What a Woman (1943)

What a Woman! also known as The Beautiful Cheat is a 1943 black and white romantic comedy movie starring Rosalind Russell and Brian Aherne. Aherne appeared with Rosalind Russell in four films: Hired Wife (1940), My Sister Eileen (1942), What a Woman! (1943) and Rosie! (1967).

The movie revolves around a literary agent Carol Ainsley's trying to transform her star client, Michael Cobb, into the actor playing his most famous character. After it becomes obvious that it's impossible and he quits, Henry Pepper, a journalist writing a profile on the agent, calls him and convinces him that he's in love with Carol. Michael returns and the media embellishes their relationship constraining Carol to lead him on.

Synopsis

Henry Pepper (Brian Aherne), top writer for Knickerbocker magazine, is assigned to write a profile on Carol Ainsley (Rosalind Russell), who has been named the outstanding career woman of the year. Carol, a super agent and star-maker, has just scooped her competition by selling the movie rights to the romance novel Whirlwind and is spending a fortune to find the perfect actor to play the male lead. When Carol learns that the book's author, Anthony Street, may be the man to play his own hero, she searches him out and discovers that he is actually Professor Michael Cobb (Willard Parker) of Buxton College.

Actors