User Reviews

LIBELLED LADY is a comedy about the world of newspapers and libel suits. Spencer Tracy is the editor of a leading New York newspaper, and he is about to marry his long-suffering girlfriend Jean Harlow (they have put off marriage several times in the past due to scoops Tracy had to pursue personally). This time it's not a scoop, but a serious blunder. The foreign gossip correspondent has submitted an item that got printed concerning Myrna Loy's antics in England, suggesting that she disgraced herself when drunk. This is bad enough, but the newspaper owner (Charles Goodwin) is horrified by this error. It seems Loy's father is multi-millionaire mover and shaker Walter Connolly, who had political ambitions that Goodwin and his newspaper thwarted twenty years earlier. Goodwin realizes that an angry, vindictive Connolly will very likely sue the newspaper for libeling his daughter, and win disastrously large damages.

While Harlow shows up in her wedding gown, fuming at this new delay, Tracy figures he will have to bury his own feelings and approach one time rival and foe William Powell to help him here. Powell is very clever at manipulating situations to get rid of troublesome problems (i.e.: he can possibly figure out a way of neutralizing the advantage Connolly and Loy have in the original libel article). Powell does come up with a scheme. If he can ingratiate himself with Connolly and Loy, he might be able to create a compromising situation regarding Loy that if revealed will make the libel story appear to be true. Tracy agrees to this plan, even though it requires Powell to marry Harlow, so that Loy (when she falls for Powell) can be made to appear a home wrecker. Harlow (at first) is not too thrilled about this, as she and Powell don't get along.

What follows is a series of delays that prevent the rapid evolution of the plot and it's proper springing on the unsuspecting Connolly and Loy. First it is harder to get Connolly away from his regular business interests to take an interest in Loy's new acquaintance Powell. But Powell finds the key when he learns that Connolly is one of the best trout fisherman in the United States. However, Powell himself has never bothered about fishing - we see him cramming from various books to learn the difference between fly fishing and other types. Then we see him practicing casting a fishing line with the assistance of E.E. Clive in the hotel rooms he shares with Harlow. He manages to snare Harlow while doing so (again much to her anger).

Invited to go to Connolly's favorite fishing spot, to try to catch the elusive "old wall eye", Powell manages to just miss drowning himself in the river, and does catch the fish the hard way - with his clothing. But it impresses Connolly and Loy.

The scheme is seemingly working, but three new wrinkles develop. Powell finds he is falling for Loy. Harlow is slowly finding the gentleman Powell is a nicer role model for a husband than the belligerent Tracy, and is now falling for Powell. Tracy (who barely tolerates Powell) is discovering that Harlow is less interested in him than she was before, and more interested in Powell - so Tracy is now jealous of Powell.

I will only add that the comedy ends with four people arguing it out in a hotel suite. Very fine comedy.

After Robert Osborne expressed the opinion that this film was better than the film that won Best Picture of the year in 1936, and was one of the very best screwball comedies ever, I was super-excited about seeing it last night on TCM. It was even nominated for Outstanding Production (Best Picture), while in the same year My Man Godfrey was not! For my money My Man Godfrey is a far superior film.

The acting quartet of William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow is an incredible ensemble. To me, nobody stole the show; Powell, Loy and Harlow were all fantastic; and Tracy, in his first comedy role is very good. Walter Connolly is also outstanding as Loy's millionaire father. All were deserving of nominations, in my opinion. Do not blink, you won't want to miss a moment of dialog. They never miss a beat in the rapid-fire quips that characterized films (especially, but not only, comedies) of this era. There is nothing like it today. What a shame that writing such as this has become a lost art!

However, it is the writing in this film that, in the end, left this movie a couple of notches below My Man Godfrey. The dialog is scintillating throughout. But the ending fails to live up to the lofty expectations established by the rest of the movie.

Without any prior hints, we are taken by surprise by the "illegal Yucatan divorce" that William Powell uses to show that he did not really marry Jean Harlow. Coming out of the blue, it is not only pretty contrived, but smacks of the kind of device that Truman Capote rails against in the classic, Murder by Death, when he accuses the assembled mystery novel writers of introducing new characters and unforeseen plot twists in the last chapter to solve mysteries in a way that is completely unforeseeable to their readers. In Libeled Lady, however, there is not just one, but two such surprises. Harlow counters Powell's illegal Yucatan divorce with a legal Reno divorce that is unknown even to Powell! Harlow's diatribe is outstanding, and she nails the other characters who have simply been manipulating her to achieve their own happy ends. That speech, however, is not dependent upon the double divorce contrivance, and it could have been used in any alternate scenario.

