I just finished watching this film, and to Jo Swerling, who did the screenplay, I am moved to say, paraphrasing Bill Murray in "Tootsie":
Hey, man, I saw your movie. What happened?
*Something* happened. The movie starts out strong and then utterly loses itself. It's as if Swerling picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue or something. There *must* be a story about what happened to the screenplay, because it really seems as if a fine, tight story was given over to a committee, who hacked it to pieces or something.
The basic elements of a great comedy are there. Excellent cast. Some fine, quirky characters. Powell and Loy's characters are particularly fine, setting up a wonderful contrast and conflict. But the plot is a shambles; the movie keeps setting itself up to go places that it never actually goes.
For instance: at the beginning of the film, the movie that Charlie wants to make, which is going to make Irene a big star, is a big deal, central to most of the main characters' motivations. And Charlie has it all figured out; all they need is to find some rich person to back the film. And gee, what a coincidence, it turns out that rich Mrs. Bly, who backs Margit's dress shop, is actually *annoyed* that the shop makes money-- she's looking for a tax loss! So what could be more perfect than if she were to back the film they want to make? And *then*, when it turns out that she and Charlie are actually old friends! Well, surely that seals the deal! *Surely* now part of the happy ending will be that they'll get to make the movie!
But no, actually the whole making-a-movie thing is cast aside and forgotten about by about a third of the way into the movie.
And then there's the big finale scene, where Charlie is faking that he's going to marry Irene, while it's clear he's actually plotting to have Waldo arrive and insist on marrying Irene, leaving Charlie clear to try to marry Margit at the same time. Surely, this is what's going to happen, right? I mean, come on, the movie is *named* "Double Wedding", for chrissakes!
And yet, we got no double wedding. We don't even get a single wedding. For some inexplicable reason, instead the entire final scene dissolve into one massive brawl. Whose idea was *that*? Again, seems like a committee got its hands on the script.
Well, you get the idea of what I'm complaining about. But there was, of course, a lot of good here too. Great characters, good performances, some good dialog. I definitely laughed out loud a number of times. But by the end I just felt gypped. The meandering story that can't remember what it's trying to do is just a glaring flaw. It's a shame, because handled more skillfully, this had all the ingredients to be wonderful.
Hey, man, I saw your movie. What happened?
*Something* happened. The movie starts out strong and then utterly loses itself. It's as if Swerling picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue or something. There *must* be a story about what happened to the screenplay, because it really seems as if a fine, tight story was given over to a committee, who hacked it to pieces or something.
The basic elements of a great comedy are there. Excellent cast. Some fine, quirky characters. Powell and Loy's characters are particularly fine, setting up a wonderful contrast and conflict. But the plot is a shambles; the movie keeps setting itself up to go places that it never actually goes.
For instance: at the beginning of the film, the movie that Charlie wants to make, which is going to make Irene a big star, is a big deal, central to most of the main characters' motivations. And Charlie has it all figured out; all they need is to find some rich person to back the film. And gee, what a coincidence, it turns out that rich Mrs. Bly, who backs Margit's dress shop, is actually *annoyed* that the shop makes money-- she's looking for a tax loss! So what could be more perfect than if she were to back the film they want to make? And *then*, when it turns out that she and Charlie are actually old friends! Well, surely that seals the deal! *Surely* now part of the happy ending will be that they'll get to make the movie!
But no, actually the whole making-a-movie thing is cast aside and forgotten about by about a third of the way into the movie.
And then there's the big finale scene, where Charlie is faking that he's going to marry Irene, while it's clear he's actually plotting to have Waldo arrive and insist on marrying Irene, leaving Charlie clear to try to marry Margit at the same time. Surely, this is what's going to happen, right? I mean, come on, the movie is *named* "Double Wedding", for chrissakes!
And yet, we got no double wedding. We don't even get a single wedding. For some inexplicable reason, instead the entire final scene dissolve into one massive brawl. Whose idea was *that*? Again, seems like a committee got its hands on the script.
Well, you get the idea of what I'm complaining about. But there was, of course, a lot of good here too. Great characters, good performances, some good dialog. I definitely laughed out loud a number of times. But by the end I just felt gypped. The meandering story that can't remember what it's trying to do is just a glaring flaw. It's a shame, because handled more skillfully, this had all the ingredients to be wonderful.