This is funny and entertaining. A lot of so-called screwball comedies from around this time were formulaic, shouty affairs clearly made just to make a financial profit. Although MGM engineered this to be a guaranteed hit by using focus groups to ensure audience expectations were met - so it's nothing original or groundbreaking - it does feel different mainly because everyone seems to be having so much fun.
It feels like the script was written by a team of writers in the same way modern tv sitcom-coms are produced nevertheless it's slick, genuinely funny with characters you can believe in. Even for us fans of 1930s movies, the humour from that era doesn't always work but this still has some real laugh out loud moments. You'd never associate William Powell with slapstick humour but his surprisingly hilarious fishing routine is funny enough to make even the surliest cat laugh.
I never really took to Spencer Tracy but he's ok in this. Likewise to me, Myrna Loy has always looked like a sinister scary being risen from the underworld but she's also fine in this. The real star is William Powell - this is his film and he's as brilliant as always.
Top billing however goes to Jean Harlow which still bemuses me. She was an atrocious actress but like Alice White a few years earlier, it was her personality not her acting skill on which her performance relied. In this she plays the Jean Harlow character turned up to 11 and in this film it's absolutely perfect. Something which she was the undisputed master of was bouncing! There's nothing quite as amazing as simply watching her walk across a set wearing one of her distinctive loose fitting silk dresses. Nice but she's still no Alice White!
It feels like the script was written by a team of writers in the same way modern tv sitcom-coms are produced nevertheless it's slick, genuinely funny with characters you can believe in. Even for us fans of 1930s movies, the humour from that era doesn't always work but this still has some real laugh out loud moments. You'd never associate William Powell with slapstick humour but his surprisingly hilarious fishing routine is funny enough to make even the surliest cat laugh.
I never really took to Spencer Tracy but he's ok in this. Likewise to me, Myrna Loy has always looked like a sinister scary being risen from the underworld but she's also fine in this. The real star is William Powell - this is his film and he's as brilliant as always.
Top billing however goes to Jean Harlow which still bemuses me. She was an atrocious actress but like Alice White a few years earlier, it was her personality not her acting skill on which her performance relied. In this she plays the Jean Harlow character turned up to 11 and in this film it's absolutely perfect. Something which she was the undisputed master of was bouncing! There's nothing quite as amazing as simply watching her walk across a set wearing one of her distinctive loose fitting silk dresses. Nice but she's still no Alice White!