Gorgeous looking and filled with potential of being a sort of reverse "My Man Godfrey", this war era comedy fails for going too far on the screwball level and just becoming stupid and unfunny thanks to a situation that is not at all believable, even in the context of comedy which isn't always based upon reality. It all starts with sleeping beauty Joan Bennett, woken up by pesky Billie Burke and supposed best friend Helene Reynolds, the trouble maker of all trouble makers, learning that she's lost her fortune and how Reynolds seems to enjoy her friend's unfortunate circumstances. Bennett rents her swanky apartment to visiting South American millionaire Don Ameche, in New York on a business deal involving his rubber plantation, and all sorts of misunderstandings occur simply due to the fact that he thinks she's the regular tenant's maid, not the M.I.A. socialite herself. Throw in a wacky businessman (a miscast Frank Craven) obsessed with vintage rifles and Burke's continuous interruptions over everything and nothing, and you have what basically amounts to nothing.
If Burke's characterization in other movies was often referred to as "bird brain", here, she's "ant brain", a dizzy socialite so consumed with do-gooding that she simply invades Ameche's closet while Bennett is watching (and Ameche is in the shower) and removes all of his hung clothes for a clothing drive then tosses them out of the window to her waiting chauffeur. Ameche, on a date with Reynolds, swears he's spotted Bennett in the swanky nightclub, then after confronting her, takes her to a tacky dime a dance joint where the two of them end up with black eyes. He begins to suspect that she's out to discredit him in his rubber deal and sets her up for a fall. Unfortunately, the only thing falling here is the plot line into the gutter of bad comedy, topped by a scene where Burke literally puts a tourniquet around an unsuspecting guinea pig's neck.
As gorgeous as Bennett is and as charming as Ameche is, this is a hard film to stomach and I felt embarrassed for the two of them. It may have looked funny on paper or in a verbal description in a producer's meeting but ends up a poor example of tackiness uncleverly disguised by art deco sets and gorgeous costumes.
If Burke's characterization in other movies was often referred to as "bird brain", here, she's "ant brain", a dizzy socialite so consumed with do-gooding that she simply invades Ameche's closet while Bennett is watching (and Ameche is in the shower) and removes all of his hung clothes for a clothing drive then tosses them out of the window to her waiting chauffeur. Ameche, on a date with Reynolds, swears he's spotted Bennett in the swanky nightclub, then after confronting her, takes her to a tacky dime a dance joint where the two of them end up with black eyes. He begins to suspect that she's out to discredit him in his rubber deal and sets her up for a fall. Unfortunately, the only thing falling here is the plot line into the gutter of bad comedy, topped by a scene where Burke literally puts a tourniquet around an unsuspecting guinea pig's neck.
As gorgeous as Bennett is and as charming as Ameche is, this is a hard film to stomach and I felt embarrassed for the two of them. It may have looked funny on paper or in a verbal description in a producer's meeting but ends up a poor example of tackiness uncleverly disguised by art deco sets and gorgeous costumes.