tracks who falls in love with an ambitious young man from the "right" side of the tracks. Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea give fantastic performances. The screenplay is well written. Gregory LaCava did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama. Primrose Path is a must see. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Primrose Path

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Movie Info

Synopsis Ellie May Adams (Ginger Rogers) lives with her dysfunctional family in a rundown home on Primrose Hill. Hoping not to become a prostitute like her mother (Marjorie Rambeau) and grandmother (Queenie Vassar), Ellie fights to keep her dignity by marrying the charming Ed Wallace (Joel McCrea) and lying about her embarrassing relatives. But Ellie's lies backfire when Ed finally meets the family, and she realizes that she may have to become a prostitute after all.
Director
Gregory La Cava
Producer
Gregory La Cava
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 22, 1940, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 33m
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