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Carole Lombard and Ferdinand Gravet are "Fools for Scandal" in this 1938 comedy from Warner Brothers, also starring Ralph Bellamy and Allen Jenkins.

Lombard plays an incognito Hollywood star in Paris who meets Gravet, who falls for her. He's totally broke, and the best parts of the film are the trips to the pawn shop to free his tux, etc., which means his buddy (Jenkins) has to wear a sandwich board around town to advertise the shop. There's also a masquerade party where everyone goes as their favorite animal.

This is a very slight comedy, with Bellamy in the familiar role of Lombard's eager fiancée. Lombard's acting is quite frantic and high pitch, but she's lovely. Such a sad and early end to her life, I always feel sad when I see her.

Good performances, but unless you're a Lombard fanatic, you can skip this one.

This film is described in Carole Lombard's biography by Larry Swindell as "one of the horrendous flops of the thirties decade" and by Photoplay as "inane" and "pointless". I must say that I was expecting something as horrendous as Carole's 1933 movie "White Woman", but was pleasantly surprised to find this an endearing, lighthearted romp. The actors seemed to enjoy themselves and recognize that they were not filming Shakespeare, but a screwball comedy. The scenes are varied and interesting, the action moves along at a bright pace and things are anything but dull, including a surprise ending to top things off.

The only criticism I can make is that Carole does seem to shout her lines for some unknown reason. I assume this is the director's fault. And the overall tone of the movie should probably have been toned down and played with more sophistication in spots to give the film a little more class. In a few places it almost goes over the top into a "Three Stooges" mode. Ralph Bellamy really made me laugh a few times. However, Carole has never been more beautiful, and I was not turned off by Fernand Gravet's performance as so many seemed to have been at the time. Come on, no ones perfect. If this film had been made a few years earlier in her career, I think it could easily have been a classic.

Kay Winters (Carole Lombard) is vacationing in Europe under the name Kay Summers; she is a famous movie star from Hollywood but wants to avoid crowds. She runs into an attractive young man named Rene (Fernand Gravet) who is on route to a party of a mutual friend, but neither know of this connection. They decide to skip the party altogether and spend the evening dining out. After a delightful night, the two decide to see each other again, but Kay is all set to return to the states. Her love keeps her, though, and she and Rene meet. Soon, love turns sour for the couple and Rene does all he can to create a scandal for Kay. He takes a job as the cook in her home and before long the whole town is swarming with rumors about Kay's new beau.

This film starts out strong, wanes a bit in the middle, and then ends in a fit of laughter. Of course Lombard is best known for her ability with a comedic story, and this film is no exception. Gravet is quite impressive too. He is hysterical in the dinner scene where he does all he can to break up Kay and her fiancée (Ralph Bellamy).

The only thing I can't figure out is why Carole Lombard playing a movie star very much like Carole Lombard in Fools For Scandal is why she was going out with a drip like Ralph Bellamy in the first place? Can someone answer that question? I can't imagine her ever coming in contact with him except to buy insurance.

Fools For Scandal has Lombard over in Paris where she meets a penniless count played by Fernand Gravey who gets by on wit, charm and little else. He encounters Lombard and manages to charm his way into her household and he turns out to be a pretty good cook. The man has a way with Crepe Suzettes.

Of course this continental charmer is good also at getting Ralph Bellamy's goat. But that's the whole idea. Bellamy gets more than a few laughs with his exasperation.

Fools For Scandal is not one of Lombard's really great films, but it certainly will satisfy her legion of fans. There's also nice parts for Marie Wilson as Lombard's maid as her usual vacuous self and Allen Jenkins who is Gravey's American friend from Brooklyn.

Now how did those two get together?

Only because CAROLE LOMBARD and FERNAND GRAVET (he played Johann Strauss in "The Great Waltz") are shown enjoying themselves during a blooper moment on the dinner set of FOOLS FOR SCANDAL (in The Big Breakdowns of '38), did I want to see this romantic comedy. Turns out not to be quite the lark I expected, even though it has the usual Warner contract players in the supporting cast, including RALPH BELLAMY, ALLEN JENKINS, ISABEL JEANS and MARIE Wilson.

In the blooper, Carole had trouble digging into her steak which triggered an outburst from her and giggles from the other players. It was so amusing that I wanted to see the actual scene in the movie.

Unfortunately, FOOLS FOR SCANDAL is the screwiest kind of screwball comedy. None of the characters are the least bit grounded in any kind of reality, strictly cut-outs with dull one-liners as they confront one silly situation after another. The plot is something about a screen actress (Lombard) being stalked by a charming Frenchman whom she eventually hires as a cook. All of her female friends are crazy about him--and she's just, well--crazy. CAROLE LOMBARD plays her role at a fever pitch of fast talking nonsense and FERNAND GRAVET joins the mad pace with good humored sportsmanship. RALPH BELLAMY has his usual third wheel role of a man earnestly in love with Carole but obviously not headed for the altar at the final reel. He plays his role like an eager puppy wanting to please, but the results are still rather meager.

Summing up: Contrived screwball comedy is enjoyable only for the performances of the three leads, but the situations are unbelievable and overacted in the sledgehammer style of acting prevalent in Warner comedies of the '30s.