Zeus

What Every Woman Knows (1934)

• Director
  • Gregory La Cava
• Writers
  • J.M. Barrie(play)
  • Monckton Hoffe(screenplay)
  • John Meehan(screenplay)
• Stars
  • Helen Hayes
  • Brian Aherne
  • Madge Evans

  Legendary "improvisational" director Gregory La Cava elected to stick to the script for his film version of the James M. Barrie play What Every Woman Knows. Helen Hayes repeats her stage role as a Victorian Scotswoman of far-reaching ambition. Using her supposedly frail feminine wiles, Hayes maneuvers her fatuous husband Brian Aherne into a successful political career. He rises to a parliamentary seat, never quite realizing that he hasn't done it alone. The charm of What Every Woman Knows was augmented by the pleasing Scots burr adopted by the American leading lady. An earlier version of the Barrie play was filmed in 1921, starring Lois Wilson.