A madcap, if lightweight screwball comedy with Tyrone Power and Loretta Young making like Grant and Hepburn in this Tay Garnett-directed feature. Power is the maverick ace reporter at the New York Post who scoops his fellow-newshounds by deceiving Young, the eligible millionaire heiress "It Girl" of the day into giving him an exclusive interview. When she gets wise to his ruse, she repays him in kind, not by reporting him to the Press Complaints Commission as you might expect but by declaring to the world that he's her fiancé and that they're to be married within a month. It could only happen in a 30's Hollywood picture like this of course.
From there, things proceed on a hair-brained will-they-won't-they basis until the unsurprising ending barely 77 minutes later. It's pleasantly agreeable but the comedy here can't compete with its obvious staging posts "His Girl Friday" or "Bringing Up Baby".
Power shows he has the facility to play light comedy and Young is probably the best thing about the film as she runs rings around Power and the rest of the paparazzi who regularly make her life a misery. Don Ameche too is good value as Power's literally drag-out-knockdown editor and the distinctive Elisha Cook Jr makes an early appearance as the office junior who gets in above his head. The weirdest piece of casting is the ubiquitous George Sanders as an effete titled gold-digger after Young's millions. I swear he looks uncomfortable with every line he utters.
The piece didn't lack for pace and I enjoyed the running gags about Ameche's always-on-the-phone wife, "Yes, Mabel", his forever hiring-and-firing of Power from the paper and their ongoing fisticuffs.
Compared to some of the real classics, the writing just isn't as sharp as it needs to be and there's also the deplorable, subservient treatment of the Stepin Fetchit character too to further denigrate the viewing experience. But with the enthusiastic playing of the three leads to carry it through, you'll be hard-pressed (ouch!) to hate it.
From there, things proceed on a hair-brained will-they-won't-they basis until the unsurprising ending barely 77 minutes later. It's pleasantly agreeable but the comedy here can't compete with its obvious staging posts "His Girl Friday" or "Bringing Up Baby".
Power shows he has the facility to play light comedy and Young is probably the best thing about the film as she runs rings around Power and the rest of the paparazzi who regularly make her life a misery. Don Ameche too is good value as Power's literally drag-out-knockdown editor and the distinctive Elisha Cook Jr makes an early appearance as the office junior who gets in above his head. The weirdest piece of casting is the ubiquitous George Sanders as an effete titled gold-digger after Young's millions. I swear he looks uncomfortable with every line he utters.
The piece didn't lack for pace and I enjoyed the running gags about Ameche's always-on-the-phone wife, "Yes, Mabel", his forever hiring-and-firing of Power from the paper and their ongoing fisticuffs.
Compared to some of the real classics, the writing just isn't as sharp as it needs to be and there's also the deplorable, subservient treatment of the Stepin Fetchit character too to further denigrate the viewing experience. But with the enthusiastic playing of the three leads to carry it through, you'll be hard-pressed (ouch!) to hate it.