Daily Archives: July 20, 2013

Libeled Lady (1936)

Posted on July 20, 2013 | 2 comments

Libeled Lady
Directed by Jack Conway
1936/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing

 

[box] Warren Haggerty: Gladys, do you want me to kill myself?

Gladys: Did you change your insurance?[/box]

Four of MGM’s biggest stars shine in this newspaper comedy.

Managing editor Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) stands up his fiancée Gladys (Jean Harlow) at the altar for the umpteenth time when he finds out Constance Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is suing the paper for $5 million for libel.  Unable to talk Constance or her father (Walter Connelly) out of suing, Haggerty plots to bring Bill Chandler (William Powell), famed libel fighter, to his rescue.  The idea is that Bill will marry Gladys and then put Constance in a compromising position in which she can truthfully be accused of alienation of affections. The only problem is that Bill is perhaps more of a charmer than Haggerty had reckoned with …

This movie is just as fun as the cast makes it sound.  All are in top form and Powell is particularly good.  He shows some talent at doing slapstick in the fishing scenes.  It’s also nice to see Powell and Loy at the beginning stages of a relationship for a change.  Powell was dating Harlow at the time the picture was made and I thought I saw true love in her eyes in some scenes. Recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI-eY-bU9qg

Trailer

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My Man Godfrey (1936)

Posted on July 20, 2013 | 11 comments

My Man GodfreyMy Man Godfrey Poster
Directed by Gregory La Cava
1936/USA
Universal Pictures
Repeat viewing
#97 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

 

Alexander Bullock: All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people.

 

This wacky comedy still makes me laugh out loud after numerous viewings.

The wealthy Bullock family is full of eccentrics.  The females of the group are participating in a scavenger hunt in which they must bring back a “forgotten man”.  Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick) takes the search to a city dump where she offers a tramp named Godfrey (William Powell) $5 to be her prize.  He refuses and pushes her into an ash heap.  Nutty sister Irene (Carole Lombard) chats Godfrey up and he agrees to go with her.  This leads to the smitten Irene inviting Godfrey to be the family’s butler and her protegé.  Mass hilarity ensues.  With Eugene Palette as Alexander Bullock, the father; Alice Brady as Angelica Bullock, the mother; and Mischa Auer as Angelica’s protegé.

My Man Godfrey 2

I don’t think any of the cast members involved ever did better work.  Powell and Lombard were nominated for Best Actor and Actress Oscars and Brady and Auer were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Actress – the first time a film was nominated for acting awards in all four categories and the only time such a film failed to win an award.

I can imagine that the comedy might be over the top for some but I love it.  Once again, the part where Auer imitates an ape to cheer Lombard up had me howling.  Eugene Palette is also fantastic as the harassed pater familias.  Patrick makes a great villainess.  Powell and Lombard had been married and were now apparently amicably divorced as Powell insisted Lombard was the only actress to play the part of Irene.  The chemistry between the two is certainly there in spades.

Clip – the scavenger hunt

 

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1936

Swing Time (1936)

Posted on July 20, 2013 | 5 comments

Swing Time
Directed by George Stevens
1936/USA
Radio Pictures
Repeat viewing
#96 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

 

[box] John “Lucky” Garnett: Now, eh… how did you say that last step went? Eh… oh, yes![/box]

This might not be my favorite of the Astaire/Rogers films in terms of the comedy and story but it does have some of the best dance routines and wonderful standards by Jerome Kern.

John “Lucky” Garnett (Fred Astaire) is a hoofer who makes most of his money at the gambling table.  He is tricked by Pop Cardetti (Victor Moore) and the rest of his vaudeville team into missing his own wedding.  The bride’s angry father finally agrees to reconsider the union if Lucky returns with $25,000.  So Lucky and Pop hop a freight train to New York.

Lucky almost immediately runs into dance instructress Penny (Ginger Rogers) and through a number of misunderstanding infuriates her.  But this turns to love once they are in each other’s arms on the dance floor.  Pop and Penny’s pal Mabel (Helen Broderick) also become chummy. Can love triumph through the many obstacles this plot presents for the dancing duo?  With Eric Blore as the owner of the dance studio, Betty Furness as Lucky’s fiancée, and Georges Mexata as a pompous band leader who is in love with Penny.

This is the film in which Ginger Rogers is allowed to love Fred back and might be her best performance in one of their pictures.  Her yearning in the scene before she sings “A Fine Romance” is palpable.  The movie also features the iconic “The Way You Look Tonight” sung by Astaire while Rogers is shampooing her hair and a really fun routine set to “Pick Yourself Up.”  None of my regular readers will be surprised that I come back to this again and again despite the half hour of danceless, silly scenes at the beginning.

Despite the brilliance of the tapping in Astaire’s blackface “Bojangles in Harlem” number, I have never understood why a living and working artist, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, needed this “tribute”.  While I can cut the times some slack, I just find the whole thing extremely odd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlvp8PUnC2Y

Dance – “Waltz in Swing Time”

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Movie Reviews

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