This film is about an obnoxious blow-hard played by Spencer Tracy. This guy absolutely can't talk for more than a couple sentences without lying to make himself seem big and important and it's obvious to most people that he is a complete jerk. However, a young woman inexplicably falls for him despite the fact that he's a walking windbag. Her family hates him, but they know there's nothing they can do to stop the romance.
At first, life seems good for the newlyweds. However, since Spencer is so full of crap, he tries to look big in his wife's eyes by compulsively buying her lots of stuff--so much that he bankrupts them despite her trying to reform him. He also loses his job because of his obnoxious ways. His wife is forced to move back with her parents and Spencer is ultimately asked to leave--much to the delight of her parents! However, at this point I was very happy to see this guy's life fall apart. After all, he was FAR from likable. BUT, some nitwits at the studio liked the idea of him making it big and winning back his wife. This just didn't make any sense at all. Instead of a clichéd and ridiculous "happy ending" I wanted to see him dying in the gutter--he was THAT obnoxious and unlikable!
By the way, this film was based on a play and was previously filmed in 1926 and 1930 as well as later with Red Skelton in 1946. The 1926 version is actually pretty good--probably because although the leading man is a jerk, they managed to tone him down a bit and making him less of a loud-mouth. Perhaps most of this was due to it being a silent film! This is one case where it's better when you can't hear the leading man!!
At first, life seems good for the newlyweds. However, since Spencer is so full of crap, he tries to look big in his wife's eyes by compulsively buying her lots of stuff--so much that he bankrupts them despite her trying to reform him. He also loses his job because of his obnoxious ways. His wife is forced to move back with her parents and Spencer is ultimately asked to leave--much to the delight of her parents! However, at this point I was very happy to see this guy's life fall apart. After all, he was FAR from likable. BUT, some nitwits at the studio liked the idea of him making it big and winning back his wife. This just didn't make any sense at all. Instead of a clichéd and ridiculous "happy ending" I wanted to see him dying in the gutter--he was THAT obnoxious and unlikable!
By the way, this film was based on a play and was previously filmed in 1926 and 1930 as well as later with Red Skelton in 1946. The 1926 version is actually pretty good--probably because although the leading man is a jerk, they managed to tone him down a bit and making him less of a loud-mouth. Perhaps most of this was due to it being a silent film! This is one case where it's better when you can't hear the leading man!!