Soak the Rich

Soak the Rich is a 1936 American comedy film written and directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, and starring Walter Connolly, John Howard, Mary Zimbalist, Lionel Stander, Ilka Chase and Alice Duer Miller. It was released on January 17, 1936, by Paramount Pictures.[1]

This article is about the film. For the 'Soak the Rich' tax, see Revenue Act of 1935.
Soak the Rich
Directed byBen Hecht
Charles MacArthur
Produced byBen Hecht
Charles MacArthur
Screenplay byBen Hecht
Charles MacArthur
StarringWalter Connolly
John Howard
Mary Zimbalist
Lionel Stander
Ilka Chase
Alice Duer Miller
CinematographyLeon Shamroy
Edited byLeo Zochling
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • January 17, 1936 (1936-01-17)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Humphrey Craig is a tycoon who has endowed a university. His idealistic daughter Belinda enrols there, hoping to get some idea of the 'real world'. When Professor Popper lectures his students on the merits of a 'soak-the-rich' tax bill, Craig (who opposes the bill) gets Popper fired. Meanwhile, Joe Muglia is the leader of a band of radicals on campus. When the radicals protest the dismissal of Popper, Belinda falls in love with Buzz Jones, a radical, handsome idealist .

Cast
  • Walter Connolly as Humphrey Craig
  • John Howard as Kenneth "Buzz" Jones
  • Mary Zimbalist as Belinda "Bindy" Craig
  • Lionel Stander as Muglia
  • Ilka Chase as Mrs. Mabel Craig
  • Alice Duer Miller as Miss Beasley
  • Francis Compton as Tulio
  • Joseph Sweeney as Capt. Pettijohn
  • John W. Call as Sign carrier
  • Edwin Phillips as Lockwood
  • Robert Wallsten as Tommy Hutchins
  • George Watts as Rockwell
  • Percy Kilbride as Everett
  • Isabelle Foster as Jenny
  • Edward Garvey as Dean A. S. Phillpotts
  • Allan Ross MacDougall as Keats
  • Cornelius MacSunday as Craig's butler

Reception

Frank Nugent of The New York Times wrote, "Collegiate radicals come in for a rather cruel lampooning at the hands of those old die-hards, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, in the antic pair's latest picture, Soak the Rich, which moved into the Astor last night. Their spoofing of youth in revolt is frequently amusing and the quality of the dialogue proves that the premier filmmakers of Astoria have lost none of their wit. The same, alas, cannot be said of their sense of direction."[2]

References
  1. "Soak the Rich (1936) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved 2015-08-09.
  2. Nugent, Frank S. (1936-02-05). "Movie Review - Soak the Rich - ' Soak the Rich,' at the Astor, in Which Hecht and MacArthur Lampoon College Radicals". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-08-09.


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