"The Feminine Touch" is one of the funniest and best acted sophisticated comedies I've ever seen. This wacko film is a mixture of hilarious types of comedy -- screwball, romance, slapstick and satire. It is replete throughout with one-line zingers, and the ending comes with riotously funny antics. It has so much humor, and moves on so quickly, that it's easy to miss much of the comedy. Thanks to modern technology, one is able to stop and backup, and replay scenes or segments that were missed because of laughter from the preceding moment. I just watched it all the way through three times - laughing and chuckling often.
How could a 1941 movie of this quality escape the attention of a lifelong movie fan for so long? It was made by MGM, a giant among the Hollywood studios of the day. It has a cast with four major stars of the day - including two male lead actors in Don Ameche and Van Heflin, who would become Academy Award winners; and two leading actresses in Rosalind Russel and Kay Francis. Russell would have four Oscar nominations in her career and win five Golden Globes. So, why was this movie not well known or heard of before the advent of DVDs at the end of the 20tdh century?
Well, I suspect that this film was a victim of circumstances. It didn't have a specific release date, but was released in October of 1941. That was just a few weeks before the bombing of Pear Harbor on December 7th and the U. S. entry into WW II. But that fall, with the war underway and intensifying around the globe, and tensions high among Americans about joining or staying out of the war, movie attendance had dropped off. People weren't in the mood for laughter. My guess is that with this downturn, MGM decided to pull the film after its first few weeks. And then, after Pearl Harbor and the U. S. entry into the war, this film was put on the shelf. Then, with the long years of the war and the recovery afterward, this movie just slipped through the cracks at MGM. But, I bought the DVD recently, and have added this as one of my favorite comedies, to my family film library.
The plot is about a small college professor of psychology who is fed up with the politics of brawn over brain in higher education. So he quits, and he and his wife move to New York City to find a publisher for the book he has just written. He finds a firm, but naturally, his highly educational approach with language seldom spoken by the common man, needs to be reworked for marketing to the public. In the next few weeks that it takes to finish the project, the intermingling of the couple with the publishing house owner and his lady manager lead to barrels of laughter.
The main theme throughout is jealousy; and it has all sorts of sidebars. Its satire spoofs college priorities, the field of psychology itself, the publishing world, the big city party scene, and more. Each of the four leads plays her or his part superbly, playing off one another. Don Ameche is the idealistic and lofty college professor of psychology, John Hathaway, who's also the smug husband of Julie Hathaway. Rosalind Russell plays her part perfectly. As John's wife, she is at the heart of this film and much of the comedy revolves around or involves her. The one thing Julie especially can't stand is beards -- men with beards.. Van Heflin's Elliott Morgan is the eco-centric publisher who fancies himself a sophisticate with a neurosis and any number of phobias. He is a wolf, with an eye for attractive women. And he also has a beard. Finally, Kay Francis plays Nellie Woods, who runs Morgan's publishing house. She has longed for Morgan for years, and even though he has proposed two times, she won't have him as the messed up character he has become.
The people they associate with in the nightlife and social spheres of New York City and the literary world range from an ego-maniacal critic, to an alcoholic attorney, with hordes of other drinkers and party-goers galore. All of this together makes for much comedy. The humor in this ingenious screenplay runs the gamut from screwy, to slapstick, with many laughs even at something so silly as a symbolic name. One of the longtime funny supporting actors of the early to mid-20th century, Donald Meek plays a lake marina boat captain, Makepeace Liveright. His short role in a couple of scenes toward the end is riotously funny. Among some of the slapstick is the Hathaway's getting separated in the subway system and John getting arrested as a masher. But, first, Professor Hathaway has to leave his college teaching post, with a very funny opening and spoofing of college athletics. The last quarter of the film is one of the best and funniest, long drawn out endings of any film I've ever seen.
And one scene about a third of the way into the movie, I suspect was the writing contribution of the poet, Ogden Nash. Old-timers may recall seeing Nash on TV in the mid-20th century. Occasionally, late night TV news would sign off with a short poem about some current news, sporting event or holiday, that Ogden Nash had written and would read on the air. The scene that smacks of Nash's hand, is in the nightclub with the Hathaway's and Elliott and Nellie at dinner. The singer (played by Julie Gibson) comes out and everyone's attention is on her as she sings a song about jealousy, with hilarious rhymes.
