Editing Randolph Scott (section)

====RKO and "A" Films====
Paramount loaned Scott to [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]] to support [[Fred Astaire]], [[Ginger Rogers]] and [[Irene Dunne]] in ''[[Roberta (1935 film)|Roberta]]'' (1935), a hugely popular adaptation of the Broadway musical. RKO liked Scott and kept him on for ''[[Village Tale]]'' (1935), directed by John Cromwell, and ''[[She (1935 film)|She]]'' (1935), an adaptation of [[She (novel)|the novel]] by [[H. Rider Haggard]] from the makers of ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]''.

Scott went back to Paramount for ''[[So Red the Rose (film)|So Red the Rose]]'' (1935) with [[Margaret Sullavan]], then was reunited with Astaire and Rogers at RKO in ''[[Follow the Fleet]]'' (1936).<ref>Nott 2004, p. 43.</ref> It was another big hit.<ref name="rko">Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p55</ref> Scott was in a car drama at Paramount, ''[[And Sudden Death]]'' (1936), directed by Barton, then was loaned to independent producer [[Edward Small]], to play [[Natty Bumppo|Hawkeye]] in another adventure classic, ''[[The Last of the Mohicans (1936 film)|The Last of the Mohicans]]'', adapted from the 1826 [[The Last of the Mohicans|novel]] by [[James Fenimore Cooper]]. A big hit, the film "gave Scott his first unqualified 'A' picture success as a lead."<ref>Nott 2004, p. 58.</ref>

At this point Paramount only put Scott in "A" films. He was a love interest for [[Mae West]] in ''[[Go West, Young Man (1936 film)|Go West, Young Man]]'' (1936) and was reunited with Irene Dunne in a musical, ''[[High, Wide and Handsome]]'' (1937). This last film, a musical directed by [[Rouben Mamoulian]], featured Scott in his "most ambitious performance."<ref>Nott 2004, p. 59.</ref>

Scott went to [[20th Century Fox]] to play the romantic male lead in a [[Shirley Temple]] film, ''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]'' (1938). At Paramount he made a well budgeted Western ''[[The Texans]]'' (1938) with [[Joan Bennett]] then he starred in ''[[The Road to Reno (1938 film)|The Road to Reno]]'' (1938) at Universal.

One missed opportunity came about around this time. Due to his Southern background, Scott was considered for the role of [[Ashley Wilkes]] in ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'', but it was [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]] who eventually got the part.