Maybe it's the presence of befuddled Edward Everett Horton, maybe it's the art deco sets, maybe it's rich people being silly but this sweet little motion picture feels very much like one of those lovely daft movies Fred and Ginger would make in a few years' time....but without the singing and dancing.
As an hour of lightweight vintage fun this is perfect! There's absolutely nothing special or memorable about it, there's no deep meaning, in fact you'll probably forget that you've seen it in a couple of days - however if you like that TOP HAT style of sophisticated but ultimately silly humour, you will find this genuinely funny.
Although it looks like an RKO film, it's a Warner Brothers film and if you are familiar with early 30s WB movies you will recognize everyone who pops up here. Genevieve Tobin doesn't often get to play the lead but here she does and she's actually fantastic. I might be a little biased because in this film she looks remarkably like Joan Blondell (who of course was the sexiest woman who ever walked upon the face of the Earth) but posher. There's even that same bath scene from BLONDE CRAZY with Genevieve Tobin being equally as funny and equally as hot!
Warner's films from this era were infamous for being penny-pinching. They were short and not one single millimetre of film could be wasted. There was no time for building up a scene, no time for background, every frame had to be accounted for. This one takes that philosophy to the absolute limit and yet it somehow manages to look really classy. What makes this unlike other WB comedy romances from about the same time such as GOODBYE AGAIN or SMARTY (apart from them starring Joan Blondell, the living goddess herself) is that this doesn't waste a fraction of a second on anything that's not progressing the story. Unlike those other movies, there's no sub-plots, no hint of The Depression, there's no mildly thought-provoking issues; in fact, there's no time to actually think. It's all done in an hour and it works. Guy Kibbee for example looks like he ran over from another set to read his lines and then ran back again but somehow it doesn't feel rushed, just fun.
Just switch your mind off, sit in from of the screen and smile to yourself for an hour.
As an hour of lightweight vintage fun this is perfect! There's absolutely nothing special or memorable about it, there's no deep meaning, in fact you'll probably forget that you've seen it in a couple of days - however if you like that TOP HAT style of sophisticated but ultimately silly humour, you will find this genuinely funny.
Although it looks like an RKO film, it's a Warner Brothers film and if you are familiar with early 30s WB movies you will recognize everyone who pops up here. Genevieve Tobin doesn't often get to play the lead but here she does and she's actually fantastic. I might be a little biased because in this film she looks remarkably like Joan Blondell (who of course was the sexiest woman who ever walked upon the face of the Earth) but posher. There's even that same bath scene from BLONDE CRAZY with Genevieve Tobin being equally as funny and equally as hot!
Warner's films from this era were infamous for being penny-pinching. They were short and not one single millimetre of film could be wasted. There was no time for building up a scene, no time for background, every frame had to be accounted for. This one takes that philosophy to the absolute limit and yet it somehow manages to look really classy. What makes this unlike other WB comedy romances from about the same time such as GOODBYE AGAIN or SMARTY (apart from them starring Joan Blondell, the living goddess herself) is that this doesn't waste a fraction of a second on anything that's not progressing the story. Unlike those other movies, there's no sub-plots, no hint of The Depression, there's no mildly thought-provoking issues; in fact, there's no time to actually think. It's all done in an hour and it works. Guy Kibbee for example looks like he ran over from another set to read his lines and then ran back again but somehow it doesn't feel rushed, just fun.
Just switch your mind off, sit in from of the screen and smile to yourself for an hour.