This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. Today happens to be Valentine's Day, so our fearless blogathon organizer came up with the brilliant idea of making this Thursday's theme be romantic comedies. There are a lot of those, so I decided to see if I could come up with a theme within a theme. After a bit of thought, I came up with three movies in which marriages are broken up, which doesn't seem like it's funny, but in these cases it is:
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941). Not to be confused with the spy versus spy movie from early this century, this one is a screwball comedy (more or less) directed by... Alfred Hitchcock? Apparently, he wanted to try something different, and took on the movie as a favor to Carole Lombard, who plays Mrs. Smith. Mr. Smith is Robert Montgomery. The couple learns that their marriage is in fact not valid due to a mix-up and Mr. Smith, having told his wife he'd do it all over again faced with the chance, in fact has to woo Mrs. Smith all over again. The second time around, it isn't as easy as the first.
We're Not Married! (1952). Yet another anthology movie from Fox, this one is about five different couples who got married by a justice of the peace (Victor Moore) who jumped the gun by performing marriages before his license went into effect on January 1. The idea that their marriages are not valid (as if nobody had ever heard of a common law marriage) does different things to the couples depending on how well their marriages are going. Marilyn Monroe, Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden, Mitzi Gaynor, and Zsa Zsa Gabor play the wives; their husbands are played by (in order) David Wayne, Fred Allen, Paul Douglas, Eddie Bracken, and Louis Calhern.
Let's Do It Again (1953). A remake of 1937's The Awful Truth (which I think I already used before which is why I didn't pick it this time), this one stars Ray Milland as a bandleader who's been lying to his wife (Jane Wyman) about performing gigs. She tries to get back at him but goes too far and a mix-up ensues that results in the couple deciding to get divorced even though they really still love each other. Other people then try to hook the newly-single people before the divorce becomes final.
Grace Kelly
9 hours ago
7 comments:
Nice twist on the theme. I've seen and liked all three.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith isn't Carole Lombard's best romantic comedy, that would probably be My Man Godfrey, but it's a fun flick and a nice change of pace for Hitch.
Loved parts of We're Not Married-Marilyn & Zsa Zsa's segments-but the others were certainly entertaining and what a cast!
Let's Do It Again is a splashy treat which gave Jane a chance to go glam again after Johnny Belinda transformed her into a sober sides for a number of years.
With something so vast as romantic comedies you almost have to find a hook to narrow your choices. I used Cary Grant as my guide since he was one of the tops in the genre.
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)-Playboy artist Richard Nugent (Cary Grant) appears before Judge Margaret Turner (Myrna Loy) for fighting at a nightclub, after a stern warning she dismisses the charge. That same day, Nugent happens to lecture at a high school, where Margaret's teenage sister, Susan (Shirley Temple), falls head-over-heels for him. Things get complicated when Susan sneaks into and is found in his apartment. Back before Judge Turner she orders him to date Susan as a way of easing her attraction. It only gets crazier from there as Richard (now Dickie) embraces his rediscovered teenhood while finding himself attracted to Margaret and vice versa. Breezy comedy (which won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar) is Shirley’s best adult film with all three stars working at top speed.
Indiscreet (1958)-Theatre star Anna Kalman (Ingrid Bergman) meets banker and diplomat Philip Adams (Cary Grant) when she’s visiting her sister and brother-in-law (Phyllis Calvert & Cecil Parker who steal every scene they’re in) in London. After a brief flirtation they fall in love but Philip is married and things seem hopeless until Anna discovers something that puts everything in a new light. Lush, charming comedy with Cary & Ingrid perfectly matched.
Houseboat (1958)-Tom Winston (Cary Grant) is struggling to raise his three children on his own after his wife's death. He meets the charming and beautiful Cinzia Zaccardi (Sophia Loren) at a concert and hires her as a live-in nanny. Unbeknownst to Tom, Cinzia is actually a European socialite on the run from her domineering father (Harry Guardino) and has absolutely no experience with cooking, cleaning or raising children. The fiery Cinzia and staid Tom butt heads until they discover a shared attraction. Cary & Sophia were seriously involved (and almost married) during filming.
Breezy comedy (which won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar)
I always find it amusing that that Oscar winner was Sidney Sheldon, who would go on to create I Dream of Jeannie and then have a third act writing trashy airport novels like Rage of Angels.
I've only seen Mr. & Mrs. Smith and it was kinda disappointing. Probably because I wasn't expecting a romantic comedy from Hitchcock.
I watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith just a couple of weeks ago for my Hitchcock review marathon (review over here: https://thepunktheory.wordpress.com/2019/01/21/movie-mania-hitchcock-special-mr-mrs-smith/) and was mostly flabbergasted by the story. It wasn't particularly funny and I really didn't appreciate the sexism which of course was due to the time the movie shot in.
Anyways, great list - your picks are so inventive!
I'm 0/3 in your picks again. But I did fall asleep in the theater when watching the 2005 Mr. and Mrs. Smith...so there's that. lol
Me. And Mrs. Smith was good, not great, but good although I love Carole Lombard and her response after hearing Hitchcock say that actors are like cattle. When Hitch showed up on set all around were cows..hahahaaa. We’re not Married is a film I need to see again because I saw it way too long ago but I remember liking it. I have not seen the last one..another one to add.
I've seen the spy versus spy version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the Cosby/Poitier version of Let's Do It Again. Can I count those?
Oh well. I'm 0-for-3, again.
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