Una donna qualunque

This is a very entertaining film based on a story by Sarah Addington.

A widower, Stephen Blake (Melvyn Douglas), and a divorcee, Edith Farnham (Masy Astor), have a nasty run-in on the road. They discover later that they were going to the same ski resort for the Christmas holiday. Later, the road is made impassable by a snow slide, so they are the only guests for the first night, during which their mutual disdain grows.

By the time Stephen's son Tommy (Jackie Moran) arrives, they have overcome their enmity and are acting like lovebirds. Jackie, who hates girls, conspires with Edith's daughter, Brenda (Edith Fellows), who hates all males, to break up their parents' nascent courtship.

The two child actors are not peripheral to the story. And they hold their own with Douglas and Astor, supplying much of the physical comedy.

The story itself is rather complex, but very enjoyable, as the allegiances of the four continuously shift. Still, all four remain likable throughout.

There is an interesting subtext about "scientific" parenting, i.e. Sparing the rod.

And So They Were Married (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A man hating divorcée (Mary Astor) goes to a snow lodge where she meets a woman hating widow (Melvyn Douglas) and the two quickly hit it off but their children decide to make sure they don't get married. This romantic comedy has a lot going for it but the screenplay starts to go off in all directions and it doesn't go after the most appealing aspects of the film. Astor and Douglas are both terrific in their roles as they manage to be quite charming, romantic and endearing. The two have wonderful chemistry together and they shine whenever they're together. The problem comes when the children (Judith Fellows, Jackie Moran) start to take over the picture. Their fighting and bickering works for a while but when it starts to take the story away from the adults it becomes rather annoying. There's one hilarious sequence where the kids feed a dog soap and when it takes off through the hotel it sets off a panic that the dog is rabid.

Melvyn Douglas was a marvelous actor who somehow never quite made it to the top ranks on acting....but he was terrific in just about everything he did...even crap like "And So They Were Married". He gives it his best and is quite nice in the film but the terribly flawed and clichéd story is beyond anyone's ability to fix!

When the film begins, the audience soon realizes that Stephen (Douglas) and Edith (Mary Astor) will fall in love. Why? Because they hate each other and realistically they haven't a prayer of falling in love. But, as the movie is filled with clichés, they soon find themselves in love at the mountain resort they are both visiting with their respective children. Joel has brought his son to spend Christmas there, as he's a widower. And, Edith has brought her daughter and she recently got divorced. The romance is working just fine for a few days, as the resort is snowed in and the two kids are stuck in town. But once they arrive, the brats decide they don't like each other and if their parents marry, life will be awful...so even though they hate each other, they agree to work together to make their parents miserable. This is a sad excuse for a plot, as it's so selfish and nasty...and some of their behaviors (such destroying the Christmas tree and many of the presents of the other hotel guests) isn't funny...it's just cruel. This cruelness definitely was a bad decision in the film....and it's sad because although they are hateful, the two young actors playing the kids actually did a great job with what they were given. It could have been a bit like "The Parent Trap" but was sunk due to selfishness, too many clichés and a few characters who were more caricatures than real, believable people.

And So They Were Married (Elliot Nugent, 1936) is a fun romantic comedy set over the Christmas season, with divorcée Mary Astor falling for widower Melvyn Douglas at a snowbound hotel as their boisterous children (Edith Fellows and Jackie Moran) plot to keep them apart. Though the production values are a bit low - and there's little utilisation of the festive setting - the kids are great value and Douglas shows the deft comic touch and ability to subtly evoke emotion that saw him spread his screen success to stage and the small screen. There's a lovely moment where he shrugs off his broken heart by ruffling his son's hair and murmuring: "I just need a little time, son."

The film is more realistic, and therefore less escapist, than Columbia's usual sparkly fare, as it effectively paraphrases the difficulties of single parenthood. There's a slight over-reliance on visual humour and the title is shamefully generic, but you can't fail to enjoy a film that features both Donald Meek as an exasperated hotel manager and Douglas Scott (young Hindley in Wyler's Wuthering Heights), scene-stealing as a breakaway mummy's boy. Once you've explored the more obvious genre gems from Columbia (It Happened One Night, A Night to Remember, Together Again), it's worth giving this one a go.

Both Astor and Douglas had been in films for years by this time, so we know it'll be a good film. And with Donald Meek, there should be some good antics coming ahead. Too bad they didn't give him a larger part. Blake (Douglas) and Farnham (Astor), and Farnham's daughter are the only guests in a hotel locked in by snow. SO much talking.. this one MUST have started out as a play. According to IMDb, the snow scenes were done at Donner Pass. That is just west of Reno, about 7 hours north of Burbank, so that would have made for a fun winter outing for the actors. Mr. Snirley and Miss Peabody are hotel employees, determined to accompany the only two guests every second, much to their (and OUR !) annoyance. Then Blake's son shows up, and the rest of the film is about the plotting between the two children. Kind of a fun note to hear them talk about esperanto, which has actually been around since 1887. It's okay. No big surprises. Mildly entertaining. Pretty whitewashed and bland for the film code. Astor and Douglas would also make "There's always a Woman" together, as well as a couple television episodes. Directed by Elliott Nugent.