Showing posts with label Carole Lombard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carole Lombard. Show all posts

Monday, February 18, 2019

Nothing Sacred (1937)



On the heels of A Star is Born (1937), William Wellman and David O. Selznick teamed up again to make Nothing Sacred (1937), a screwball comedy starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March. The story was based on James H. Street's "Letter to the Editor" published in International-Cosmopolitan in 1937 and adapted to the screen by Ben Hecht. According to the director's son William Wellman Jr., Wellman's contract restricted the overbearing Selznick only 6 visits to the set max. Selznick's enthusiasm for the project can be seen in the following telegram he sent to John Hay Whitney, chairman of the board of Selznick International Pictures:

"Nothing Sacred started shooting this morning. You wanted comedy boy you're going to get it, and bet it on your own head. After this one I am either the new Mack Sennett or I return to Dr. Eliot."

Ace reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) finds himself in a pickle. He's been recently demoted to obituaries after he wrote a piece about a Sultan turned out to be a fake. Hoping to make good by his editor-in-chief Oliver Stone (Walter Connolly), he tackles his next big story which he's sure we'll get him back on track. Wally learns of a young woman dying of radium poisoning. He visits the fictional town of Warsaw, Vermont to find Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard), a young woman dying of radium poisoning. Turns out town physician Dr. Downer (Charles Winninger) had misdiagnosed her. She hides this fact from Wally who offers to fly her and her doctor out to New York City for one last hurrah. There she becomes the toast of the town, a pathetic subject for the community to fawn over. Her "final days" become a spectacle making it a big story for the newspaper. When things start begin to unravel it becomes clear that Wally has fallen in love with Hazel and must find a way out of their predicament.

Produced by Selznick International Presents, Nothing Sacred was distributed by United Artists and was a hit with both critics and audiences. Shot in Technicolor, it offers a visual splendor enhanced by the recently remastered Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. From the elegant costumes, elaborate sets and gorgeous aerial footage of 1930s era New York City, this film is a feast for the eyes.

Nothing Sacred is a comedy through and through. Subtle jokes are weaved in throughout along with zany situations that make this a classic screwball comedy. According to historian Frank Thompson, the set was "pandemonium  [because] Lombard had every bit the talent and enthusiasm for pranks and mischief as Wellman." It was remade as Living it Up (1954) starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and also became a Broadway production known as Hazel Flagg.

There are lots of great supporting roles including Margaret Hamilton who plays an uptight store clerk. Hattie MacDaniel has a bit part as the wife of a boot black (Troy Brown Jr.) who pretends to be an African Sultan. Frank Fay plays the Master of Ceremonies at a gala thrown in Hazel's honor.

Nothing Sacred is a must-see for fans of the screwball comedy genre. With that said, I wanted to like this film but I thought it was just okay. I appreciated the performances, the visuals and the clever jokes. I definitely want to rewatch it to pick up on subtleties I may have missed. In the end, it didn't captivate me the way I wanted it to. Unfortunately, I've never cared for Carole Lombard as an actress, no matter how much I admire her as a person nor how many Lombard films I've seen to get over this aversion. I'll keep trying but for now I'm not there yet.


**** Spoilers Start ****

I've always been weary about films depicting liars and frauds. It has to be done well for me to appreciate the story. Honestly I was surprised that Hazel gets away with her fraud. The story has Wally and Hazel sailing off into the sunset. I guess what she did is not technically a crime so it didn't have to be punished according to the Production Code. The dying Hazel becomes a larger-than-life persona that transcends Hazel herself. The community wants a martyr they can fawn over and celebrate. In the end it didn't matter if Hazel was for real or not.

****Spoilers End****








Nothing Sacred (1937) is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. When you use my buy links you help support this site. Thanks!

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray is exceptionally vivid in color and crispness. I wish I could show you a still or video from the Blu-ray so you can see just how stunning this restoration is! The Blu-ray comes from a brand new HD Master created from a 2k scan of a restored fine grain master. The disc also includes audio commentary by William Wellman Jr as well as a variety of Kino Lorber trailers.