Another weakness of the ending, is Spencer Tracy. As Tracy prepares to depart, Myrna Loy suggests that he has forgotten something. He says, "Oh, yes, my hat." He doesn't convey any emotional involvement with Harlow. He kisses her goodbye, saying something like, "See ya later." This indicates, at best, that Tracy expects to resume his same old relationship with Harlow, focusing his real attention on the newspaper. Harlow is fantastic, and we hope that her fate is better than to be stuck with the same Tracy who has ignored her for their entire relationship. For the ending to be truly happy, Tracy needs to show that he has learned that he needs to demonstrate affection toward Harlow, rather than pay it lip service. But the evidence seems to show otherwise.

In fact, at the movie's "happy" conclusion, Harlow and Powell are still married. Loy and Powell are not. And Harlow is stuck with Tracy, who we aren't real certain has seen the light. For this to be a real classic, the ending should have been a little less contrived and some of these loose ends should have been tied up. As is, things seem too unresolved, leaving us feeling slightly unsatisfied. Consequently it is an extremely enjoyable screwball comedy, but it is a step or two below the classics.

"Libeled Lady" (1936) is a sparkling romantic comedy of errors. When commitment shy newspaper editor, Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) finds that his newspaper is being sued for alleging that a socialite, Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is a home-wrecker he delays plans to marry his fiancée Gladys (Jean Harlow) yet again, by placing her in the midst of elegant playboy, Bill Chandler (William Powell). The idea is to have Gladys and Bill marry so that Connie will then be fooling around with a married man - hence Warren's paper will be off the hook for printing the initial story. But the plot goes hopelessly and predictably awry when Gladys starts to have genuine feelings for Bill and he for her. So what's a struggling foursome to do? Director, Jack Conway fleshes out this thimble of a plot with a series of hilarious vignettes and some really stellar acting from the cheap seats, including cameos by Charles Grapewin, Arthur Connelly and Cora Witherspoon - all instantly recognizable war horses from MGM's ever expanding stable of second string talent. "Libeled Lady" may be light and fluffy, but it certainly packed a wallop at the box office.

Warner's DVD treatment is below par. The black and white image has been mastered from very grainy, dirty and softly focused elements. Contrast levels are barely adequate, though at times weak. There's a hint of edge enhancement and some fine detail shimmering. Fine details are sometimes nicely realized. Film grain is intense. Age related artifacts are present throughout. An audio only radio broadcast is the only extra included.

The trout fishing fiasco is the most hilarious scene in film history while the film itself, is the best comedy ever made. There, I've said it. The four superstars (the word "superstar" unknown 70 years ago)obviously are enjoying what they are doing to the point that their performances do not seem to be work at all -- this a phenomenon I have never seen before in over 70 years of movie-going.

One scene, overlooked by the other contributors here, I believe deserves kudos. That one is the ocean-liner trip where Powell duels verbally and unsuccessfully for the most part, with Loy.

The final hotel scene mayhem is wonderfully funny with all the stars' previous machinations useless in the face of the final marriage revelation which upsets all their plans. All they can do at this point, like a group of children, is blabber incoherently to Walter Connelly, who unable to hear anything, screams "Quiet, please!!" A fitting ending.

Watch for Dennis O'Keefe, later a star himself, in a short uncredited role as a barker at the charity bazaar.

Notice at the beginning of the film the four walking arm in arm, from left to right: Harlow, Powell, Loy and Tracy. Following the storyline, Harlow should have been linked with Tracy but with a real-life twosome of Powell and Harlow at the time, it is likely the wishes of these two "superstars" to be linked together prevailed over MGM's probably mild protests.

Another on the list of those "the likes of which we will never see again".

Excellent film that is hard to categorize accurately. It has elements of screwball comedy, but is not as furiously paced and/or dependent upon ridiculous set-ups as most screwball comedies. It is sophisticated comedy, yet doesn't have the "drawing room" feel that many sophisticated comedies of the 1930s have. This is partly due to several well-staged "outdoor" scenes, and the fact that the characters played by William Powell, Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow are lower middle-class rather than upper crust or cocktail-shaking types. In addition to his usual excellent delivery of witty lines, William Powell gives an agile physical performance that is a delight. He plops himself, attired in a suit, cross-legged onto a table, he stands on a chair in the hotel living room and practices fly casting, and he ends up belly flopping in a trout stream in one of the funniest scenes I have ever watched on film. Myrna Loy is enjoyable as the libeled lady of the title, although I wish she had been given more to do. My only quibbles with this film are the performances of Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy. Harlow has several good lines, but seems too rough and tough for the part she's playing. It's as if she's playing a gangster's moll, but this is not a gangster film. Tracy is heavy-footed and seems out of place in a comedy. Fortunately, Powell's performance is strong enough to carry the film, and he manages to lighten Harlow and Tracy's performances whenever they share a scene with him. Libeled Lady is enjoyable, funny and another success for William Powell.

Considering that this film was made by MGM and starred some of the finest stars under contract with them at the time, it's hardly a surprise that this film was extremely watchable and fun. Just think--the film starred Myrna Loy, William Powell, Spencer Tracy AND Jean Harlow!! It's like you are getting twice the usual film rolled into one! And they all did a wonderful job in the film--particularly Powell and Harlow.

