Los enredos de una dama

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

A film with four stars of this magnitude was an event in 1936 and, indeed, it still is in 2004. Though the subject matter is slight and the acting is not too terribly taxing on the affable quartet, it was well-thought-of-enough to rate a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Tracy plays a newspaperman whose own wedding plans are interrupted by the fact that his paper has mistakingly run a libelous story about the daughter of one of his competitors. Loy, as the daughter, slaps a $5 million libel suit against Tracy's newspaper which, if won, will sink it. Since he knows he will lose, he rehires former employee Powell, who he feels will be able to charm Loy into an indelicate situation, thus rendering her reputation spoiled enough to cost her her libel suit. Part of the scheme, however, to make it seem legitimate is to marry off Powell to his own fiance (Harlow.) It is here that the film gets a lot of its laughs as desperate-to-wed Harlow finds herself getting married......but to the wrong man! Powell and Loy get most of the sparkling dialogue and sophisticated repartee, but contemporary audiences are likelier to get a kick out of mouthy, hilarious Harlow. Her comedic gifts (and her ample physical assets) are on prime display, notably when the judge says it's safe to kiss the bride and in a later scene where Powell is learning to fly-fish. All of the stars do very well and each gets a chance to rub up against the others. Powell and Loy are a legendary pairing with 14 films to show them off. Tracy does a slick job and shows his versatility. They are aided by a stable of amusing character actors, the type of people Hollywood was famous for and can no longer provide with regularity. (Today, almost any character actor that scores a hit is thrust into his/her own TV show, TV talk show or lead role in a film!) The film offers both wit and slapstick, wrapped up in some gorgeous sets and costumes. (The MGM gloss is fully in place.) Sadly, the light that was Harlow would be dimmed in just a year after this, but audiences are still able to enjoy her fine work in films like this.

... and it definitely is a roadmap on how to make a film that is interesting to adults and feels authentic during the production code era. And that was needed because for the first three or so years after the production code began to be enforced, the studios released some real stink bombs.

The New York Star prints a story that calls out socialite Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) as a home wrecker. The story turns out to be false, and Connie Allenbury sues the Star for five million dollars, which if awarded would cause th paper to go under.

The Star's managing editor Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy), once he unsuccessfully begs Connie to drop the suit, comes up with a plan to show her up as a homewrecker in another situation entirely, thus hoping to either get her to drop the suit at that point, or putting her in a position to lose the suit by reputation. He gets reporter and lady's man Bill Chandler (William Powell) to marry Warren's fiancee, Gladys (Jean Harlow) in what the three of them know to be a sham marriage. Bill is then supposed to woo Connie, after which his "wife" will burst in on them and accuse Connie of busting up her home. Complications ensue when Bill really does fall for Connie.

William Powell makes this movie with his combination of urbane charm, facial expressions, great comic timing, and something he rarely gets to show off - a real talent for slapstick comedy. Of course he and Myrna Loy always had great chemistry together, and another great tribute to his acting is that the script calls for the relationship between his character and his "wife" to seem strained - it does - when he and Jean Harlow were the actual real life couple in this film. Spencer Tracy is actually fourth billed at this point, but he's only been at MGM for a year and is still playing "the hard guy" at this point, and he has been playing similar roles for about five years. That will all change with "San Francisco".

Highly recommended and great for repeat viewings.

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

One might wonder about casting 4 heavyweights in the same film-- any one of the leads could carry a film by themselves-- but all together you're afraid that they might either weigh down the film or, ala the "Dream Team" 1990, fail to live up to expectations. But this is one time you time you will not be disappointed-- with hysterical antics by Jean Harlowe, the always dependable repartee between classy Myrna Lowe and suave William Powell, and Spencer Tracy proving for the first time that he can handle snappy dialogue like the best of 'em-- the chemistry between the cast makes every scene in this film a delight.

The banter flies so fast you'll miss it-- this is the height of screwball comedy. When people say they don't write them like this anymore, alas, they really don't.