Love on the Run

This is a very good film and I enjoyed it very much. Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone give great performances.

One of the highlights of this film is the delightful comedy cameo by that great character actor, Donald Meek as the batty caretaker at the Palace of Fontainebleu!! His scenes alone are priceless!! Don't miss this film, as it is a very good comedy--not so much a slapstick comedy, or a comedy that overdoes it with hammy performances, but it is a winner all the way!! Be sure and try to catch it next time it is on television--it is very good and you won't be disappointed from it!!

Heiress Joan Crawford runs out on her wedding and becomes involved with reporters, spies, and a castle in "Love on the Run," a 1936 comedy also starring Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, William Demarest and Donald Meek.

A really top cast makes this a winner. There were so many of these nutty heiress comedies in the '30s - "Bringing Up Baby," "Taming the Wild," "The Mad Miss Manton" come to mind without trying. Despite the Depression, there must have been a lot of heiresses around. This particular comedy has shades of another madcap heiress film, "Love is News," but is quite a bit crazier. Crawford plays Sally Parker, who, on finding she must sign a paper giving her new royal husband $3 million, bolts. An attractive man all decked out for the wedding offers to help her escape. It's Mike (Clark Gable) and he's playing an ambitious reporter who actually cheated his main rival, Barney (Franchot Tone) out of this particular story. Mike and Sally take off in a plane intended for two Russians and their highly publicized flight - except that while in the plane, Sally finds a strange-looking map, and Mike realizes these Russian fliers are spies. After a crash landing in Europe, the two spend the night in a palace with a crazy caretaker (Donald Meek). Meek, with his bowing and scraping to what he thinks are two ghosts and petting his imaginary dog, nearly steals the entire movie. He's hilarious, particularly when he checks to see if a gun is loaded by pointing it at his head and shooting.

Eventually the Russians appear trying to get their map and the hapless Barney catches up with Mike, who keeps duping him, and Barney falls for it every time.

It doesn't matter if the basic plot is derivative, it's still energetic fun and highly entertaining. Crawford is excellent and looks smashing in a series of outfits - even one originally worn by the Russian spy - it fits her perfectly! Gable is a charming devil, and Tone, a marvelous actor, plays the comedy to perfection. They all have terrific chemistry with one another, as well they should, with Crawford being Mrs. Tone and having been involved with Gable.

A very funny entry from MGM.

This one is worth seeing for Crawford's delightful performance: she positively glows as the madcap heiress on the run. Despite the silly story and uneven performance from Gable (his legendary chemistry with Crawford is nonetheless in evidence), there is always the snappy dialogue (much of it written by John Lee Mahin of "Red Dust" and "Bombshell"), to keep the laughs coming. Crawford's then husband Franchot Tone plays Gable's fellow reporter. For anyone who wonders why she is called the ultimate movie star.

This movie is an obvious re-working of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and is a couple steps below it in quality. However, considering that Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and Franchot Tone do such a good job with the material, it's still an excellent film. That's because despite the familiarity of the material, the movie is so much fun to watch. The dialog is snappy and the pacing is great. And, despite the film being pretty predictable (as most were of the era), I didn't mind and felt myself being caught up in the movie.

Joan is a runaway bride and Gable is the cad pretending to help her but he's got a secret agenda. In the end, they are head-over-heels and the movie closes. Sounds familiar? Of course, but who cares--it's still lovely to watch.

So much potential here, and it easily could have been a great film if the second half was as good as the first. Even if the idea for the story was not novel, it sounded really entertaining and intriguing. When Joan Crawford was on form, she blistered. So did Clark Gable, although the likeability of his characters varied he never stopped being likeable as an actor. Franchot Tone was great in the more suave roles. WS Van Dyke did some good films such as 'The Thin Man' and 'I Love You Again'.

'Love on the Run' is not one of Van Dyke's better films though, somewhere slap bang in the middle. Actually enjoyed it quite a bit on the most part and all three stars and the support are on fine form (if not at their best), but 'Love on the Run' is somewhat uneven as an overall whole. Starting off so well and with such amazing promise, but lost focus in the latter stages as a result of trying too hard. Recommendable for fans of this type of film and if seeing all the work of the actors and Van Dyke, yet not a must see.

There are plenty of good things about 'Love on the Run'. It looks attractive, especially the stylish photography with camera angles that clearly loved Crawford (without being too absorbed in her) and the truly elegant costumes, Crawford looks stunning. The sets may not be authentic and somewhat studio-bound but don't look cheap. Franz Waxman was one of the finest film composers at that time and his score is typically lush without being over-scored.. Van Dyke keeps things moving at a lively clip and it is accomplished in the first half.

As said the first half is great, full of sparkling wit, energy and charm. Surprises may not have been many but it wasn't overly predictable at the same time. 'Love on the Run' benefits greatly from a very snappy script that is full of wit and sophistication for a lot of the length. Crawford is photogenic and charm and un-forced comic timing to spare without over-acting. Gable is dashing and suave, his character is not a likeable one but Gable sinks his teeth into the role and does wonders with it. Tone is dapper and doesn't look embarrassed by his material, taking the humiliations with such easy-going charm and professionalism. The chemistry between the three looks genuine and they looked like they were having fun with each other. Donald Meek is hilarious and the supporting cast standout.

Did feel however that the second half wasn't as strong. Would go as far to say that in terms of story and execution it was almost like watching a different and inferior film with too much of a jarring gear-change. The spy subplot too often goes well overboard on the silliness to a ridiculous degree and some of the humour strains too hard for laughs and feels contrived instead.

Pace-wise, the latter stages don't have quite as much of the energy seen in the first half. Due to being bogged down by the writing not being as inspired or as natural. The second half doesn't feel as inspired in terms of its material, and some of it is very predictable as a result of doing little fresh with familiar territory.

Overall, really liked the first half but had problems with the film when it changed gear. 6/10