Line #26 Film/StandIn


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stand_in_2.jpg]]
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3	''Stand-In'' is a 1937 ScrewballComedy starring Creator/LeslieHoward, Creator/JoanBlondell, and Creator/HumphreyBogart. Efficiency expert and mathemetician Atterbury Dodd (Howard) is sent to failing Colossal Studios to determine [[UsefulNotes/HollywoodAccounting why it's losing money]], in which he's assisted by bubbly former child star [[TomboyishName Lester Plum]] (Blondell) and cynical film editor Quintain (Bogart).
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6	!!''Stand-In'' provides examples of:
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8	* AffectionateParody: Of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.
9	* TheAlcoholic: Quintain admits that his drinking problem has contributed to the recent failure of Colossal Studio's films.
10	* ArcWords: "That's the picture business."
11	* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Atterbury learning to dance via mathematical formula.
12	* BadBadActing: Aging starlet Thelma Cherie.
13	* BlindWithoutEm: Atterbury. "Unfortunately, without my glasses, I suffer from multiple vision."
14	* CanineCompanion: Quintain's Scottish Terrier, Mac.
15	* CelebrityParadox: Non-media-savvy Atterbury has [[Film/AFreeSoul never heard of]] Creator/ClarkGable. Doubles as RetroactiveRecognition because it was two years before [[Film/GoneWithTheWind their most famous film together]].
16	** What makes it even funnier is that this is the [[Film/ItsLoveImAfter second film]] Leslie Howard had made where he played a character who didn't recognize Clark Gable's name.
17	* CharacterTic: Atterbury compulsively empties ashtrays throughout the film, to the point where Lester remarks on it. This behavior is never explained.
18	* DistractedByTheSexy: A cute subversion: the sultry Thelma Cherie is blatantly coming on to Atterbury, but instead he's more taken by the nearby vision of Lester Plum in a decidedly unsexy, figure-concealing snowsuit.
19	* FishOutOfWater: Half the fun of the movie comes from watching uptight stuffed-shirt Atterbury react to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
20	* FormerChildStar: Lester Plum.
21	* FormulaicMagic: "The flight of the bird, the leap of the salmon, the rhythm of the dance: all are mathematical."
22	* FunnyForeigner: Director Koslovski is Russian and every bit as silly as he can be.
23	* GeekyTurnOn: Miss Plum's eidactic memory intrigues Atterbury.
24	* TheGlassesComeOff: During the climax where Atterbury appeals to the blue collar studio workers, he loses his NerdGlasses. In an aversion, he's portrayed as genuinely [[BlindWithoutEm handicapped without them]]--running into walls, falling off ledges, and at one point [[{{Slapstick}} falling through a manhole cover]]. He quickly finds a replacement pair.
25	* [[HeartbreakAndIceCream Heartbreak and Donuts]]: After the newspapers cover Atterbury and Cherie's "romantic" night on the town, Lester is seen crying and eating donuts.
26	* InformedAttribute: We're told that Thelma Cherie is an aging, washed-up has-been, but she's played by an attractive woman who doesn't look much past 30. Cherie's acting, however, really is that bad.
27	* JunglePrincess: Thelma Cherie's role in ''Sex and Satan''.
28	* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Thelma Cherie's failed seduction when Atterbury visits her film set. Later Lester makes pointed comments asking what he thinks of her appearance, only for Atterbury to tell her that he's only interested in her mind.
29	* ObliviousToLove: Lester Plum all but sits on Atterbury's lap, but he seems immune to her charms. However, at the very last minute it progresses to an...
30	* OfficeRomance
31	* {{Parody}}: The film is an affectionate send-up of Hollywood, although it does viciously lampoon some of the less savory aspects, like the treatment of child actors.
32	* PrimaDonnaDirector: In the middle of shooting a film on an already bloated budget, director Koslovski insists on real edelweiss flowers for a scene set in a blizzard, where they would be invisible. When told the production would have to send off to Switzerland for them, he says, "I'll wait."
33	* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl
34	* ShowWithinAShow: The entire future of Colossal Studios and its employees runs on the success or failure of ''Sex and Satan''. Unfortunately, the movie's an obvious dud.
35	* StageMom: Poor little Elvira. "Swing it, child."
36	* StockFootageFailure: Deliberately invoked with the ShowWithinAShow ''Sex and Satan'' to drive home how truly awful it is.
37	* UptightLovesWild: In the tradition of screwball comedies, vivacious stand-in Lester finds herself falling for tightly-wound mathematician Atterbury.

Context Film / StandIn