Gregory LaCava was one of the greatest directors of madcap comedy film in the Thirties. W. C. Fields, a good friend and drinking companion, not a man known to waste compliments, once said of LaCava: "I hate his guts, but he's the greatest director that ever lived." Fields often asked LaCava, uncredited, to direct him in scenes in other director's films. LaCava has left us two well-made,original films under his own name: MY MAN GODFREY (1936) and STAGE DOOR (1937), as well as many lesser films, LADY IN A JAM (made at Universal in 1942) being one of them. The film has some wonderful actors--among them, the enchanting Irene Dunne as the ditzy heiress reminiscent of Kate Hepburn in BRINGING UP BABY; Ralph Bellamy as the bumbling songwriting cowpoke; Eugene Pallette as the growly trustee of Irene's failed estate; and little Queenie Vassar as the owner of the abandoned gold mine. The major fault in the film, however, is the choice of Irene's co-star, the handsome and likeable Englishman actor Patric Knowles. Cast here as a confused innocent, a psychiatrist who abandons his profession to be chauffeur and nursemaid to the heiress. The script by LaCava's longtime collaborator Eugene Thackery doesn't give him much to do other than to act frustrated or befuddled. Consequently, the romantic moments don't come off. Perhaps Henry Fonda or Cary Grant might have made something more of the underwritten role, but sadly Knowles, competent and likeable as he was, had none of the others sexual allure. We wonder why a dynamo like Dunne would have found someone so passive attractive. Despite the silly and often improbable story, there are many delightful moments, perfectly staged and cast by the great La Cava. His career came to an end in 1948 with another miss, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS with Robert Walker and Ava Gardner, but his best work lives on.
Review of Lady in a Jam
