When Ladies Meet

I had a blast watching this sparkling and affable MGM classic - the first and best adaptation of Crothers' luridly sophisticated play, beautifully shot in black and white with some stylish Cedric Gibbons art direction. Elegant and effervescent, this pre-Code film is a triumph of casting: Myrna Loy, Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Alice Brady, and Frank Morgan all in top form. Loy is surprisingly enjoyable as the lady novelist Mary who is deeply in love with the publisher Rodge (Morgan). I agree Ann Harding steals the show; she never looked beautiful and radiant as the wife of the publisher. Alice Brady is a revelation as the whimsical society matron Bridget. The film sometimes feels too gabby but it is aided by the stars' charisma and a tremendously witty dialogue.

Hey, I like both versions of this film. Not into parsing them either. The assembled talent, story, parts, clothes, set. This is the kind of movie I like to watch multiple times. First, watch the movie through. Then, maybe follow separate characters through. There's a lot going on. Then, watch the clothes. Then, check out the house, furniture, etc. There was so much style put into these. All of these elements are what made these 30's and 40's films so special. I don't understand why all the comparisons and nitpicking. This film has a lot to enjoy. It's entertainment, folks. If you don't find something so, leave it alone. Simple enough.

I wonder if millennials have even heard of the double standard. It used to be a real thing and a well-know phrase. It underlies one of the threads of this film's plot. Simply put, it meant it was OK for a man to have sex before marriage but if a woman did she was "a fallen woman" "a tramp" and some worse names. This begs the question of with whom the males were supposed to romp, but that's in tomorrow's lesson.

The central character is Mary (Myrna Loy), a successful novelist, unmarried and in love with a married man. She has based the protagonist of her latest, almost-finished, novel on herself. In the end of the novel this character gets the man and all concerned, even the wife, approve because their love is something so wonderful. This makes for a clever plot device in the film, as Mary gets to discuss the work in progress with various people with various degrees of understanding how autobiographical it is. One of these conversations leads to the film's climax and is a genuinely unsettling scene.

The hero, Jimmie (Robert Montgomery), is a type common in 1930s films, The Idle Rich Playboy With a Heart of Gold. He lectures her sternly on the importance of the double standard, gallantly explaining "Gosh, I've persuaded so many women and hated them afterward." The noble virtuous sort. Naturally he has an ulterior motive, namely Mary, whom he wants for himself, but only if legitimized by the marriage ceremony, and of course undefiled.

Jimmie's efforts don't stop there. He manages to intrude or otherwise disturb Mary and her lover whenever they have a moment together. It took me a while to realize that he was doing so to prevent their affair from being "consummated" as they used to say, since in the year 2020 I at first assumed it had already been consummated.

So, like many early-30s films, it's not only well done but gives you some insight into what was going on in those days. And as in many such, the final twists and turns look predictable but turn out be not exactly what you expected.

Definitely not an "action" film and a bit of a talkfest at times. Sometimes the characters seem to be debating rather than conversing. Lightened a bit by Alice Brady as a ditsy middle-aged rich woman with a boy toy. Her character helps move the plot along in places by blabbing people's secrets, then pretending it was an accident. You know the type.

What a thought provoking and stimulating movie. One begins to sense what was lost due restriction of the Hays Commission. The svelte Ann Harding steels the show. She literally makes you fall in love with her character. Frank Morgan's role was very different from those that he later played. The sincere caring that the two female characters had for one another shows a sophistication that is as entrancing as it is admirable.

.....that you can't help but like. Whether it's her unusual beauty, her sensuous speaking voice, her obvious intelligence - all together she has enormous appeal. She was extremely popular in the early thirties before fans tired of her "stiff upper lip" portrayals and they found favourites with more down to earth appeal. Her best known film is probably "The Animal Kingdom" and the cinema rivalry in that film between Harding and Myrna Loy was such a hit that they were paired again in "When Ladies Meet", a scintillating comedy adapted from Rachel Crothers play.

Mary Howard (Myrna Loy) is a best selling author who is seeing a lot of her publisher, Rogers Woodruf - for business purposes!!! Her dizzy friend Bridgit (Alice Brady) tells her she should "go for it" after all his wife is an "awful dub"!! "He's a married man" - "I know, the best ones always are"!! Unbeknownst to everyone they are having a very secret affair. Her new book is very close to her heart - it is about a woman, having an affair with a married man, who wants to confront his wife and have a heart to heart talk - her lover is against it, much the same as her real life situation.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Lee (an annoying Robert Montgomery), who spends a lot of his free time proposing to Mary, who rejects him just as frequently, starts spending time with Claire (Ann Harding), Roger Woodruf's wife, who is more darling than dub!!! Knowing that Mary is staying at Bridgit's for the weekend, he "accidentally on purpose" brings Claire for a visit. Even though their friendship is platonic, for a gag, Jimmie suggests they give the impression that they are... .... to make Mary jealous -"I'm dust under her feet - not the cream in her coffee"!!! Claire throws herself into her role with great gusto - "Jimmy-Jimmy, did I leave my handkerchief with you, when we were waiting to be alone!!!"

The film only picks up when Ann Harding appears - even though she didn't appear until almost half an hour into the film. MGM was just starting to realise what they had in Myrna Loy. Even though she is the second billed actress - she is the main character. But Ann Harding was a real delight, I agree with some of the other reviewers, she steals the movie with her elegance and sophistication, the scenes between her and Myrna Loy are riveting to watch. The first half hour was pretty "talkie" without much being said. Robert Montgomery, who has never been a favourite of mine, played his usual type, shallow playboy who never seems to have employment (he is supposed to be a reporter and he occasionally mentions deadlines, but never meets them)!!!! Frank Morgan plays Rogers Woodruf, the publisher both women seem to be crazy about. But apart from Alice Brady as balmy Bridgit, together Ann Harding and Myrna Loy wipe everyone else off the screen. The conversations they have "When Ladies Meet" make for essential viewing.

Highly Recommended.