Thank you to Kino Lorber for sending me a copy of Nothing Sacred (1937) for review.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The Gay Bride (1934)

Chester Morris, Nat Pendleton, Carole Lombard and Zasu Pitts in The Gay Bride (1934)

1934 was a transitional year in the film industry. The Hays Code, which had been in effect for years but not strictly enforced, was now the law of the land. Hollywood got away with a lot in those few years between the advent of talking pictures and the enforcement of the Code. Pre-Code films went on to become a genre much beloved by future generations of film buffs because of how these early 1930s films pushed boundaries. In an effort to conform to this new censorship, post-code films went through a scrubbing of content, washing away much of what titillated audiences . In 1934 especially, filmmakers were trying to figure out how to get their pre-code stories to fit into this new post-code mold. The Gay Bride (1934) is an example of how fitting a round peg into a square hole just didn't quite work out.

The Gay Bride stars Carole Lombard as Mary, a chorus girl looking to lock her wealthy racketeer boyfriend Shoots Magiz (Nat Pendleton) into holy matrimony. Ignoring the warnings of her trusty sidekick Mirabelle (Zasu Pitts), she manages to snag her cash cow. Due to the nature of his business and its occupational hazards, Mary makes quick work to secure her fortune. On her wedding night, her lawyer finalizes Shoots' will and the next day they set off on a cruise to Europe so Mary can shop to her hearts delight. When Shoots and Mary come back from their mostly disastrous trip (only Greece would have them), more trouble awaits. Shoot's assistant Jimmie (Chester Morris), affectionately referred to as Office Boy, is the only member of Shoots' crew with any common sense. He tries to protect his boss from his impending financial failure but can't protect him from the ill intentions of Mikey The Greek (Leo Carillo) and Daniel J. Dingle (Sam Hardy). All three men have an eye for Mary and one of them is set on removing Shoots permanently. Mary's desire for financial security hangs in the balance as she discovers that mob life is more than she bargained for.


"I wondered when you boys were going to tumble."

Based on Charles Francis Coe's novel Repeal, the title was changed and the story adapted to the screen by husband and wife writing team Sam and Bella Spewack, best known for their collaboration on Broadway play turned movie Kiss Me Kate. This is the only MGM film featuring Paramount star Carole Lombard. MGM was known for quality productions (or as Warner Archive's George Feltenstein called it "the Tiffany's of movie studios) and Lombard assumed this film would be one too. However, her costar Chester Morris knew it was a dud from the start. The film was directed by Jack Conway, a mainstay in the MGM stable of talent. Conway could be counted on to deliver movies to the studio execs on budget and on time.

The Gay Bride was panned by critics and did not perform well at the box office. However Carole Lombard was a bankable star and theatres made the most of it. According to Carole Lombard biographer Michelle Morgan, "The idea of Carole playing a 'gold-digging chiseller' inspired the Lowe's State Theatre in New Orleans to give out special 'Chiseller Club' membership cards to their patrons, with Carole listed as secretary. Nearby stores were also utilized and included movie-inspired floral displays in bridal shops and hair displays in a beauty parlor."

Chester Morris, Carole Lombard and Nat Pendleton in The Gay Bride (1934)


"When you missed meals as a kid money becomes awfully important."

The story had a lot of potential. I was particularly interested in Mary's motivations. She's a glamorous chorus girl who courts the attention of notorious racketeer. Having grown up desperately poor she's hell bent on having a financially secure future. In one scene, Mary tells Mirabelle that she's not about a quick buck rather she wants to have enough money to live comfortably into her 50s, 60s and beyond. A richer story would have explored Mary's history and fleshed out the characters. The final result is a movie that is enjoyable but on the whole superficial.

The Gay Bride is a hybrid of several popular genres. It starts out as a backstage story, morphs into a gangster flick, then into a screwball comedy and ends with a romance. Tying it all together is this thread living through the Great Depression. While the story and characters are lacking, viewers will be delighted by the superb cast including some 1930s all-stars like Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, Nat Pendleton and Zasu Pitts, who are all personal favorites of mine. Actor Gene Lockhart has a small uncredited role. The movie's dialogue is witty and I found myself writing down several fun quotes. I'd be interested in reading the original source material to see what potential there was in making The Gay Bride/Repeal into a Pre-Code film.



The Gay Bride (1934) is available on DVD-MOD from the Warner Archive Collection. You can hear the WAC trio George, D.W. and Matt discuss the film on the Warner Archive Podcast.


Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. Thank you to Warner Archive for sending me a copy of The Gay Bride (1934) to review!

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