Editing Flirtation Walk

{{short description|1934 film by Frank Borzage, Bobby Connelly}}
{{about|the 1934 film|the walking trail at West Point|Flirtation Walk (West Point)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Flirtation Walk
| image          = FlirtationWalk.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Frank Borzage]]
| producer       = [[Robert Lord (screenwriter)|Robert Lord]]
| screenplay     = [[Delmer Daves]]
| story          = Delmer Daves<br>Lou Edelman
| starring       = [[Dick Powell]]<br />[[Ruby Keeler]]<br />[[Pat O'Brien (actor)|Pat O'Brien]]
| music          = [[Allie Wrubel]]<br />[[Mort Dixon]]
| cinematography = [[Sol Polito]]<br />[[George Barnes (cinematographer)|George Barnes]]
| editing        = [[William Holmes (film editor)|William Holmes]]
| studio         = [[Warner Bros.]]
| distributor    = Warner Bros.
| released       = {{film date|1934|11|28||ref1=<ref name="nytreview"/><ref name="latreview"/>}}
| runtime        = 85, 95, 97, or 100 minutes<ref name=afi />
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $479,000<ref name="warners">Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'' (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 16 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551</ref>
| gross          = $1,533,000<ref name="warners" />
}}

'''''Flirtation Walk''''' is a 1934 American [[romantic musical film]] written by [[Delmer Daves]] and Lou Edelman and directed by [[Frank Borzage]]. The film's title refers to a path near the [[Trophy Point]] scenic overlook in [[West Point, New York]] named [[Flirtation Walk (West Point)|Flirtation Walk]], where cadets often take dance dates for some time alone.

== Plot ==
Richard Palmer Grant Dorcy Jr., also known as "the Canary" and "the singing bird of the tropics," is an enlisted man in the [[United States Army]]. Stationed in the [[Territory of Hawaii|Hawaiian Islands]], he has a contentious but friendly relationship with his sergeant, Scrapper Thornhill. When General Fitts visits the post with his daughter Kit on their way to [[Manila]], Dick is assigned to drive her to a reception that evening. Falling victim to the moonlit night, Kit and Dick attend a [[luau]] instead, and he sings "[[Aloha ʻOe|Aloha ‘Oe]]". They are discovered in each other's arms by Scrapper and Lieutenant Biddle, who is also in love with Kit. Biddle accuses Dick of ruining Kit's reputation and forcing her to accompany him off post. Dick decides to [[desertion|desert]]. Scrapper begs Kit to reconcile with Biddle.

To prevent Dick from deserting, Kit tells him that she was responding to a crazy impulse and that he means nothing to her. Stung by her words, and Biddle's condescending statement that "if you were an officer and a gentleman, you'd understand," Dick decides to compete with Biddle as an equal and applies for admission to the [[United States Military Academy]]. He is accepted and fares very well, to Scrapper's delight. In his first year, Dick becomes a [[United States Military Academy#Rank and organization|first captain]] and General Fitts is appointed the academy's superintendent, with Biddle as his aide. While most of his classmates are infatuated with Kit, Dick is cold to her. He is unhappy when the men insist that she participate in the traditional "Hundredth Night" theatrical performance that he is to direct.

Dick writes a comedy about a female general with a message directed at Kit. After the first rehearsal, Kit walks with Dick on Flirtation Walk and tries to explain why she told him that she was not in love with him. Dick is too angry to listen to Kit, but during their on-stage love scene kisses her, and she admits that she loves him. Near graduation, General Fitts announces Kit's engagement to Biddle, and Dick is confused. He visits her at night in an attempt to dissuade her from marrying Biddle. He is caught by Biddle and agrees to resign from the academy to protect Kit's name. Scrapper arrives to see Dick graduate and is disappointed to learn of his resignation. The day is saved when Biddle tells Dick that his resignation was not accepted and that Kit returned his ring, wishing him good luck. Dick graduates as a happy man.

== Cast ==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Dick Powell]] as Dick "Canary" Dorcy
* [[Ruby Keeler]] as "Kit" Fitts
* [[Pat O'Brien (actor)|Pat O'Brien]] as "Scrapper" Thornhill
* [[Ross Alexander]] as "Oskie"
* [[John Arledge]] as "Spike"
* [[John Eldredge (actor)|John Eldredge]] as Lieut. Biddle
* [[Henry O'Neill]] as Gen. Fitts
* [[Guinn Williams (actor)|Guinn Williams]] as "Sleepy"
* [[Frederick Burton (actor)|Frederick Burton]] as Gen. Landacre
* [[John Darrow]] as Chase
* Glen Boles as "Eight Ball"
}}

== Production ==
Much of the film was shot on location at [[United States Military Academy|West Point]]. [[Bobby Connolly]] began to film the Hawaiian number on July 3, 1934 and was scheduled to finish on July 10. The set was the largest ever built at [[Warner Bros.]] Following completion of the number, Connolly started the military wedding number using more than 400 dancers.<ref name=afi>{{AFI film|6594}}</ref>

The success of the film led Warner Bros. to combine Powell, Keeler, Alexander and Arledge again with Borzage and Daves with similar plot and characters for ''[[Shipmates Forever]]'', a film about the [[United States Naval Academy]], the following year.<ref name="afi" />

== Reception ==
In a contemporary review for [[The New York Times|''The New York Times'']], critic [[Andre Sennwald]] called ''Flirtation Walk'' "a rousing recruiting poster" and wrote: "[T]he Academy background has been woven into the picture with a great sum of sheer skill, and the photoplay emerges as a pleasant conventional comedy, as well as a splendid laboratory specimen of the adolescent cinema."<ref name="nytreview">{{cite news |last=Sennwald |first=Andre |date=1934-11-29 |title=The Screen |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=33}}</ref>

In the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', critic Edwin Schallert wrote: "The general character of the production is good, and certainly the fine sense of romance that always distinguished the directing of Borzage shines through. He is on solid ground whenever he deals with a subject of forlorn love like this."<ref name="latreview">{{Cite news |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |date=1934-11-29 |title="Flirtation Walk" Interesting Potpourri of Romance, Music and West Point |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=15}}</ref>

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $1,062,000 domestically and $471,000 internationally.<ref name="warners" />

== Awards and honors ==
The film was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound Recording]] ([[Nathan Levinson]]).<ref name="Oscars1935">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1935 |title=The 7th Academy Awards (1935) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-08-07|work=oscars.org}}</ref>

== Songs ==
"[[Aloha ʻOe|Aloha 'Oe]]" (1878) by Princess [[Liliuokalani|Liliʻuokalani]]

Music and lyrics by [[Allie Wrubel]] and [[Mort Dixon]]:
* "Flirtation Walk"
* "I See Two Lovers"
* "Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name"
* "When Do We Eat?"
* "Smoking in the Dark"
* "No Horse, No Wife, No Mustache"

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{AFI film|id=6594|title=Flirtation Walk}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0025124|title=Flirtation Walk}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=883|title=Flirtation Walk}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|flirtation_walk}}
* [http://www.san.beck.org/MM/1934/FlirtationWalk.html ''Flirtation Walk'' profile], san.beck.org

{{Frank Borzage}}
{{USMA}}

[[Category:1934 films]]
[[Category:1930s musical drama films]]
[[Category:1930s romantic musical films]]
[[Category:American musical drama films]]
[[Category:American romantic drama films]]
[[Category:American romantic musical films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Frank Borzage]]
[[Category:First National Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films set in the United States Military Academy]]
[[Category:Films produced by Frank Borzage]]
[[Category:1934 drama films]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:English-language musical drama films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic musical films]]