Thursday, February 11, 2021

Thursday Movie Picks #344: Friends to Lovers

This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. As we're still in February, we're getting another romance-themed edition of the blogathon. This time, it's "Friends to Lovers", which reminds me of a terrible 1980s song:

Ah, but that's not really what this week's blogathon is about. It's about characters who have been friends (often long-term) and only realize in the final reel what everybody in the audience knows from the beginning, which is that they should have been together all along. With that in mind, I picked three films in the genre, although one of them only has the characters meeting (innocently) a few weeks before they wind up together:

The Farmer's Wife (1928). Lesser-known Alfred Hitchcock silent about a widower farmer (Jameson Thomas) who, having married off his daughter, needs a wife around the house. He goes to see a series of "lady of the house" types, but we know all along that the housekeeper (Lillian Hall-Davis) who has been working for him all along is just what he really needs. It's getting there that's the fun, more or less (this not being among Hitchcock's more highly-rated work).

Hot Saturday (1932). Small-town girl Nancy Carroll goes with her boyfriend (Edward Woods) and all the other twentysomethings to a dance/party place out on the lake. When the boyfriend gets too handsy in a boat on the lake, Carroll escapes, taking refuge at the lakeside vacation home of big-city playboy Cary Grant in a very early role. Grant is very proper, but an extremely jealous Woods starts spreading nasty rumors which costs Carroll her job, a relationship with woods, and a possible relationship with old family friend Randolph Scott. Carroll does end up with Grant at the end, in a very pre-Code way.

Cactus Flower (1969). Walter Matthau plays a dentist who has a series of young girlfriends whom he dumps by telling them a complete lie, saying that he's got a wife. The latest girlfriend (Goldie Hawn) attempts suicide, and the guy in the next apartment (Rick Lenz) saves her and the idea comes to ask to see Matthau's wife to satisfy her curiosity. Of course he doesn't have one, so he tries to impress on his spinster secretary (Ingrid Bergman) that perhaps she could play the part of the wife? We know that the two older stars are right for each other, but will they wind up together in the end? Goldie Hawn won the Oscar, but Bergman shows just how good she could be at comedy.

6 comments:

Dell said...

Haven't seen any of these, yet. The saddest part is I actually own a copy of The Farmer's Wife. I promise I'll get around to it one of these days.

Sara said...

I've never seen these! I love the trope though so I'll need to add these to my tobewatched list.

Brittani Burnham said...

I'm 0/3 on your picks once again, but Cactus Flower sounds the most appealing to me because of Ingrid Bergman.

joel65913 said...

I love Cactus Flower! In a lot of ways it's very much of its time but it remains charming even now. Goldie is adorable but her winning the Oscar over Susannah York in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? doesn't make sense. I have nothing against a terrific comic performance but the layers Susannah exposed in the delusional Alice and Goldie's sparkly twinkle just don't compare. My favorite performance in the film is Ingrid's anyway.

I've come to really like Nancy Carroll the more of her films I've seen. Most are hard to find but Hot Saturday because of Cary Grant is one that pops up occasionally. It's a shame her popularity was so brief. She and Cary are both very appealing in the film.

The Farmer's Wife is Hitchcock still finding his way. It's an interesting early effort but not memorable.

Several films popped to mind right away but I figured they would be everywhere so I looked for three that might be a bit more off the beaten path.

The Wedding Singer (1998)-Nice guy Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a wedding singer at a small hall in 80’s New Jersey who is about to marry Linda (Angela Featherstone) when he meets server Julia (Drew Barrymore) who has just started at the venue. Julia is engaged to Glenn (Matthew Glave) and they strike up a friendship over that mutual fact. But when Linda dumps Robbie on the eve of their wedding he falls apart and Julia trying to help him get back on his feet asks Robbie to help plan her upcoming nuptials. As they work on the plans Robbie realizes that not only is Glenn an enormous tool but that he's falling for Julia who subconsciously is doing the same. Will they realize their true feelings in time? Probably Sandler’s sweetest, least abrasive film packed wall to wall with fun 80’s music and fashions.

The Full Monty (1997)-When hard times fall on an English town a group of men on the dole including Gaz (Robert Carlyle), Dave (Mark Addy), Lomper (Steve Huison) and Guy (Hugo Speer) form a male strip revue. Out of desperation to pull in crowds they promise to go “the full Monty”. Though they run into many hurdles, some comic and others serious, eventually they prevail, along the way buddies Lomper & Guy realize they’ve fallen for each other and end up a couple.

Hands Across the Table (1935)-Manicurist Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) works at a swanky hotel hunting for a rich husband. She thinks she’s found a plum pigeon in Theodore Drew III (Fred MacMurray), since he comes from a prominent family but finds out he’s as broke as she is since the stock market crash. They become friends though and decide to help each other in their gold digging. Regi meets wealthy hotel guest Allen Macklyn (Ralph Bellamy), who falls for her while Ted is waiting for Vivian Snowden (Astrid Allwyn) the heiress he has on the hook to return from Bermuda so he can hop back on the gravy train. All seems smooth sailing but as feelings between Regi and Theodore develop, their careful plans start to change.

Cinematic Delights said...

Nice list, Ted. The Farmer's Wife and Hot Saturday are new to me, but I've heard of Cactus Flower because one of my choices (Just Go with It) was inspired by it.

Birgit said...

I haven’t seen N.Y. of these and would love to see them. Nancy Carroll is a forgotten star yet was so big way back then. I would love to see her in this film.