Everybody Does It

If you liked the modern comedy The Fourth Tenor, you'll find the 1949 opera flick very funny. The ending is terrible, but it's entertaining up until the last ten minutes. Big-hearted teddy bear Paul Douglas plays an opera singer!

He starts the film completely in love with his wife, Celeste Holm. She has a deluded dream to be an opera singer herself, so Paul rents her a concert hall and bribes business acquaintances to fill up the seats. He buys her dozens of roses for her opening night, and even confronts a critic who refuses who write a review. Isn't he a dream? Yet, when Celeste finds out his secret (that he himself has a beautiful operatic singing voice), she attacks him with a golf club. Throughout the movie, she's made out to be a pretty terrible wife, so I don't know why he was so in love with her.

For those of us who prefer to see him paired up with Linda Darnell, good news: she's in this movie! She plays another opera singer (if you don't like that type of singing, don't even think of renting this movie), and she's impressed by Paul's devotion to his wife. She hears him sing accidentally and immediately wants him for her next leading man. So, for all the lack of chemistry between Paul and Celeste, he and Linda make up for it. They're such a great screen couple, you'll wish they got married in real life.

Parts of this movie are very funny, especially for Paul Douglas fan. I really couldn't stand Celeste Holm, and the message put forth in the end made me cringe. But if you want to rewrite the story and just enjoy the comedy, I won't tell anyone.

I grew up watching this movie! My father owns a 16mm film print. I can recite all of the lines in perfect time! I think for new timers to this movie, it requires two screenings. The first one gives you all of the story ideas and then the second one allows you to concentrate on how hilarious some of the lines and reactions really are. Ms. Holm did not have to learn to sing for this job - she was already an accomplished singer on stage. However, Linda Darnel and Paul Douglas had to have their singing voices dubbed, as neither of them had vocal abilities. My favorite lines are:

Len: Doris, would you just stop and listen? Doris: Stop starting everything you say with "listen". Len: Well alright then - but listen.

Cecil: We saw quite a bit of each other. But we could hardly help that since we were singing together. Mrs. Blair: You were doing what? Len: Singing! You understand English, don't you? Mrs. Blair: Well, perhaps he'll sing something for us now. Len: Sure. I'll sing for ya. I'll sing you bold legged, mother!

And lastly, the line that will make me laugh so hard I nearly wet my pants happens when Lenard Borland is pushing his mother-in-law out of his apartment...

Len: It's time that you should be going now. You're getting to old to be banging around time at this time of night!

(Just typing that line made me laugh out loud!!!)

I highly recommend everyone to see this movie. It's ashame that it isn't regularly shown on one of the classic movie channels or available (to the best of my knowledge) on DVD or Video tape. I wish 20th Century Fox would open up their vault to more hidden classics like this one.

If anyone is seriously interested in seeing this movie and can't find it, you can contact me. I have made a video transfer from my father's original 16mm film print. While the sound and picture are clean, you have to adjust to the fact that the flicker shows (moving from 16mm film to 30 frames per second causes flicker unless you have it transferred by pros! I just wanted it for my own personal collection, but would be willing to share!!!)

One of the all time sleeper... I cant tell you how super this little movie is. But it is a super LITTLE movie. What was called a B movie. What a laugh. The problem is its out of print and its not shown on TV any more... Paul Douglas is a man with a rich wife. He runs a wrecking company in NY and his wife wants to sing on stage. So he has to rent a hall and force all his friend to buy tickets. And she cant sang. At a party at the rich in-laws, he sings and breaks the mirror. Wonderful. But the wife is fit to be tied because she didn't know he has an opera quality voice. So she goes home first and gets a golf club out and stands on a chair in the dark to club him as he comes in. One of the ladies at the party is an opera singer and wants to get it own with him and talks him into taking lessons to refine his voice so she can take him on the road with her. But he is reluctant but does it lying to his wife about what city he is in and that he is looking for wrecking business. And then the big chance at the Met. He is a little sick and everyone gives him "their" best medicine to fix him up but it only cause him to become drunk.. and then he goes on stage..drunk..but it is what the wife needed to see, him in trouble in front of the world...The production is first rate as is the script and acting. Just a wonderful little movie. I have my TIVO set on Paul Douglas to see if I can catch this little movie and for the last 15 months no luck...but I will keep trying.

Paul Douglas is magnificent communicating his frustrations trying to placate his headstrong and self-deluded wife -- portrayed marvelously by Celeste Holm -- who persists in pursuing singing endeavors despite everybody's best efforts to let her know that she just doesn't quite have the talent. Enter sumptuous diva Linda Darnell with designs on ruggedly handsome (!?!) Douglas -- especially when she learns, to everyone's surprise, that he has a powerful voice. Charles Coburn and Lucile Watson lead an immensely talented supporting cast. The script delivers sophisticated yet rapid-fire wit while the direction conveys all the nuances perfectly, but still manages to deliver a couple of belly-laughs. I highly recommend watching Everybody Does It.

This is one of the best post war comedies. The performance of Paul Douglas is perfect against Linda Darnell. It has been said that Celeste Holm had to learn how not to sing, in order that she carry out this role.