The sassy daughter of a local innkeeper, Peggy O'Neill (Joan Crawford) uses her smarts and good looks - not to mention her close personal friendship with President Andrew Jackson (Lionel Barrymore) - to make a scandalous impression on Washington's power elite in this lavish adaptation of Samuel Hopkins Adams' bestselling novel. Co-starring a legendary leading man lineup (Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone, Melvyn Douglas and James Stewart), The Gorgeous Hussy earned two 1936 Oscar nominations (Best Cinematography and Supporting Actress Beulah Bondi as the First Lady) and marked Crawford's sole sound-era appearance in a costume period piece. Barrymore would reprise his Jackson role in 1952's Lone Star, a Clark Gable Western that was also the veteran actor's final screen performance.

In this tale of political drama and romantic scandals, Joan Crawford stars as legendary historical figure Peggy O'Neale Eaton, the wife of John Eaton (Franchot Tone), a cabinet member during the Andrew Jackson (Lionel Barrymore) presidency. This lavish costume drama, set in 1830s Washington, D.C., follows the life of the free-thinking and carefree woman as she rises from poverty to political high society. Because of her lowly background as an innkeeper's daughter, she is snubbed by Washington's upper crust and becomes the subject of jealous ridicule and gossip. But Andrew Jackson, who married a woman of questionable origin himself (Beulah Bondi), is a staunch supporter of Peggy's; she eventually becomes like family to him and frequently offers him personal and political advice. A magnificent cast, including James Stewart as "Rowdy" Roderick Dow and Sidney Toler as Daniel Webster, brings great life and gusto to this well-designed period drama directed by the great Clarence Brown and featuring beautiful costumes by MGM designer Adrian. The film was based on the novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams.