Amor y periodismo

Not knowing this, I approached it with trepidation thinking : Oh no, not another loud un-funny so-called Screwball Comedy. But wow - this is actually brilliant. Guaranteed to make you smile for 80 minutes!

If only all Screwball Comedies were this good I wouldn't have avoided them all my life. I love BRINGING UP BABY and IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT but loathed the plethora of all those formulaic copy cat movies. They're all essentially drivel .... or so I thought until finding this - the third best 1930s Screwball Comedy!

Admittedly I confess that I only watched this for of the pleasure of seeing lovely Loretta Young for an hour and a bit - undoubtedly the most beautiful young woman who's ever lived. I'm so glad I did and not just for opportunity to seeing my bird. It's surprisingly genuinely funny from start to finish. Perfectly directed at a perfect pace (again by the hugely underrated Tay Garnet), it's witty, well acted and professional.

It's hardly an original story, a cynic might call it a complete rip off of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT but what makes this special is the likeability of its cast. Apparently these comedies legally required a prescribed cast of a ditzy heiress, a mischievous rakish reporter, a newspaper editor on the verge of a nervous breakdown and a gruff but wise old parent. OK, it is a rip-off but Power, Young and Ameche seem to be having such genuine fun together and are just so nice, you can't help but love them all and love this wonderfully sweet, sparkling and silly film.

this is one of those fast talking reporter movies that makes you laugh a lot-- and wish that you were a reporter...or an heiress. when steve tricks Toni into giving him an interview she tells all the other papers in town that they're engaged to show him what it feels like to be a "public freak". they fight it out throughout the entire movie..trying to outwit the other the whole way. they end up in jail together, in mud puddles, steve gets caught with his pants off and Toni deals with her ex husband, the Count. and of course they fall in love...choosing not to admit it to the other. it's a pretty cute movie if you like romance, comedy, tyrone power, don ameche and/or loretta young.

Love is News (1937)

*** (out of 4)

Loretta Young plays a millionaire with a strong hatred of the press who she feels is constantly telling lies on her. One reporter (Tyrone Power) is the most guilty with his lies but Young plans on getting even by announcing to the world that they're going to be married. This way the reporter will know what it's like to be in the spotlight all the time. I read a couple negative reviews of this film but I thought they were way too hard on the film, which I found to be incredibly entertaining throughout with some terrific laughs from the cast. Young is my favorite actress and she delivers another strong performance here as she really captures that society girl image and delivers great comic timing. Power also comes off terrific as does Don Ameche in his role as Power's editor. The two men are constantly battling over the headlines and their comic timing together is wonderful and adds many laughs. Power also works great with Young and the two deliver the laughs as well as the romantic angle. George Sanders has a small role as Young's ex-fiancé. The film runs 78-minutes and there are very few scenes that don't work. The screwball antics are all very funny and the entire situation just makes for some wonderful laughs. One of the highlights is a scene in the bar where Power and another reporter are playing checkers on the floor with whiskey and beer.

Screwball comedy mixed with romance has worked so well in many films, 'The Awful Truth' immediately springing to mind, though there are also a fair share of unsuccessful endeavours. Tay Garnett will never go down in my estimations as one of the greatest directors, but he is deserving of more credit. There is always a main reason or two for me when watching a film, in 'Love is News' case that main reason is the cast. Talented actors in roles that sounded just right for them conceptually.

'Love is News' will never be one of my all-time favourites and it is not quite one of the all-time best screwball comedies. It succeeds (hugely so) much more than it fails, and actually it never really does that, though and is an immensely enjoyable film in its own right. It is not to be seen for its plot, but if one wants to see a deftly written and easy to like film with a lot of talent on display to distract one from all the stress 'Love is News' very much does the trick.

The least good asset is the story, which can get very far-fetched and tends to be quite slight. One should expect to see a lot of credulity straining, the latter stages of 'Love is News' is full of that.

On the other hand, there is an enormous amount to like here. For one thing, it is beautifully acted by these very talented actors. All in roles perfect for them and ones that they did prove more than once in other films that they could do them well. Tyrone Power is in his element and gives an immensely appealing performance full of life and strong comic timing. Loretta Young is in the type of role she could do easily and do it in her sleep, she is as perky, charming and amusing as ever and there is no going through the motions here. Don Ameche's role is not that challenging and is quite one-dimensional, but he acts the heck out of it and clearly was having fun.

Slim Summerville is hilarious and his material is a highlight. George Sanders did deserve a larger part but he does very well with what he has, few people did suave cads better than him and his performance here does nothing to change the mind. The rest of the cast are fine, though to me Stepin Fetchit didn't really fit with everything else. The film is slickly directed, with things moving along at a crisp pace, and it looks lovely. The photography doesn't try to do too much and is framed beautifully. The costumes are stylish too.

Music is lively and there is some nice use of pre-existing material. The script is full of hilarious and not over-worked lines and witty, tasteful banter. There is sparkling chemistry between the leads. Along with the comedy, the romantic angle is genuinely charming without being too frothy and the energy is present and crackles throughout.

In conclusion, immensely enjoyable. 8/10

Back when this film was made in the mid Thirties there seem to be an abundance of films about madcap heiresses. In the middle of the Great Depression films about the rich partying away seemed to find an audience.

Back then the real life model was Peggy Hopkins Joyce, today it's Paris Hilton. We just love to read about the rich doing their reveling.

So the premise is a bit ludicrous about Loretta Young getting very angry at the newspaper reporters for reporting on her every move. Believe me if she didn't want publicity she wouldn't get any. Believe it or not, then as now, there are rich people out there who are not tabloid fodder.

But I guess anyone can get a little cranky and Loretta has come her time of crankiness in Love Is News. When an especially enterprising reporter gets on board her private plane, she's had it. While reporter Tyrone Power thinks he's scooped his colleagues, Young has an impromptu press conference with the others and announces she's engaged to Tyrone Power.

And then Power as he was in real life becomes the object of a lot of tabloid fodder. His editor is Don Ameche who keeps firing and hiring him back to straighten the mess out. If this were done at Warner Brothers, Love Is News would have been perfect for James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.

Twelve years later Power did a remake of this same film with Gene Tierney. Hard to choose between the two which is better.

Ty is at the beginning of his career and Darryl Zanuck was casting him in all kinds of parts, comedic, adventurous, dramatic. And Power himself was perfecting his screen image.

Best scenes in the film involve small town judge Slim Summerville who Young comes up before for speeding and that sets up a whole bunch of funny situations.

I can see this being remade today, unless Paris Hilton herself wants to star in it.