The Gilded Lily is a 1935 American romantic comedy film directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, and C. Aubrey Smith. The production's screenplay, written by Claude Binyon, is about a stenographer who becomes a famous café entertainer courted by an English aristocrat and an American newspaper reporter. Released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on January 25, 1935, the film is one of the English language films chosen by the National Board of Review for its top-10 list of 1935. The Gilded Lily is also the first of seven films in which Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray costar. Plot Stenographer Marilyn David (Claudette Colbert) and newspaper reporter Peter Dawes (Fred MacMurray) meet every Thursday on a bench outside the New York Public Library to eat popcorn and watch the world go by. One day, Peter confesses his love to her, but she tells him she only considers him a friend—that someday she will find love when she meets the right man. Afterwards on the subway, Marilyn meets a wealthy English aristocrat, Lord Charles Gray Granton (Ray Milland), who is visiting New York incognito as a commoner. After she helps him escape a confrontation with a subway guard, he walks her home and the two flirt with each other. He does not tell her that his father is the Duke of Loamshire, nor does he mention that he is engaged to an Englishwoman. In the coming days they go on dates to Coney Island and have dinner together, and soon they fall in love. At their next Thursday meeting, Marilyn reveals to Peter that she has fallen in love with someone. Disappointed, he tells her that things can never be the same between them, but assures her that she can always depend on his friendship. When Charles' father, Lloyd Granton (C. Aubrey Smith), learns that his son intends to propose to an American girl, he insists that they first return to England to break off his current engagement properly. Charles visits Marilyn before he leaves and—still not revealing his identity—tells her that he found a job and will be out of town on business for a few weeks. The next day, Peter learns from his editor that the Duke of Loamshire and his son have been in New York for six weeks without the press being aware of it, and are preparing to sail