Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.
Gable is great. He is handsome, charming and charismatic in his portrayal. The character was ill during much of the film (slow heart rate; bradycardia it looked like). He kept fainting and falling down, and medical science could do little. Heart artificial pacemakers were invented in 1899, and put into use since around 1950. Parnell could have used a pacemaker, but alas, that great invention was off in the unforeseeable future.
Gable underplayed the part. As Parnell, he refused to fight certain fights, because of the gentleman who he was. For Parnell, it wasn't worth his valuable time to set himself up for more public ridicule and opposition. That would have meant more strain upon his weak heart, which he didn't need. He also may have had high blood pressure.
Anyone badgered and threatened for several years by political opposition is bound to end up with health issues. It was only a matter of time before Parnell would succumb to a life-ending illness. He gave everything to his political life, and he got paid back by extreme jealousy and backstabbing. This still happens today.
Edna May Oliver was a blonde here. Curly Jean Harlow? This time, Edna looked almost cute and adorable. Aunt Ben was almost nasty with the character of Billie Burke, constantly browbeating that pestering gnat.
Billie Burke was adorable here, and her usually flighty, flittery character with little more than sawdust in her cabeza. This was highly calculated; who was better at this than she? Don't forget that she embarked upon her latent film career after an earlier successful stage career. This was done in order to pay off the expenses of her late husband, that wastrel Florenz Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld lost his fortune in the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and passed away in 1932, broke. The Wizard of Oz was soon to become a memorable role for Billie Burke Ziegfeld, and where would we be without that famous pink-gowned bubble-riding Good Witch of the North?
Myrna Loy was excellent. Her gowns were charming and beautiful. She portrayed platonic Katie, but in real life the character had three Parnell children while married to O'Shea. It is quite different seeing Loy with Gable, instead of with William Powell in The Thin Man films. I do miss seeing the sweet little dog, however. Besides, Gable was way more gorgeous than Powell could ever have hoped to be.
Remember that this film was Post-Code (ending mid-1934). Now, illegitimate children could not even be hinted at. An earlier Gable film shows him as a physician attending a girlfriend's surgery, but in the real story the woman had a botched abortion trying to end the life of the baby.
Gable is great. He is handsome, charming and charismatic in his portrayal. The character was ill during much of the film (slow heart rate; bradycardia it looked like). He kept fainting and falling down, and medical science could do little. Heart artificial pacemakers were invented in 1899, and put into use since around 1950. Parnell could have used a pacemaker, but alas, that great invention was off in the unforeseeable future.
Gable underplayed the part. As Parnell, he refused to fight certain fights, because of the gentleman who he was. For Parnell, it wasn't worth his valuable time to set himself up for more public ridicule and opposition. That would have meant more strain upon his weak heart, which he didn't need. He also may have had high blood pressure.
Anyone badgered and threatened for several years by political opposition is bound to end up with health issues. It was only a matter of time before Parnell would succumb to a life-ending illness. He gave everything to his political life, and he got paid back by extreme jealousy and backstabbing. This still happens today.
Edna May Oliver was a blonde here. Curly Jean Harlow? This time, Edna looked almost cute and adorable. Aunt Ben was almost nasty with the character of Billie Burke, constantly browbeating that pestering gnat.
Billie Burke was adorable here, and her usually flighty, flittery character with little more than sawdust in her cabeza. This was highly calculated; who was better at this than she? Don't forget that she embarked upon her latent film career after an earlier successful stage career. This was done in order to pay off the expenses of her late husband, that wastrel Florenz Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld lost his fortune in the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and passed away in 1932, broke. The Wizard of Oz was soon to become a memorable role for Billie Burke Ziegfeld, and where would we be without that famous pink-gowned bubble-riding Good Witch of the North?
Myrna Loy was excellent. Her gowns were charming and beautiful. She portrayed platonic Katie, but in real life the character had three Parnell children while married to O'Shea. It is quite different seeing Loy with Gable, instead of with William Powell in The Thin Man films. I do miss seeing the sweet little dog, however. Besides, Gable was way more gorgeous than Powell could ever have hoped to be.
Remember that this film was Post-Code (ending mid-1934). Now, illegitimate children could not even be hinted at. An earlier Gable film shows him as a physician attending a girlfriend's surgery, but in the real story the woman had a botched abortion trying to end the life of the baby.