User reviews

Phone company technicians Pat O'Brien and Allen Jenkins charge into a luxurious apartment populated by lounging ladies. They exchange insults, they install a longer phone cord, they exchange a few suggestive phone cord jokes as they finish the job. O'Brien slaps one of the women on the rear on his way out. –These phone repair guys are fast, tough and too cool for rules.

O'Brien's swagger gets him into trouble with boss Eugene Palette ("I was gonna slap her on the shoulder and she bent over," he says) but in the next scene he's performing a daring rescue atop a burning building and is proclaimed a hero. Ah, the life of a telephone technician: excitement, glamour and adventure—at least according to this picture.

Joan Blondell co-stars as a switchboard operator who gets innocently mixed up in an office swindle. Accused of theft, she takes it on the lam…and guess who sets out to rescue her by tracking down and trapping the real crooks?

Glenda Farrell is hilarious as "Madame Francis, Spiritualist Medium." Using her office phone system to run phony séances, Glenda is busted by our heroes—who then start hanging out with her.

The four stars are all highly entertaining (although Farrell's role is regrettably minor). The plot may be somewhat predictable—O'Brien and Jenkins use their tools and phone skills to track the crooks, tap their calls, learn their plans—but it moves fast and packs plenty of attitude.

It's never especially believable but awfully hard to resist.

.. like Joan's dependable sassiness and some funny bits from Allen Jenkins, but this isn't a DVD I'd put under anyone's Christmas tree. The plot, very briefly, revolves around Joan as a switchboard operator who is used (more than once) to help someone else commit a crime, and Pat O'Brien is a phone line repairman who (separately) becomes involved with her.

O'Brien's character is a sleaze, to say the least. We see early on that he treats women like samples in a meat market, but once he sets his sights on Joan, he goes all out, first insulting and bullying her into giving him a tumble, then eventually overturning her dining table so her dinner will be ruined and she'll then let him take her to a restaurant! (I kid not...) Joan gives as good as she gets, of course, but inexplicably, his boorish behavior wears her down and she falls in love with him. Okay, I realize this was made in the 1930s, but really!

As mentioned, I liked Allen Jenkins and his comic moments, one with a bogus palm reader (the great Louise Beavers), another when he's needed to listen in on dirty dealings by phone, and while there is mayhem going on he is there, fast asleep! His frequent delivery of the line, "Let's get outta here!!" in an exasperated voice is funny and doesn't get old.

Thumbs up to Eugene Pallette's performance, too. He sees O'Brien for the worm that he is and isn't shy about expressing it. I'd recommend it mainly for brassy Joan Blondell.

I've Got Your Number (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Extremely entertaining gem from Warner about phone repairman Terry Riley (Pat O'Brien) who falls for a beautiful blonde (Joan Blondell) but soon gets caught up in a robbery. I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER turns into a crime picture for the final fifteen-minutes but the rest of the running time is basically a romantic comedy and it's a very good one at that. I think it's pretty clear that the egotistical maniac, fast talking lead character was meant to be played by James Cagney but for whatever reason he didn't do the part so O'Brien stepped in. It seems whenever the Cagney-O'Brien team couldn't do a picture, the studio gave the lead to O'Brien and then they'd bring in either Allen Jenkins (as they did here) or Frank McHugh. O'Brien and Jenkins makes for a very good pair as the two work well off one another and make for a highly entertaining and very fast little picture. The two of them can mix it up extremely well and Jenkins certainly manages to bring a lot of laughs. Blondell is also very good in her role as she's certainly easy on the eye but she also manages to make you believe her in the part. Glenda Farrell has a brief but very funny part as a fake psychic and we also get a good supporting performance by the always entertaining Eugene Palette. There are countless highlights to this film but I think the greatest thing are the various pre-code elements with most of them dealing with sex. O'Brien's character, in today's world, would be called a stalker or sexual harasser because of the way he talks to women, pretty much follows them and forces them to go out with him. It's certainly played for jokes here and it gets plenty of laughs especially one scene early on where two sexually charged women invite him into the house and all sorts of innuendo is thrown around. These pre-code sex jokes are without question hilarious and help keep this film moving at a great pace.

