Un mauvais garçon

... and I could definitely feel the chemistry between Lombard and Gable, even if they could not at this point. But it is a rather understated affair, even dragging at times.

It starts out lively and with promise, as a group of four card sharps make a killing against a mark and divide their loot. But afterwards a cop, Collins, comes up to speak to the ringleader, Jerry Stewart (Clark Gable), and lets him know he's on to what he's doing and is watching him. Also that same night, Jerry breaks up with one of his fellow card sharps, Kay (Dorothy Mackail), and she threatens to go to the DA about their activities in retaliation. Jerry decides to leave town for awhile until the immediate heat is off and travels to the tiny hamlet of Glendale. There he meets somebody who is as bored with the place as he is, town librarian Connie Randall (Carole Lombard). Things heat up quickly between them and they impulsively marry. Jerry never told Connie what he really does for a living, letting her believe he is a stockbroker. But being a gambler is all he knows, so what now, once they are back in New York? Complications ensue.

This is not a screwball comedy with Lombard doing her trademark screwball comedienne act. Lombard is a dramatic actress at this point, and doesn't really begin to hone her comedic chops until "Twentieth Century" in 1934. Gable is the one mainly carrying any comedic weight in this film, which is something he always did well.

I'd mildly recommend it mainly to see the only screen pairing of Lombard and Gable, years before they had any romantic interest in one another.

This is a pleasant kind of tale, easygoing and amusing. Clark Gable as the gambler Babe Stewart, meets quiet (i.e. repressed) librarian Connie Randall, played by Carole Lombard. At the library, when he corners her amongst the bookshelves, she asks, "Do you like Shakespeare?" and I like Gable's reply, "Oh Shakespeare's alright but sometimes you just don't feel like Shakespeare" says he gazing deep into her eyes. Just an amusing moment.

After a hesitant start they inevitably fall in love and impulsively decide to wed, and thereafter the plot unfolds. Gable resumes his dishonest card sniping activities (i.e. racket), however this clashes with the wifey on the domestic front. In time he plans to reform his ways, "Things gotta be different from now on," he tells the police, but there are complications ahead.

It's very interesting to see a younger Clark Gable who even at this stage was well established in his screen presence. And Carole Lombard couldn't be more beautiful! Great viewing for the fans of Gable and Lombard.

The perks of this movie are many: a fun screwball comedy set-up involving card-sharking, two beautiful stars looking young and fantastic (you'll see why women first fell in love with Clarke Gable, and found him ideal to play Rhett Butler), the only on screen pairing of said stars, who were to become husband and wife. He would love her long after she died in a tragic plane accident on a mission to sell war bonds (i think it was). Another perk is the pre-production code raunchiness. You may notice that any movie made between 1930-1934 seems a lot racier than movies made before or after then. This is because in this short period there was no censorship of movie content, and no rules to say what you could and could not show on screen. This was left to the filmmaker's discretion. So you'll find shots of Gable in the shower, and Lombard also, though she is much less exposed. Not actual nudity, of course, but open sexiness banished from movies from 1934 till whenever the Hayes code ended - such as Gable asking Lombard the librarian to fetch him a book from the top shelf so she has to climb up the ladder and he can look at her legs.

If you've never seen a screwball comedy, you might be pleasantly surprised. They're all pretty fun. Bringing up Baby with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn is probably the best one. They were all the rage in the 30's, and Carole Lombard was the ideal screwball heroine. To be recommended.

I think other reviewers heard that this was supposed to be "a screwball comedy" and ran with that idea because they didn't know what else to say. I didn't see anything light and fluffy or "screwball" about it. Perhaps "offbeat" might be a more apt characterization. Gable's interpretation of the New York gambler was interesting because something in his usual sort of charming yet manly approach was notably lacking. He possessed the irreverent and utterly confident attitude we have come to associate with his other performances, but a number of his youthful facial expressions were of a more complex and unfamiliar sort. The reserved yet knowing way he nodded howdy-do upon introduction to Lombard's mother and then her father was especially amusing, I thought. There were also the many intriguing interactions with the actress, herself, particularly with regard to the touchy subjects of marriage and stability. The oft-subtle writing in this flick made for several interesting moments and both actors were fully up to the challenge of a sensitive and intelligent interpretation of the script. It is also interesting that there was allegedly no actual romantic attachment between these two because the chemistry was already quite evident. It must have miffed a number of the more glamorous Hollywood starlets when Lombard won Gable's heart in real life. Although beautiful, she wasn't glamorous, nor was she pretentious and affected, but more like the girl next door. I read that the library scene (where Gable sent her up a ladder as an excuse to examine her legs) single-handedly started some sort of decency league in the motion picture industry. The bluenoses are always with us, aren't they, shoving their childish attitudes down the throats of the adults. Much more risqué was the scene in which Lombard's predecessor, Kay, appeared on screen in a see-through nightgown that revealed critical aspects of her anatomy, both front and back. The thirties obviously were a much less prudish time because her gentlemen friends didn't even pay much attention, at least not overtly, and scenes such as that would not appear in movies again until the sixties. We've noted a similar sensuality in other movies from that era. As a society, we keep coming back to the cultural doldrums, where they are pushing wealth or war or something else that always seems to further the interests of those in control. Unconventional times like the thirties and the sixties are few and far between. It showed in this movie.

I mainly got this out because I wanted to see some eye candy: Clark Gable and the wonderful Carole Lombard (plus all the wonderful '30s fashions). It's a good screwball comedy, but a little boring until Carole Lombard comes into the picture. I found some scenes unnecessary and a little boring, but there are some genuinely good scenes with Lombard in it - she really is the queen of screwball comedies. Her comic timing is wonderful. I was very much impressed. Clark is as usual very handsome and sexy. I'm not familiar with the pre Hollywood code but I guess this would be fairly risqué as Carole is shown in her underwear. A good movie, nothing special, but fun to watch.