(110 min) Released 1937-02-12
Directors: Robert Riskin, Harry Lachman (uncredited)
Stars: Grace Moore, Cary Grant, Aline MacMahon, Henry Stephenson, Thomas Mitchell
Leon Leonidoff ... choreographer
Genres: Romance | Musical | Comedy
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029761/
I would have acquired this to have a complete collection of CG (b. 1904) films. The quality is poor, although standard for a bootleg or public domain copy. (Hmm. April 2016, LATimes reports that GetTV has a restored copy it was to air that May. Interview about restoration. Searched in their Nov & Dec schedules; not mentioned.)
The Awful Truth ('37), CG's ripening in romcom, is the 3rd film released after this one. This is his 26th film; first one released in '32.
Got a kick out of the opening title: Grace Moore on her own card, then the movie's title and "with Cary Grant". So it reads "When You're in Love with Cary Grant." Raising my hand: "guilty".
But not in love with this film. He definitely shows indications that he'll arrive at comedy greatness, and he plays petulant and cynical well. But this plot doesn't make much sense. I doubt that a restored print would bridge the structural gaps. Or maybe the writers were just playing with daisies: he loves her, he loves her not, repeat. And while GM never explains to CG why she has to give the concert which motivates most of the plot, I missed the explanation too.
This is Riskin's only directing credit. A lot of his 37 writing credits (including this film) are among the best of classic Hollywood, but they are also the films he created with Frank Capra.
We get some decent operatic singing from GM, and her rendition of Minnie the Moocher is surprisingly good. So I'd watch a restored print, but maybe not this one again. Oh, who'm I kidding? If I watch all CG films in sequence, I wouldn't leave anything out.
Columbia, dir. Riskin & Lachman; 6-
