Il mio amore eri tu

This was a decent film. Though this is not the best film that any of the actors ever did. The plot is fairly predictable but it is okay.

Franchot Tone's fake accent was amusing and seemed to come and go. While I much prefer Jean Harlow in comedy she does well enough with drama. Cary Grant was okay but why they cast him as a Frenchman I'll never know.

My main gripe with the film was using 1930's clothes for a film that was supposed to take place during World War I. While it is not that obvious with the men's clothing, but the women's clothing really stands out. Not having period clothing really takes away from the film. You would think that a wardrobe person or the producers or director or someone would have caught how out of place the clothing is.

An entertaining, well-made WWI-era romance, SUZY features a standardly-scripted but winningly-executed love triangle, with some espionage and spy action thrown into the mix. In the title role, Jean Harlow (who was arguably MGM's biggest female star at the time) gives a refreshingly natural and totally believable performance, and really carries the film with her considerable charm and screen presence. Franchot Tone and Cary Grant may draw some criticism for utilizing improper accents, but both actors contribute solid performances as the men in our heroine's life – Tone is touching as the idealistic charmer who truly loves Suzy, and Grant is shockingly effective cast against type as smooth-talking but treacherous heel. The movie is further enhanced by the quiet strength of Lewis Stone, whose genteel toughness as Andre's father creates a moving relationship with Harlow as his neglected daughter-in-law.

As a WWI period piece, the studio faced the obvious challenge of redressing the soundstages to reflect the 1914 setting, and the MGM artisans contribute their usual high standard to the film. SUZY features the typical MGM gloss, although the budget does appear to be a bit more limited than the studio usually lavished upon a vehicle for one of their biggest stars. The sets and costumes are up to the usual MGM standard for the time, with Harlow's stunning figure showcased in several beautiful Dolly Tree gowns (even if the style is unarguably more 1936 than it is 1914). The film makes extensive use of various stock footage, notably Howard Hughes' 1930 classic HELL'S ANGELS, most of which is reasonably incorporated into the finished film and succeeds in enhancing the film's scope.

The film is based on Herbert Gorman's novel (which I haven't read), and the film's characters are very well-developed by the strong performances of the cast – which gives the central love triangle more tension and pathos when compared to many similar and also leaves Suzy's relationship with the Baron as poignant as that of the love affair with either suitor. The film only wobbles a bit in the final third as too many coincidences involving the espionage subplot begin to pile up, and a slightly preposterous conclusion prevents the film from being a total classic (with four credited screenwriters, perhaps there were too many cooks in the kitchen). SUZY is absolutely terrific when it's focus remains on it's strong characterizations and the relationships of it's leads. Director George Fitzmaurice does an expert job of keeping the whole film on track, and provides us with many breathtakingly beautiful moments – my favorite of which is a particularly lovely scene with Grant singing a few lines of the Oscar-nominated song "Did I Remember" to Harlow.

What a loss to films when Jean Harlow died. She was so immensely likable, with a wonderful vulnerability. In "Suzy," she marries one man (Franchot Tone) in London, believes him dead and fears she'll be arrested for his murder, runs to Paris, and ends up married to a pilot (Cary Grant).

The story was interesting, enjoyable, and poignant, but a little confusing. I sat through the entire film saying to myself, "Why did France go to war in 1936?" I knew it was supposed to be World War I - sort of - but only because 1936 made no sense at all. The clothing, however, was very '30s.

Cary Grant plays his part of a war hero and bounder very well. The sweetest scenes were between Harlow and Lewis Stone, who plays Grant's ill father.

The final scenes were exciting, with a lot of airplane footage from "Hell's Angels." Virginia Verrill dubbed Harlow's singing, and I assume Grant did his own. Interesting how people in those days sang with that very rapid vibrato.

The main attraction of 'Suzy' for me was the cast, namely Jean Harlow (a very charming actress who died far too young with so much more to give) and Cary Grant (have always loved him, both in comedy and drama). The story also sounded interesting, though there was the worry from the sounds of it of whether it would try to do too much, and my love for classic film, and film in general of all genres and decades, played a big factor further.

'Suzy' turned out to be a worthwhile film with a lot working in its favour, the cast being one of the main assets. It is uneven and there are a few knocks against it (story-related mainly, am not going to go into the whole lack of authenticity in the accents, decided to suspend my disbelief on that one and judged the actors by their overall performance). But generally 'Suzy' is a film deserving of more credit than it gets. It was the only feature film pairing of Harlow and Grant, and judging from their work and chemistry one does wish they did more films together.

As said, 'Suzy' is not perfect in the story. Do think it tries to do too much in balancing too many tones that it left some confused spots. The start is on the slow side.

More problematic was, as has been said, the too coincidence heavy and sometimes silly third act.

However, 'Suzy' is nicely photographed and the outtakes from 'Hell's Angel' that formed the flying sequences were exciting and didn't look cheap or stock. The music fits well and the film is directed with good balance and control. The song "Did I Remember" is one of the film's highlights. The script provokes thought and both entertains and intrigues.

Likewise with the story, which comes to life once the action gets to Paris and has fun and tension, as well as a solid pace. The tension and pathos of the character chemistry, romantic or not, really elevates the film, as does the surprisingly well rounded characters. Characters that are all round beautifully played, as said decided to ignore the accents. With accents it for me is always less forgivable when the rest of the performance isn't good. Harlow is her usual charming self and Grant is surprisingly comfortable and credible as an amoral cad (the complete opposite of his usual roles). Franchot Tone has fun in his role and Lewis Stone brings moving, understated dignity to his.

In conclusion, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I greatly enjoyed this--the second of seven films from my 'Jean Harlow: The 100th Anniversary Collection' put out by Warner Archives, unfortunately not with anything in the way of DVD extras (except for a cool, unadvertised set of postcards), and only three of the films were remastered. So it was as if they were perhaps celebrating her, say, 99th birthday and not going all-out like they could and should have, since she DID single-handedly save the studio from bankruptcy three years prior.

I like the way filmmakers back then didn't care if a French actor was playing an Irish inventor and an English actor was portraying a French pilot. THESE days, there'd be sheer, unadulterated hell to pay.

It was a really strange mix of genres, to get absolutely everybody into the seats. I could just see the pitch at the board meeting now: '1914 period piece romantic-comedy mixed with wartime spy thriller and musical'. But Harlow knocked it out of the ballpark, just like she always did. Supertrooper right to the very end.