Joan Blondell as Lester Plum Humphrey Bogart as Doug Quintain Alan Mowbray as Koslofski Marla Shelton as Thelma Cheri C. Henry Gordon as Ivor Nassau Jack Carson as Tom Potts Tully Marshall as Fowler Pettypacker J. C. Nugent as Junior Pettypacker William V. Mong as Cyrus Pettypacker Rita Hayworth in a bit part Themes and interpretations Despite acknowledging director Tay Garnett, screenwriters Graham Baker and Gene Towne, and producer Walter Wanger as not being known for having leftist leanings, author Matthew Kennedy wrote that the film's "respect for the little people of Hollywood [is] reflected in its anti-capitalist, leftist ideology as rendered by original story writer Clarence Budington Kelland, the man who was also behind the 1936 populist classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town." Kennedy adds that Dodd, "a pawn for the bankers", has to stop "treating labor as 'cogs' or 'units in order to win the affection of Plum. Kennedy also refers to a scene in which a group of below-the-line crew members throw Nassau over the studio walls as an allegory for revolution, and concludes that, "it is the stand-in, not the star, who ultimately gets the man. At the final fade, however, Lester Plum is still a nameless face in the machinery." Production Joan Blondell, after working on the 1937 film The Perfect Specimen for Warner Bros. Pictures, was cast in Stand-In (a United Artists release) as part of a "studio talent swap." She reportedly enjoyed the working environment of Stand-In. Blondell had previously worked with Bogart on the 1932 film Three on a Match and the 1936 film Bullets or Ballots, and stated of him, "He wasn't a man one ever felt close to—nobody did. But I liked him." Shortly after production on Stand-In wrapped, Blondell was hospitalized for neuritis and exhaustion. Reception The film recorded a profit of $9,274. A reviewer for Life called the film "a pretty good one", and praised Howard's role as Dodd as "a comic part like nothing he has ever done before," and "one of his most engaging performances." References Bibliography External links 1937 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles Films directed by Tay Garnett Films set in Los Angeles Films produced by Walter Wanger American black-and-white films Films scored by Heinz Roemheld 1937 films 1930s American films