Walking on Air

A stubborn young woman hires a struggling singer to play her obnoxious suitor in a scheme to overturn her father's objections to the man she really wants to marry. Ann Sothern wishes to marry a man her rich father disapproves of, so she concocts a scheme to get him on her side. She hires Raymond to act like an obnoxious French count, then pretends to take an interest in him in front of her father, hoping he will agree her first choice is better than the brash, selfish, insulting count. —dictracy23 Kit Bennett is in a battle of wits with her father, who won't allow her to marry Fred Randolph. She stays confined to her bedroom, stubbornly refusing meals sent up by her father. In the newspaper she reads a classified ad for a handsome companion and gets an idea. Promising not to marry Fred, Kit is able to leave her room and soon arrives at the apartment of Pete Quinlan, a would-be radio singer struggling to make ends meet. Kit hires Pete to impersonate an obnoxious French nobleman as part of a scheme to convince her father to change his mind and let her marry Fred. Pete assumes the identity of a monocled French count and soon makes himself a most unwelcome houseguest. While Pete acts the part of the fortune-hunting suitor, a real attraction forms between Kit and Pete. When the French valet reveals that Pete is a fake, Mr. Bennett and Kit's Aunt Evelyn decide to undermine Kit's scheme and embrace the phony count. Upset that her plans were thwarted, Kit discharges Pete and decides to elope with Fred, who has only been interested in her father's money all along. Soon afterward, Pete learns that he's landed a gig singing on the radio after an impressive audition days earlier. Kit discovers that her true feelings are for Pete and goes to the radio station, but a misunderstanding sends her off, determined to marry Fred. When Pete hears what's happened, he interrupts his own song in hopes of reaching Kit over the broadcast and clearing up the confusion before it's too late. —Jimmy L.