The first time I watched this film, I started out my review by saying, "I'm surprised at how positive the other reviews here are of this film. And to be honest, I'm surprised that I have a negative view of this film...Maybe watch this once to enjoy Frank Morgan and Edna May Oliver. But this one gets a thumbs-down from me, despite my liking the cast very much."
I watched the film again last evening, and had a completely different take on it. I found it to be...well, I thought of the word charming and I thought of the word delightful.
Frank Morgan has long been my all-time favorite character/supporting actor. And this is classic Frank Morgan...and filmed the same year as he was the Wizard Of Oz (although he definitely looks a little pudgy here)! The other delight here is the wonderful Edna May Oliver, who turns in another of classically drool performances; she was an eccentric gem on screen!
Robert Young is the male love interest here, and does very nicely. Not so impressive was a rather limp role and performance by a generally underrated actress -- Mary Astor; Astor had a film career that seemed like a roller coaster ride, with this being one of her lesser roles. It could have been a good role -- she plays a broke woman out to find a millionaire...in this case Frank Morgan. Florence Rice is the love interest of Robert Young here; she does just fine. I have rarely seen any reason to be impressed with Reginald Owen, although he does his job here. Henry Hull, a veteran character actor, is interesting here.
The film is supposedly set in the German Alps, where Morgan -- a rich businessman -- goes incognito and is mistaken for a poor man who has won a contest to stay at a hotel in the Alps. Meanwhile, Young has no job, but is mistaken for being rich. Oliver is watching over her employer (Morgan), and the only real disappointment in the film is that in the end they don't realize how much they are for each other.
This is one of those B pictures that with a little more in terms of production values, might very well have been an A picture. A good example of the poor production values is how fake the background shots of the Alps look. Nevertheless, I do recommend this film to enjoy the wonderful Frank Morgan and the equally wonderful Edna May Oliver.
I watched the film again last evening, and had a completely different take on it. I found it to be...well, I thought of the word charming and I thought of the word delightful.
Frank Morgan has long been my all-time favorite character/supporting actor. And this is classic Frank Morgan...and filmed the same year as he was the Wizard Of Oz (although he definitely looks a little pudgy here)! The other delight here is the wonderful Edna May Oliver, who turns in another of classically drool performances; she was an eccentric gem on screen!
Robert Young is the male love interest here, and does very nicely. Not so impressive was a rather limp role and performance by a generally underrated actress -- Mary Astor; Astor had a film career that seemed like a roller coaster ride, with this being one of her lesser roles. It could have been a good role -- she plays a broke woman out to find a millionaire...in this case Frank Morgan. Florence Rice is the love interest of Robert Young here; she does just fine. I have rarely seen any reason to be impressed with Reginald Owen, although he does his job here. Henry Hull, a veteran character actor, is interesting here.
The film is supposedly set in the German Alps, where Morgan -- a rich businessman -- goes incognito and is mistaken for a poor man who has won a contest to stay at a hotel in the Alps. Meanwhile, Young has no job, but is mistaken for being rich. Oliver is watching over her employer (Morgan), and the only real disappointment in the film is that in the end they don't realize how much they are for each other.
This is one of those B pictures that with a little more in terms of production values, might very well have been an A picture. A good example of the poor production values is how fake the background shots of the Alps look. Nevertheless, I do recommend this film to enjoy the wonderful Frank Morgan and the equally wonderful Edna May Oliver.