The 32 previous reviews on here are, to say the least, wide-ranging. Some are from people who don't like musical comedies, so their reviews are little more than an exercise in futility. Others show little knowledge of what Hollywood was producing in the late 1930s. Some are very perceptive indeed.
I particularly like Irene Dunne and Fairbanks Jr., so I was disappointed with this entry in their filmographies. On a second viewing, I can see where much of the problem lies: the script, the direction, and the music (all things some previous reviewers have praised, I know).
The movie opens with the finale of Broadway musical star Maggie Garret's (Irene Dunne) new show. Dunne appears in a beautiful gown, surrounded by handsome young men in formal attire. She sings a number while dancing with one of the men. And it's boring. The music is instantly forgettable, and the choreography, despite the great staging, does nothing to capture our attention. This from RKO Studios, which at the same time was producing all those Astaire-Rodgers movies, many no doubt filmed on the same sound stage with the same sort of costumes, but with infinitely more interesting choreography and often truly memorable tunes - some of them by the same composer, Jerome Kern.
One of the scenes several reviewers singled out for praise was the skating rink scene. It's mildly amusing, because neither of the main characters knows how to skate, but only mildly. Again, RKO had produced similar scenes with Astaire, and Fox with Sonja Henie, that were both much better staged and filmed and much funnier.
The problem, then, in part was that the forces behind the screen - director, choreographer, composer - just didn't do a very good job here. Some of them did elsewhere, certainly. The director, Tay Garnett, produced classics like *The Postman Always Rings Twice*. The composer, Jerome Kern, gave us masterpieces like *Showboat* and *Roberta* (in the movies of which Dunne also starred). But here, they seem to have fallen down on the job.
The script is also weak. As others have remarked, the various family members are not developed. They have no individual personalities. I was also bothered that Dunne's Maggie was given no good reason for putting up with her free-loading family. In most respects she is presented from the beginning as an intelligent professional woman. It's therefore hard to buy why she would have put up with them so long.
So, as with the opening musical number, there's nothing really wrong with this movie. Dunne and Fairbanks are fun to watch, together and separately. But there's nothing memorable here. The actors and these scenes have been better elsewhere.
I particularly like Irene Dunne and Fairbanks Jr., so I was disappointed with this entry in their filmographies. On a second viewing, I can see where much of the problem lies: the script, the direction, and the music (all things some previous reviewers have praised, I know).
The movie opens with the finale of Broadway musical star Maggie Garret's (Irene Dunne) new show. Dunne appears in a beautiful gown, surrounded by handsome young men in formal attire. She sings a number while dancing with one of the men. And it's boring. The music is instantly forgettable, and the choreography, despite the great staging, does nothing to capture our attention. This from RKO Studios, which at the same time was producing all those Astaire-Rodgers movies, many no doubt filmed on the same sound stage with the same sort of costumes, but with infinitely more interesting choreography and often truly memorable tunes - some of them by the same composer, Jerome Kern.
One of the scenes several reviewers singled out for praise was the skating rink scene. It's mildly amusing, because neither of the main characters knows how to skate, but only mildly. Again, RKO had produced similar scenes with Astaire, and Fox with Sonja Henie, that were both much better staged and filmed and much funnier.
The problem, then, in part was that the forces behind the screen - director, choreographer, composer - just didn't do a very good job here. Some of them did elsewhere, certainly. The director, Tay Garnett, produced classics like *The Postman Always Rings Twice*. The composer, Jerome Kern, gave us masterpieces like *Showboat* and *Roberta* (in the movies of which Dunne also starred). But here, they seem to have fallen down on the job.
The script is also weak. As others have remarked, the various family members are not developed. They have no individual personalities. I was also bothered that Dunne's Maggie was given no good reason for putting up with her free-loading family. In most respects she is presented from the beginning as an intelligent professional woman. It's therefore hard to buy why she would have put up with them so long.
So, as with the opening musical number, there's nothing really wrong with this movie. Dunne and Fairbanks are fun to watch, together and separately. But there's nothing memorable here. The actors and these scenes have been better elsewhere.