Hands Across the Table (1935) in Color — Starring Carole Lombard & Fred MacMurray

Hands Across the Table (1935) — Buy This Classic in Color

Hands Across the Table is a 1935 American romantic comedy — a prime example of the screwball genre — directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, and Ralph Bellamy. Lombard plays Regi Allen, a hotel manicurist with a practical plan to marry money; MacMurray is Theodore Drew III, a charming former aviator who has run through his own fortune and is engaged to a wealthy woman he does not love. When the two meet over a manicure, their shared cynicism about romance turns into something neither expected. Witty, warm, and beautifully performed, it is one of the most enduring comedies of the 1930s. Own this classic movie in color as a DRM-free MP4 digital download for just €15.00.

Plot Summary

Regi Allen works as a manicurist in a fashionable New York hotel, where she spends her days tending to the hands of wealthy men. She is candid about her ambitions: she intends to marry a rich man, not for love, but for the security she has never had. Her friend and fellow worker, Sally, teases her about this plan, but Regi is unapologetic. She has seen too much of what poverty does to people to pretend that romance alone will pay the bills.

One afternoon, a young man named Theodore Drew III sits down in her chair. He is handsome, well-dressed, and clearly at ease in expensive surroundings — but he is also broke. Theodore, known as Ted, comes from a family that once had money and no longer does. He has been living on charm and the generosity of others, and he is currently engaged to a wealthy woman named Vivian Snowden, whose father controls a considerable fortune. Ted is honest with Regi about his situation in a way that surprises her; he is not pretending to be richer than he is.

Regi and Ted strike up a friendship built on mutual recognition. Each sees in the other a person who has made a calculated bargain with love. They spend time together, and their easy banter gradually deepens into genuine affection. Ted, however, is committed to marrying Vivian, and Regi is being courted by Allen Macklyn, a wealthy and kind-hearted man who is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair. Allen is genuinely fond of Regi and offers her the comfortable life she has always wanted.

The triangle tightens. Regi must decide whether to accept Allen’s proposal, which would give her everything she claimed to want, or to admit that her feelings for Ted have overturned her careful plans. Ted, meanwhile, faces his own reckoning: he can marry Vivian and secure his future, or he can walk away from the money and take a chance on something less certain. Both characters are forced to confront the gap between what they say they want and what they actually feel.

The film’s comedy comes from the friction between these two pragmatic people and the inconvenient emotions they cannot quite suppress. Lombard and MacMurray trade lines with a lightness that makes the underlying seriousness land harder. The supporting cast — including Ralph Bellamy as Allen, Astrid Allwyn as Vivian, and Ruth Donnelly and Marie Prevost in comic roles — fills out a world of people all negotiating their own deals with love and money.

As the story moves toward its conclusion, Regi and Ted must each decide what they are willing to give up. The ending answers a question the whole film has been building toward: when two people who have sworn off romantic idealism finally fall for each other, will they choose the safe arrangement or the risky one?

Cast & Crew

Director: Mitchell Leisen
Stars: Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Astrid Allwyn, Ruth Donnelly

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

The colorized restoration of Hands Across the Table opens up a world that black and white could only suggest. The film is set in the polished interiors of a fashionable New York hotel and the elegant apartments of the wealthy, and colourised treatment restores the warmth of the period’s décor — the deep greens and golds of hotel lounges, the soft pastels of evening gowns, the sheen of polished wood and brass. Carole Lombard’s costumes, designed to showcase her character’s beauty and her aspirations, read differently when you can see the actual fabrics and hues. The restoration also reveals details of set dressing and background that tend to disappear in monochrome, giving the comedy a richer sense of place. None of this distracts from the performances; if anything, the added visual information makes Lombard’s and MacMurray’s timing and expressions easier to appreciate. This is a film built on charm and wit, and seeing it in color brings those qualities forward. Buy it today for €15.00 and enjoy an instant DRM-free MP4 download.

Historical Significance

Hands Across the Table arrived in 1935 at the height of the screwball comedy cycle, a genre that had taken hold in Hollywood during the Depression with films that mixed romance, class conflict, and rapid-fire dialogue. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, a former art director whose visual sensibility gave his films a distinctive polish, it was one of several successful collaborations between Leisen and Carole Lombard. Lombard was by then one of the most popular comediennes in America, known for her timing and her willingness to play characters who were sharp rather than sweet. Fred MacMurray, earlier in his career, was building the screen persona — affable, slightly roguish — that would serve him for decades.

The film was well received on release and remains a favourite among admirers of 1930s comedy. Its premise, in which two people who have both decided to marry for money instead fall in love, allowed the filmmakers to explore the era’s anxieties about class and security while keeping the tone light. Ralph Bellamy’s performance as the decent, wealthy suitor is an early example of the role he would play in many romantic comedies of the period. The supporting cast, drawn from Hollywood’s deep bench of character actors, gives the film a lived-in quality that rewards repeated viewing.

Today, Hands Across the Table stands as a fine example of what the studio system at its best could produce: a tightly written, beautifully acted comedy with genuine emotional stakes. Colorization brings it to new audiences who might otherwise pass over a black-and-white film from the 1930s, and it does so without altering the performances or the story that made it worth watching in the first place.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4 / MKV digital download
• Resolution: HD 720p
• Colorized: Professionally colorized from original black and white
• Audio: English original mono
• Runtime: 80 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — watch on any device
• Instant download: Available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00 (token, rendered by the site)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Was Hands Across the Table originally filmed in color?
A: No. Like virtually all Hollywood films of 1935, it was shot in black and white. This page offers a later professional colorized restoration, not a studio colour release.

Q: Who plays Regi Allen and Theodore Drew III?
A: Carole Lombard plays Regi Allen, the hotel manicurist, and Fred MacMurray plays Theodore “Ted” Drew III, the former aviator who has run through his inheritance. Ralph Bellamy plays Allen Macklyn, Regi’s wealthy suitor.

Q: What kind of comedy is Hands Across the Table?
A: It is a screwball romantic comedy, a genre popular in 1930s Hollywood that combined fast dialogue, class conflict, and romance. Mitchell Leisen directed, and the film runs 80 minutes.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: The film is delivered as MP4 and MKV files that play on virtually any device.
Q: Is there DRM on the file?
A: No. The download is completely DRM-free so you can watch it on any device without restrictions.
Q: How quickly can I watch after purchase?
A: Your download link is available instantly after payment, so you can start watching within minutes.

Related Colorized Classics

• General Della Rovere (1959)
• Objective, Burma! (1945)
• Freud: The Secret Passion (1962)
• Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
• Hellcats of the Navy (1957)