Men Are Such Fools

Disturbing romantic drama about a woman climbing the corporate ladder while being involved with a clod. The woman is played by Priscilla Lane, an actress I like but certainly not in this role. On the surface a career woman in a 1938 movie actually sounds good. Unfortunately whatever good you can find from a historical perspective is undone by Lane's unhealthy relationship with a gross pig called Jimmy, played by Wayne Morris.

Wayne Morris was an actor with an amiable screen presence but here he's playing a pushy, obnoxious, chauvinist stalker with a severe bad temper and violent tendencies. He parks the car he & Priscilla are in on railroad tracks with a train bearing down so she will say yes to his marriage proposal. This guy actually endangers her life just to get her to say yes! Someone thought that was romantic?!? Some usually solid supporting stars don't help much. Penny Singleton is likable but sadly wasted in a small part. Hugh Herbert is an annoying cartoon of a character, always fidgeting and making stupid noises. If the two lead roles were written better, Herbert's character would be the film's biggest deficit. But as it stands his irritating character is nothing to worry about next to the dysfunctional couple. Then we come to the main reason I even checked this film out: Humphrey Bogart. I've seen almost all of Bogie's films so whenever I get the chance to check out one of the few I haven't, I jump at the chance. Well this one was a wasted role for Bogie, playing Lane's infatuated boss who gets socked out by Morris.

This is a terrible film. The characters are so wholly unlikeable that I can't believe Warner Bros made this mess. This may be the lowest rating I've ever given a film from this period. I'm a huge fan of classic films and I can often forgive their faults even more than modern films. But this is one case where I can't. Avoid this unless you're a fan of Bogart's or Lane's and just have to see every movie they're in.

I gave 6 stars only because of Priscilla Lane and Penny Singleton. The movie is ridiculous because Morris' character treats Lane's character so horribly, but she "falls in love" with him anyway. He practically kidnaps her, forces himself on her, acts like a spoiled child, and treats her terribly, but she marries him anyway. Not much has changed when it comes to women marrying idiots like this guy. You'd think they would pay attention to all the red flags that indicate what morons, narcissists, misogynists, and crybabies these dudes are, but they go right ahead and marry them regardless. On top of that he's a frat boy, which is just slightly better than being a serial killer.

Men Are Such Fools (1938)

** (out of 4)

Predictable and rather boring melodrama about a hard working secretary (Priscilla Lane) who works her way to the top of her office when she meets and eventually marries an ex-football star (Wayne Morris). Soon afterwards she eventually gives up her career and then problems start to rise as his career takes off. This here is yet another Warner "B" film that has a pretty good cast but in the end it gets ruined due to a rather lackluster screenplay. I really didn't think too highly of anything here, screenplay wise, because I found the comedy to be over the top and silly and then the melodrama was just too predictable. I think the early "dumbness" of the characters really hurt the later drama because it's hard to take either character too serious considering some of the dumb situations they get into early on. When the second half of the film takes place the characters just go through various motions that really make no sense except to lead up to the predictable ending. Lane is charming enough in her role and I think she comes off the best as her wonderful energy is always going strong and this really keeps the film moving. Morris doesn't give the greatest performance but he too is good enough in the role. Humphrey Bogart gets third-billing and plays the boss who falls for Lane. Once again we see Bogie in a rather thankless role that even he can't do too much with. The movie runs a brief 68-minutes but it feels much longer because the screenplay drags in so many places and one can't help but feel they've seen this type of story one time too many.

Being an unabashed 'Lane, Priscilla' (qv) fan, Men Are Such Fools would be a delight to watch if only for the wonderful Miss Lane alone. But as a neat little bonus you get 'Bogart, Humphrey' (qv) in a rare, at that time, non-gangster role.This combination makes for an enjoyable movie about a young woman determined to succeed in the advertising business.

However, the one problem I have with this movie is Wayne Morris, or at least the character he plays.

As in another movie Mr. Morris was in with Miss Lane, _Love, Honor and Behave (1938)_ (qv), there is this undercurrent that seems to imply that you can show a woman how much you love her by physically pushing her around.

I understand that things were different back then, but it is still a bit difficult to watch any guy resort to physical contact with a woman in order to win her over. This is by no means a big part of this movie, but it is noticeable after seeing it happen over a series of films from that era.

That being said, the positives far outweigh any of the negatives. With Priscilla Lane starring and Humphrey Bogart in support, you can't go wrong spending your time with Men Are Such Fools.

Kind of a love triangle, starring wayne morris, cilla lane, and bogie. Linda and jimmy are engaged, but with linda, work comes first! Almost a half hour in, we finally see bogart. And he keeps her working late. Decisions to make. Schemes. Consequences. Hugh herbert is here as linda's nervous boss, for comic effect. Gene and kathleen lockhart are together again as the daltons. Penny singleton played blondie in so many films. Good chemistry between the actors. It's silly and fun to watch. Directed by busby berkeley! Known mostly for his huge, elegant dance numbers, he only directed 31 films. Wayne morris died young at 45. Mona barrie died at 54, and of course, bogey died at 57.