Pat Obrien and Allen Jenkins are phone line workers, keeping the phone line working. Eugene Pallette was usually the (huge) sarcastic butler or father figure, overwhelmed by the events of the day. Here, he's the phone company boss, already sick of Terry and Johnny's antics. Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell were both HUGE, hollywood stars of the 1930s. They are Marie and Bonnie, switchboard operators who meet up with the phone workers, but refuse to go out with them. Terry (Obrien) pretty much stalks Marie, which was probably cute and romantic back in the day, but would be considered harassment these days. so many double entendres and naughty jokes. it's okay. there's a stolen money caper, and Marie gets caught up in it, and must figure out who-dunnit. great work by Blondell, O'brien, and Farrell. Directed by Ray Enright, who had started in silents with the genius Mack Sennett. Story by William Rankin; he had worked on some biggies (harvey girls, only angels have wings) but still no oscars. I've got your Number is pretty good stuff.

I've Got Your Number casts Pat O'Brien and Joan Blondell as a pair who make their living with the phone company. O'Brien is a line repairmen and Blondell is a switchboard operator. O'Brien is a roughneck, but as Blondell learns he grows on you after a while.

O'Brien gets Blondell a job with Henry O'Neill's brokerage house, but she's suspected of being part of a gang that robs the place of six figures of negotiable securities. It's up to O'Brien and sidekick Allen Jenkins to clear her.

I've Got Your Number is fast and breezy and entertaining. The film has a good pace to it and doesn't let up, My favorite scenes are with Glenda Farrell and a phony spiritualism racket she's got going. Farrell steals the film in her scenes.

You'll also like Eugene Pallette in his scenes as O'Brien's overwrought boss.

One good product from Warner Brothers.

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.

A harried switchboard operator & a ditzy medium get involved with a couple of brash telephone repairmen & a dangerous gang of thieves...

I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER was the sort of ephemeral comic frippery which the Hollywood studios produced almost without effort during the 1930's. Well made & highly enjoyable, Depression audiences couldn't seem to get enough of these popular, funny photo dramas.

Joan Blondell & Glenda Farrell are perfectly cast as the fast -talking female leads. Although Joan gets both top billing and the romantic scenes, - and they share no screen time together in this early pairing - both gals are as talented & watchable as they are gorgeous.

Pat O'Brien, obnoxiously cocky & self assured, appears as Blondell's persistent suitor. Whether tapping wires or tackling crooks, he is equally jaunty. Behind him comes a small parade of character actors - Allen Jenkins, Eugene Pallette, Henry O'Neill, Hobart Cavanaugh, Louise Beavers - all equally adept at delighting an audience.

Much of the dialogue & plot development indicates this film made it just under the wire before the imposition of the Production Code.

While never stars of the first rank, Joan Blondell (1906-1979) & Glenda Farrell (1904-1971) enlivened scores of films at Warner Bros. throughout the 1930's, especially the eight in which they appeared together. Whether playing gold diggers or working girls, reporters or secretaries, these blonde & brassy ladies were very nearly always a match for whatever leading man was lucky enough to share equal billing alongside them. With a wisecrack or a glance, their characters showed they were ready to take on the world - and any man in it. Never as wickedly brazen as Paramount's Mae West, you always had the feeling that, tough as they were, Blondell & Farrell used their toughness to defend vulnerable hearts ready to break over the right guy. While many performances from seven decades ago can look campy or contrived today, these two lovely ladies are still spirited & sassy.

If you know who Warren William, Marian Davies or Archie Mayo were, then there's two facts about you: 1. Your taste in movies is not the same as everyone else and 2. You will quite enjoy this film. If you have no idea who those people are then you're either not over 130 years old or don't spend your time watching pre-code Warner Brothers b-movies......and will probably find this film a bit of a nothing.

Even for those of us who watch these types of movies, this is nothing special but it's got that familiar type of 'nothing special' which some of us have just got used to. Like smoking, you just get into the habit of watching nonsense like this. You watch the same people turn up and do the same stuff in all these types of film, they're almost like your extended dysfunctional family - you feel connected. I've Gone Your Number is not one of the best but it's still an hour and a bit of fun, silliness, suspense, sexism and wisecracks.

Why is it not one of the best?

You will wonder why Pat O'Brien isn't James Cagney because surely he'd do it better. Pat O'Brien could swagger it as well as Cagney but he's very much a second best choice. Although his character is meant to be a lad-about-town, even for 1934, he comes across as quite an unpleasant bully. These days, his 'courtship' of Joan Blondell wouldn't result in a romantic kiss but several months in jail.

Joan Blondell doesn't stretch her acting skills too much in this, indeed she's very much just the passenger. She's always trying to do the right thing but gets taken advantage of - we would rather see her in control, not just a helpless damsel in distress.

Even though she was not well when filming this, she is still the usual sparky, wisecracking, gorgeous and compassionate dame you expect. Whatever she's in, she guarantees to make you smile. Us twelve year old boys who were born in 1920 should be grateful that the censors failed to remove one little scene at the end, that's of Joan leaning over the bed in a very low cut negligee - golly! This scene was actually filmed at Joan's own home - she was recovering from an operation so too Ill to go to the studio. Even having a major operation was no excuse for slacking if you worked for Warner Brothers!

