Easy Living (1937) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

J.B. Ball threw the coat because he was furious that his wife Jenny had purchased a sable fur coat worth $58,000 despite his already exhausted patience with his family's wasteful spending. Earlier that morning, he had already argued with his son John Jr. about the young man's refusal to accept an allowance and prove himself independently. The coat purchase was the final straw that sent Ball into a rage, and he grabbed the coat from Jenny's closet, leading to a chase that ended on the penthouse roof where he hurled it over the edge.

• j.b. ball
• sable coat
• Jenny Ball
• money
• spending
• frustration

Ball told Mary to keep the coat partly as an impulsive gesture of generosity after it accidentally landed on her, but he conveniently omitted mentioning the coat's enormous value of $58,000. This omission sets up the film's central misunderstanding, as Mary has no idea she's in possession of an incredibly expensive item, which later fuels rumors when she's seen wearing expensive gifts from Ball.

• sable coat
• Mary Smith
• value
• misunderstanding
• gift

After Ball bought Mary an expensive hat to replace the one lost in the coat incident, Van Buren the hat shop owner spread a rumor that Mary was Ball's mistress. When Mary arrived at work at the Boy's Constant Companion magazine, her straitlaced boss heard about the impropriety and fired her immediately to protect the magazine's reputation, despite Mary having done nothing wrong.

• Mary Smith
• fired
• rumor
• mistress
• magazine
• reputation

John Jr. left his father's penthouse after a heated argument about proving he could make his own way without relying on the family fortune. To survive independently and hide his identity, he took a job working anonymously at an automat restaurant, where he met Mary. He was fired after giving Mary free food and starting a friendly food fight with her.

Foreshadowing: Earlier at breakfast, John Jr. declared he would prove he could make his own way, establishing his motivation for working undercover.

• John Jr.
• automat
• undercover
• fired
• independence
• job

Stockbroker E.J. Hulgar asked Mary for inside information about steel stocks, believing she had a connection to the powerful J.B. Ball. Confused, Mary asked John Jr. about steel, and he jokingly said it was going down. Mary relayed this to Hulgar, who spread the tip, causing a massive sell-off that sent the market into a tailspin. Meanwhile, Ball started buying up shares, pushing his firm toward financial disaster.

• stock market
• steel
• Hulgar
• crash
• misunderstanding
• shares

Mr. Louis Louis installed Mary in a luxury suite at the Hotel Louis hoping that having her there would deter J.B. Ball from foreclosing on his hotel. Louis believed Mary was Ball's mistress and thought that by accommodating her, he could gain favor with the powerful banker and save his establishment from financial ruin.

• Hotel Louis
• Mary Smith
• suite
• Louis Louis
• foreclosure
• hotel

John Jr. devised a plan to reverse the market crisis: Mary told Hulgar that J.B. had actually cornered the steel market, meaning he controlled most of the available supply. This caused steel prices to surge as investors scrambled to buy before prices rose further. Ball's firm was saved because they had accumulated so many shares during the panic that the price surge made their holdings extremely valuable.

• steel market
• corner
• Ball
• prices
• rescue
• stock exchange

Jenny Ball went to Florida, allowing the gossip columns to speculate about a supposed affair between J.B. and Mary. This absence enabled Ball to move into the Hotel Louis and be seen with Mary publicly, which further fueled the rumors but also allowed the plot to develop toward its resolution.

• Jenny Ball
• Florida
• affair
• gossip
• absence

Mary met John Jr. at an automat restaurant where he was working undercover. After he was fired for giving her free food and starting a food fight, Mary learned he had nowhere to stay and generously invited him to share her luxury hotel suite while he looked for work. Living together in the suite, they fell in love despite neither knowing the other's true connection to J.B. Ball.

• Mary Smith
• John Jr.
• love
• automat
• suite
• relationship

The false rumor that Mary was Ball's mistress became the catalyst that propelled the entire plot forward. It caused Mary to lose her job, forced her to accept the hotel suite, attracted luxury gifts from companies hoping to gain Ball's favor, and ultimately led to her inadvertently becoming involved in the stock market crisis when brokers believed she had insider information.

• mistress rumor
• gossip
• plot catalyst
• scandal
• Mary Smith