The premise of this picture is rather absurd. It involves newspaper reporters hounding a D-list celebrity (Loretta Young). She is famous because she comes from a well-to-do and politically connected family. She has never done anything meaningful in her life until now. What prompts the about-face is her desire to stick it to the men who won't let her conduct her affairs, of which there are many, in private.
During the ensuing pandemonium there are light-hearted jabs about people who earn a living from reporting the news. Some events are not very important but are splashed on the front page anyway, if it's a slow news day.
We see how something "small" like an heiress' engagement can become something big, magnified for the masses who find her personal business more interesting than their own. Ironically, the engagement that she announces is a deliberate lie. So the initial scoop is not really a scoop at all. But it triggers other more substantial scoops and realizations among the main characters.
In addition to Miss Young, the main players in this film consist of Tyrone Power and Don Ameche. This is Mr. Power's first starring role at Fox, and he is cast as an eager beaver reporter. Mr. Ameche functions as a comic relief co-lead, playing Power's very exasperated editor, a man whose wife doesn't stop calling. There are other characters, meant to represent notions about the types of people- mostly men- who work in the news business during the late 1930s.
In the second part of the story, Slim Summerville appears as a rural judge. His version of law and order in a humble community clashes with the views of everyone else. Especially when a media circus overtakes his jail. In these scenes, justice is an absolute joke.
Several things make the film a screwball comedy. Mostly, its depiction of anarchy. There is plenty of defiance, particularly the kind exhibited by Miss Young's character; various degrees of unlawfulness and disorder; as well as chaos that comes from challenging the status quo. Within the parameters of such cinematic craziness, there are gleeful and effective performances, aided and abetted by the satiric writing.
LOVE IS NEWS has a message which belongs on page one, not the funnies section. In a madcap world, remaining steadfast and true to one's ideals is what counts. It's the only thing that deserves a headline.
During the ensuing pandemonium there are light-hearted jabs about people who earn a living from reporting the news. Some events are not very important but are splashed on the front page anyway, if it's a slow news day.
We see how something "small" like an heiress' engagement can become something big, magnified for the masses who find her personal business more interesting than their own. Ironically, the engagement that she announces is a deliberate lie. So the initial scoop is not really a scoop at all. But it triggers other more substantial scoops and realizations among the main characters.
In addition to Miss Young, the main players in this film consist of Tyrone Power and Don Ameche. This is Mr. Power's first starring role at Fox, and he is cast as an eager beaver reporter. Mr. Ameche functions as a comic relief co-lead, playing Power's very exasperated editor, a man whose wife doesn't stop calling. There are other characters, meant to represent notions about the types of people- mostly men- who work in the news business during the late 1930s.
In the second part of the story, Slim Summerville appears as a rural judge. His version of law and order in a humble community clashes with the views of everyone else. Especially when a media circus overtakes his jail. In these scenes, justice is an absolute joke.
Several things make the film a screwball comedy. Mostly, its depiction of anarchy. There is plenty of defiance, particularly the kind exhibited by Miss Young's character; various degrees of unlawfulness and disorder; as well as chaos that comes from challenging the status quo. Within the parameters of such cinematic craziness, there are gleeful and effective performances, aided and abetted by the satiric writing.
LOVE IS NEWS has a message which belongs on page one, not the funnies section. In a madcap world, remaining steadfast and true to one's ideals is what counts. It's the only thing that deserves a headline.