Spencer Tracy plays a relatively heartless guy who has been stringing along the same girlfriend for years (Harlow). When a crisis erupts on his wedding day, Tracy is thrilled to have an excuse not to tie the knot and jumps into the thick of things. It seems that a false story accidentally was run in his newspaper and now the rich débutante (Loy) and her father (Walter Connelly) are suing for $5 million dollars! So, the scheming Tracy hires William Powell to discredit Loy by using his sophisticated manly charms. Then, according to this plan, Powell's wife will respond by suing Loy--a clever and very mercenary ploy to avoid the first lawsuit. But, since Powell ISN'T married, Tracy (the big cad) asks his fiancée (Harlow) to marry Powell!! Of course, the wedding is all a shame, but any man who would ask his own fiancée to marry another is just a colossal jerk--and that's exactly what Tracy is in the film.

While this is just a broad overview of the first 20 minutes or so of the film, it sets the stage for the rest of the film. At first, Loy and Powell do NOT hit it off at all, but after a while nature takes its course and the film continues at a fast and funny pace until its wonderful conclusion.

The film deserves kudos for having an excellent script and direction--MGM did NOT just rely on its stars to bring in the money, but actually pulled out all the stops to make an excellent film. While the movie is not exactly a "screwball comedy" (it's a little more sophisticated than that), it is nearly one and does provide some excellent laughs--mostly when watching novice Powell try to fish like an expert. This and many other wonderful moments make this a must-see film for old movie buffs.

I've never seen this before, the picture was nominated for exactly one award, and that was for a Best Picture Oscar in 1937. Though it didn't win, MGM, along with William Powell and Myrna Loy couldn't have felt too bad. They all had a hand in that year's winner, "The Great Ziegfeld".

The premise here was just ripe for a screwball comedy and the principals delivered. Powell, Loy and Jean Harlow were all established comedy players at the time, but this was new territory for Spencer Tracy who had only appeared in dramas prior. With his performance here, his range was established as an all around actor and set him up for all those great Katherine Hepburn team-ups in years to come.

The picture moves along at a pretty fast pace and you have to be as quick as the players to keep up with the dialog. You also have to accept the premise of Powell's character Bill Chandler marrying someone else's fiancée in order to stop a libel suit against the New York Evening Star. It's the kind of situation that lends itself to constant back and forth maneuvering between the players who jockey for position in order to come out on top.

I would never have figured Bill Powell for such a physical actor, but when he hit the trout stream I couldn't believe all the pratfalls he took in service to the story. Coming up with the most elusive trout in Glen Arden was the icing on the cake. I fully expected old Wall Eye to slip away from that net but son of a gun, he wound up on a dinner plate after all.

So anyway, Nick and Nora fans ought to be happy with the finale here, as Chandler and Connie Allenbury (Loy) wound up tying the knot at the end of the story. In real life, Powell was courting Jean Harlow at the time and was set to marry her following this picture until her untimely death shortly later. It put Powell into a deep funk for a long time before returning to the screen to begin the sequels to the Thin Man series.

Gold-plated classic comedy that shows off the famous MGM star-system at its best. Having Myrna Loy, William Powell, Jean Harlow AND Spencer Tracy in the one film wasn't really that clever for economics, but the audience (and Povert Row studios) just drools. The star foursome pretty much re-hash the screen persona's developed in earlier films, but they do it so well that it's a joy to watch. William Powell once again shows he is the definition of suave, and his light, elegant comedy technique remains relatively unmatched. Was any woman in 30's cinema as scrumptious as Myrna Loy? Jean Harlow delivers her lines like a hot machine gun, while Spencer Tracy is perhaps a little less impressive than the other three. This film has a classic trout fishing scene that is absolutely delightful, and very funny. The writing is top-notch, and everyone looks so glamorous. Directed routinely but solidly by Jack Conway, a long-time MGM studio hack, "Libeled Lady" doesn't really introduce anything new in the way of cinema, it's just an enjoyable farce from wonderfully skilled farceurs.

This movie wasn't as entertaining as I expected it to be, considering it's been touted as one of the 30s best examples of screwball comedy.

The problem is not with the direction, which is competent enough, and certainly not with the performers. William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow. How could they go wrong? They fit perfectly into their diverse niches.

No, it's the screenplay that is lacking. It prances along, accompanied by chipper music, but the dialog does not scintillate, neither do the awkward situations provoke laughs.

William Powell is trying to seduce high-maintenance Myrna Loy and to succeed he must get close to her father by pretending to be an expert fisherman, and fishing is a topic he knows nothing about. Howard Hawks did it at least as well in "Man's Favorite Sport," one of Hawks' lesser efforts.

Well, "Libeled Lady" has its reputation, and maybe at the time I was suffering from another attack of agenbite of inwit, a diagnosis my psychiatrist has foisted on me, along with those curious pills that do nothing for the disease except make you not mind having it. Maybe you'll get more out of it.