For samples of humorous dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the film.
How could a 1941 movie of this quality escape the attention of a lifelong movie fan for so long? It was made by MGM, a giant among the Hollywood studios of the day. It has a cast with four major stars of the day - including two male lead actors in Don Ameche and Van Heflin, who would become Academy Award winners; and two leading actresses in Rosalind Russel and Kay Francis. Russell would have four Oscar nominations in her career and win five Golden Globes. So, why was this movie not well known or heard of before the advent of DVDs at the end of the 20tdh century?
Well, I suspect that this film was a victim of circumstances. It didn't have a specific release date, but was released in October of 1941. That was just a few weeks before the bombing of Pear Harbor on December 7th and the U. S. entry into WW II. But that fall, with the war underway and intensifying around the globe, and tensions high among Americans about joining or staying out of the war, movie attendance had dropped off. People weren't in the mood for laughter. My guess is that with this downturn, MGM decided to pull the film after its first few weeks. And then, after Pearl Harbor and the U. S. entry into the war, this film was put on the shelf. Then, with the long years of the war and the recovery afterward, this movie just slipped through the cracks at MGM. But, I bought the DVD recently, and have added this as one of my favorite comedies, to my family film library.
The plot is about a small college professor of psychology who is fed up with the politics of brawn over brain in higher education. So he quits, and he and his wife move to New York City to find a publisher for the book he has just written. He finds a firm, but naturally, his highly educational approach with language seldom spoken by the common man, needs to be reworked for marketing to the public. In the next few weeks that it takes to finish the project, the intermingling of the couple with the publishing house owner and his lady manager lead to barrels of laughter.
The main theme throughout is jealousy; and it has all sorts of sidebars. Its satire spoofs college priorities, the field of psychology itself, the publishing world, the big city party scene, and more. Each of the four leads plays her or his part superbly, playing off one another. Don Ameche is the idealistic and lofty college professor of psychology, John Hathaway, who's also the smug husband of Julie Hathaway. Rosalind Russell plays her part perfectly. As John's wife, she is at the heart of this film and much of the comedy revolves around or involves her. The one thing Julie especially can't stand is beards -- men with beards.. Van Heflin's Elliott Morgan is the eco-centric publisher who fancies himself a sophisticate with a neurosis and any number of phobias. He is a wolf, with an eye for attractive women. And he also has a beard. Finally, Kay Francis plays Nellie Woods, who runs Morgan's publishing house. She has longed for Morgan for years, and even though he has proposed two times, she won't have him as the messed up character he has become.
The people they associate with in the nightlife and social spheres of New York City and the literary world range from an ego-maniacal critic, to an alcoholic attorney, with hordes of other drinkers and party-goers galore. All of this together makes for much comedy. The humor in this ingenious screenplay runs the gamut from screwy, to slapstick, with many laughs even at something so silly as a symbolic name. One of the longtime funny supporting actors of the early to mid-20th century, Donald Meek plays a lake marina boat captain, Makepeace Liveright. His short role in a couple of scenes toward the end is riotously funny. Among some of the slapstick is the Hathaway's getting separated in the subway system and John getting arrested as a masher. But, first, Professor Hathaway has to leave his college teaching post, with a very funny opening and spoofing of college athletics. The last quarter of the film is one of the best and funniest, long drawn out endings of any film I've ever seen.
And one scene about a third of the way into the movie, I suspect was the writing contribution of the poet, Ogden Nash. Old-timers may recall seeing Nash on TV in the mid-20th century. Occasionally, late night TV news would sign off with a short poem about some current news, sporting event or holiday, that Ogden Nash had written and would read on the air. The scene that smacks of Nash's hand, is in the nightclub with the Hathaway's and Elliott and Nellie at dinner. The singer (played by Julie Gibson) comes out and everyone's attention is on her as she sings a song about jealousy, with hilarious rhymes.
For samples of humorous dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the film.