Only four things in this film were worth seeing - Joan Blondell, her clothes, the telephone exchange and the cars. This film might have been slightly redeemed if the interminable boor, Pat O'brien, had been disposed of nastily by the crooks, but we were deprived of that pleasure.

With Warners pre-code you win some and lose some but it's only takes an hour or so. The dark flat cinematography, the salty dialogue, the best actors in the world, Blondell in close-ups.

The cad played by O'Brien doesn't deserve her, but he risks his life, mobilizes his networks, beats the odds. Those there to see Blondell can appreciate that O'Brien loves her as much as we do and on the plus side that he is employed and possesses telephonic super-skills. It must be love as Blondell and O'Brien can both rap at Warners-level supersonic speeds. With Jenkins, Pallette, Farrell, et al, this is the murderers row of pre-code.

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.

Smart fast story. Funny chatter. Fine actors. Joan Blondell. And NYC. What's not to like?!

When I was transferred to NYC several decades ago I thought: a year or two should do it here, and then I'm gone. But it grows and grows on one, the crowds and Broadway and museums and on and on, and it's hard to be away for long. Over 1m visitors a week - and most want exactly a taste of this. I actually liked the lead guy here. To the non-New-Yorker he may seem over the top, but everybody gravitates toward that manner a bit, and he was a familiar type.

Pretty funny and relevant here is the whole movie-making-business arc. Begun in Brooklyn by Jews largely excluded from main business and clubs, and next to some huge studios across the Hudson from 175th Street at Fort Lee. (A large funfare, Palisades, was also there and ferries did a roaring trade.) Then the migration to Hollywood, 7-8 days away by train - and what do the producers do? Make movies on the backlots by the ton - taking place in New York! Where most of the producers were from - and Joan Blondell too.

The monopoly phone company was Bell Labs. The operator jobs there look like fun. The Bell Labs building still stand, in a straight line several blocks south of the High Line Park. The elevated tracks and trains continued south of where the High Line ends now (by the Whitney Museum) and the trains ran right through the building's edge. Many shots of this on the web.

Watching this, if you didn't know, you would think that a telephone repair man back in the day could do anything. That's what makes this film so laughable.

A tops in his field telephone repair man goes throughout his workday solving telephone related problems. Along the way he tries his suave ways on the lady clients he meets. In the midst of all this he meets a girl who finally falls for his lame charms. She in turn gets unwittingly involved with a scumbag who uses her to rob her boss of some bonds. Then...telephone repair man to the rescue.

Words can't describe how lame this film is. Pat O'Brian didn't have much range as an actor and it shows in this. There are so many laughable moments I can only mention a few cause it would ruin for anyone who wants to watch this lame time piece.

First off, what telephone repair man has the skills to cut any kind of live electrical wires? One scene has a building burning and for some reason they need him to get to the top of a burning building and cut telephone wires. Who knows what purpose this serves but in the process he decides there are live electrical wires and he just takes some pliers/snips and cuts them. This is beyond ridiculous. Not gonna happen folks unless he intended to make himself a charcoal briquette in the process.. After this he jumps off the building and lands in a fireman's net to safety. With this act he's the king of the day. LOL..what a joke.

The funniest of all is the end fight scene. It could very well be the worst fight scene in film history. To set up this fight I'll start off with..they kidnap the repair man and are dragging him back to their car to leave and the whole of the telephone repairmen from the company come to his rescue. Mind you, all these crooks trying to take him away are all armed. When the repairmen arrive and decide to try and save him, all these crooks just run at em like it was WWI. I mean, these guys have guns and they decide to fight? Gimme a break. The fighting in this is so funny it's worth watching just for that. It's so bad you'll spit up you soda and chips while watching it. I will say this was an early 30's film so they hadn't gotten the realistic look of fighting by then but if your a filmmaker and want to do a film with fighting, watch this and see what not to do.

For me, this was a real joke of a film. Not even funny or believable at any point. Bad script, stupid premise and 65 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Pat O'Brien quickly wears out his welcome in this pre-Code film, and on his own made it impossible for me to enjoy it. He's arrogant, creepy, and overbearing, and even when he tries to be charming or funny with little voice inflections, he just comes across as annoying. Even in the flirtatious scenes he comes across as mean, and while Joan Blondell fends off his advances and juvenile games with sharp replies initially ("listen nitwit, will you stop annoying me?"), we sadly know she's going to succumb eventually. It's not a great script to begin with and the plot is oddly pieced together, but someone other than O'Brien would have delivered his lines more deftly.

