Lustige Sünder

Man oh Man. Harlow, Tracy, Powell and Loy in one film. There truly were more stars at MGM than in the heavens. This is one of the best screwball comedies of the 30's maybe only out done by My Man Godfrey. The script funny as heck even by todays standards. The acting top of the line. Tracy was great at comedy it's great that MGM allowed him to do one every know and then. Loy is Loy classy, sassy, funny and witty. Powell at the zenith of his game and Harlow glows and steals the film. Harlow marching around in a wedding dress is a hoot. It's hard to believe that within a year Jean Harlow would be dead. If it's on TCM or you see it in a video store grab it and see what a screwball comedy really looks like

In the best movies of the thirties, the stars are glib (in the best way) and glamorous. Libeled Lady is blessed with a clever script that serves up fastballs that the cast handles adroitly. And I have to credit the amazing wardrobe by Dolly Tree, made all the more remarkable as she was responsible for the wardrobes of 23 films in 1936. Loy's wardrobe, in particular, is impeccable.

This was the 5th in the series of William Powell/Myrna Loy pairings. They were cranking them out at a rate of about 2 per year during this period, so you might think that the chemistry between them would be stale or formulaic. But in Libeled Lady, the chemistry is fresh and the relationship between their characters is not just another Thin Man performance.

Then there are Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow. Tracy is adept at the machine-gun delivery required by this (screwball) comedy, and Harlow just shines, showing more depth of character and emotion than she is sometimes given credit for. After Libeled Lady, she only acted in two films, so the screen never saw what greater depths of performance she might have achieved. (She died of uremic poisoning during the filming of Saratoga Trunk)

The plot involves a newspaperman (Powell), good at the con, who ingratiates himself to a wealthy young woman (Loy) and her father in order to set her up for a blackmail situation. She suspects his motives, but he manages to pull her in. Plenty of plot curves ensue, adding humor and more character development.

I particularly liked the fishing scene. Without much dialogue it advances the plot, provides some laughs and shows that Dolly Tree can even make Myrna Loy look sexy in fishing gear.

This movie is over 70 years old but is far better than what mostly comes out of the film industry these days. The picture is genuinely funny and all the performers are excellent. In brief a newspaper who have libeled a lady need to get her legal action against them stopped to prevent the newspaper going out of business so they devise a plot to set up their victim. There are all sorts of comical twists and turns and plenty of good gags and amusing moments. The movie is very well directed, has an excellent script and the voters here on IMDb have got the high mark exactly right. Well done to Turner Classic Movies for showing this on their channel:

8/10

Spencer Tracy, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow star in "Libeled Lady," about the attempts to convince a society woman to drop a lawsuit against a newspaper.

Spencer Tracy is a scream in his role of a newspaper editor who has been engaged to Jean Harlow for some time, but his work keeps getting in the way of their marriage and relationship. His whole life revolves around his newspaper. When an heiress, played by Loy, sues the newspaper for libel, Tracy puts William Powell to work, hoping that by photographing them together, he can convince Loy to drop the suit. But it will only work if Powell is a married man caught cheating, so Tracy convinces Harlow to marry him.

Harlow is her usual feisty self. Powell is marvelous, especially in his fishing scenes, which are classics, especially the one in which he literally chases a trout through a stream. It's laugh out loud material if there ever was any. Loy has the least showy part, though she's quite beautiful and works well with Powell, portending great things to come.

This is a very enjoyable film with Tracy milking the comedy for all it's worth. Apparently his comedic work was a revelation back then, unlike today, when we know how adept he was at it.

The beginning of "Libeled Lady" shows its four stars walking arm in arm toward the camera. The stars being Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, some of the best actors working in Hollywood in the thirties!

Only a studio like MGM could pull this coup. They had in its heyday some of the best and more radiant figures in its payroll. As a studio, it could gather the best talents working in those days and create fabulous vehicles for them to shine, which is the case with this film. This delightful screwball comedy with romantic overtones has kept its luster even after almost seventy years since it was produced. Jack Conway directed with a light touch.

"Libeled Lady" got away with a lot having been filmed before the Hays Code got its grip in everything that was produced in Hollywood in the succeeding years. The dialog is quite frank and sophisticated, even for that era.

Jean Harlow had perhaps her best moment in the movies playing Gladys Benton, the woman who is engaged to be married and has her wedding postponed. William Powell, who was at the height of his career, and popularity, plays Bill Chandler, the man who is called to do a favor to the man that has fired him, by taking an interest in an heiress who is notorious for suing any newspaper that dares to print anything about her that is not true. Myrna Loy is the heiress, Connie Allenbury, who falls for the ruse that Bill Chandler is made to perform, but deep down she has fallen in love with him. Spencer Tracy is the editor of the newspaper in question, who concocts the plan to get the paper off the hook in paying the five million dollars.

In supporting roles we get to see some of the best actors of the time: Cora Witherspoon, William Connolly, Charlie Grapevine, William Benedict, Bunny Beatty, and others that enhance the film with their presence.

The film will not disappoint. It is one of the funniest comedies of that period.