My Dear Miss Aldrich

I can watch this movie a couple of times a year. It's astonishing in the MGM ham-handedness of the production. How we are to believe that Maureen O'Sullivan, with her trans-Altantic accent, or Edna May Oliver, with her stage-British, hail from Nebraska, is beyond me. MGM's idea of screwball comedy usually involved.... well, MGM didn't do screwball, unless you count casting Joan Crawford in SUSAN AND GOD.

Yet somehow, everything about this movie works. There's the Herman Mankiewicz script, of course, and the sure comedy direction of George Seitz and Miss Oliver is always absurd. Most of all, Walter Pidgeon is perfect as the lumber-minded Ken Morley.

Martha Aldrich (Maureen O'Sullivan) inherits a New York newspaper when the old owner died without a will. She's a distant relative and an "old maid schoolteacher from Nebraska". She is joined by Aunt Lou. Managing editor Ken Morley (Walter Pidgeon) is dismissive of a female owner or hiring any female reporters. Martha decides to prove him wrong.

This does have the great Maureen O'Sullivan but the character does not measure up in this battle of the sexes. I don't like that she stumbles into her stories more often than not. Her character has smarts and Maureen is really good at projecting smart. I would cut back on some of the girlie frivolity and add some small town ingenuity to her character. The movie takes a very screwball physical comedy turn in the second half. It needs to setup this tone at the start. Martha can have some funny trip back in Nebraska. Also, her getup is insane although old movies sometimes had crazy outfits. This is fine but it could have been better.

This is a quality MGM production. Overall, the film is pleasing and entertaining. The script plays it safe by suggesting female equality but allowing the hero to win the woman's heart by the end of the movie.

Edna May Oliver is, as always, the bright spot in the movie. No one can toss off a carefully crafted bon mot like Miss Oliver. Walter Pidgeon plays what amounts to a talking "Ken Doll". Maureen O'Sullivan is stunningly beautiful. This film shows that she has a far greater range than playing "Jane" in the MGM Tarzan movies.

The weak point in the film is the script which is Generic MGM - any number of Actors and Actresses could have played these roles.

"My Dear Miss Aldrich" begins with the death of a rich man. He has no will and his closest heir is Martha Aldrich. Suddenly, Aldrich is a very rich and important lady--the new owner of a newspaper! However, Aldrich (Maureen O'Sullivan) isn't content to just own the paper--she wants to be a reporter. But instead of just making herself a reporter, she politely asks the editor of the paper, Ken Morley (Walter Pidgeon, to hire her and treat her like any other employee. At the same time, Aldrich is starting to fall in love with Morley. What's going to happen to the pair as well as Aldrich's aspirations to become a reporter?

This film isn't especially deep and is very slight. But it's quite enjoyable and works a bit better because the wonderful Edna May Oliver is on hand as well. Worth seeing but far from a must-see.

Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Sullivan, and Edna May Oliver star in "My Dear Miss Aldrich," from 1937.

Martha Aldrich (O'Sullivan) is an advocate for women's rights and also a teacher. When she inherits a New York City newspaper, she and her aunt (Oliver) head for New York. There they meet the chauvinistic editor Ken Morley (Pidgeon) who has never had a woman on staff. Not having met Martha, he assumes she will be no problem, just some midwest schoolteacher.

The first thing she does is get a story no one else could get. She then asks for a job as a reporter. He reluctantly okays it. When a major strike is looming, Martha goes on a hunt to find out what's happening and scoop the other papers.

Maureen O'Sullivan is gorgeous and vivacious; Edna May Oliver steals all the scenes she's in; and Pidgeon does a good job, despite not being quite the rugged chauvinist that perhaps Spencer Tracy would have been. Pidgeon was too gentlemanly.

Oliver was 54 when she made this film and 59 when she died, having played the old aunt for most of her career. Remarkable.

An enjoyable movie, nothing special.