I confess I giggled in spite of myself over just how cheesy some of the over-the-top innuendo was early on. There's this exchange when he and his partner (telephone repairmen) are in the bedroom of a couple of reclining call girls:

O'Brien: Hope we didn't disturb you...ladies. Rita La Roy: The answer to a maiden's prayer. Allen Jenkins: You know 'em? O'Brien: No, but we will. (to the women) What do you want, besides a longer cord? Lorraine Marshall: (unintelligible, maybe something about gin) La Roy: Make mine a Filipino houseboy. O'Brien: Oh, a couple of comics. How long do you want the cord? La Roy: So it reaches the bed.

There is some interest in the look the film gives at some of the mechanics and electronics behind old telephones, and it's also got a few nice moments with Blondell and Glenda Farrell. Farrell is a medium, and has never been sexier than when she looks up at O'Brien seductively and says "want me to give you a reading?" It was also nice to see Hattie McDaniel get a few lines. Unfortunately, there's just not enough of these fine women, and the film lacks charm. This is one to skip.

"I've Got Your Number" is a flighty comedy with touches of crime and romance. The comedy is quite light, and the plot is clunky. It centers around two telephone switchboard operators (aka, blonde bombshells) and two telephone repairmen who are trouble shooters.

This B-quality film from the brothers Warner is low on comedy for laughs. Glenda Farrell as Bonnie does the best job in this area. Joan Blondell is the bubbly good blonde, Marie Lawson. Pat O'Brien's persona, in comedy and other roles, had a wry sense of humor that often uttered put-downs or wisecracks. His Terry Riley uses them here, but they are mostly duds. O'Brien has about as much energy and enthusiasm in this film as snail shows crossing a street. But, he is cocky.

One interesting thing about this movie is its portrayal of a switchboard desk and some of the workings of the early telephone systems. But, that's not a reason to watch a supposed comedy. I found the crime element to be the most interesting. If that were removed, there'd be no plot to this film. Eugene Pallette has the best role as the telephone company boss of Terry Riles and Johnny, played by Allen Jenkins.

No, this is not one to bother with. Unless one is among a die-hard fan club of one of the actors. Joan Blondell, was known to have such a following, mostly from her sexy blonde roles in the 1930s at Warner Brothers. Her later films were at Columbia, Universal and even a few at major studies where she had mostly supporting roles or an occasional lead in a B film. By the 1950s, most of her performance were in TV series and movies where she had supporting roles in comedies, dramas and some mysteries.

The best lines in this film give one an idea of its downer, distasteful pale. For what they are, here they are.

Joe Flood, "Too bad you didn't miss the net. I personally would like to write your epitaph."

Johnny, "You know, I'd be afraid to take chances with all them women the way you do." Terry Riley, "Well, I'll tell ya, Johnny, you don't know it, but girls all around this town break up their phones just so I'll come ... and... put... things...together."

Joe Flood, "Anybody you know oughta be picked up as a suspicious character. "

Joe Flood, "Any dame that'd fall for you, ain't competent. She's an imbecile."

Terry Riley, "You're so cold you spit ice cubes."

Terry Riley (Pat O'Brien) and Johnny (Allen Jenkins) are telephone repairmen. Terry keeps getting into trouble with his boss. Bonnie (Glenda Farrell) is the con-artist spiritualist Madame Francis. Hotel switchboard operator Marie Lawson (Joan Blondell) loses her job after an incident. Terry gets her a job with investor Schuyler who he had saved from a fallen wire.

The start of this movie is very rambling and doesn't flow well enough. The first twenty minutes are too disconnected. They may as well simply follow Terry around. It's almost two thirds before the big scam happens and they have barely twenty minutes to wrap everything up. It's an interesting scam. I just want it to happen sooner and the rest of the movie would be Terry trying to save her. Quite frankly, I don't know why Marie would run out without telling Schuyler. It's the delivery guy's fault anyways. The story isn't quite right.

Pat O'Brien's character is the purported hero or at least the nominal protagonist, but in today's terms a grade A jerk/nuisance/stalker.

Yet we're supposed to believe that Joan Blondell's character falls for him, for no apparent reason.

This is routine for romantic comedies of the 1930s, and, though it's always fun to watch Blondell & Eugene Pallette, there's nothing special about this film.

(I mean "gender dynamics" in terms of what Hollywood writers, directors, and producers thought would go over well with their studios' target audience. Of course, nowadays, we'd call it by its name: sexual harassment.)