L'adorabile nemica

Irene Dunne breaks out of small town conventions in "Theodora Goes Wild," a 1936 comedy also starring Melvyn Douglas, Thomas Mitchell and Spring Byington.

Dunne plays Theodora, who lives a sterile life with her two aunts in a small, Puritan, judgmental town. However, she's got them all beat because she's living a double life - in New York City, she's Caroline Adams, a hot romance novelist who put the capital L in LOVE. Her scandalous best-seller is in the process of being banned by the town literary society.

While in New York visiting her disapproved of uncle, she meets a friend of her publisher's, the flirtatious, irreverent Michael (Douglas). He doesn't know her real name or her literary alter ego so to prove to him she's no prude, she gets drunk and goes to his apartment - of course, she leaves screaming - but in doing so, drops a few papers that tell him who she is and where she lives.

He soon shows up in her home town as a down on his luck man seeking work and she's more or less blackmailed into giving him a job as the family gardener.

This is a delightful comedy buoyed by the marvelous acting of Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas. The points are hit a little too hard, however, so that both characters come off as very annoying and exasperating at times.

The fault lies in the script, because I don't think those two actors ever made a wrong move. Douglas, who in later life would prove himself one of the great actors of all time, sails through this film as he sailed through so many others in roles that gave no hint of his enormous abilities. Here he's charming, smooth and attractive, inspiring Theodora to take some risks - though he's got a few skeletons he fails to mention to her.

Dunne is great as the staid spinster who becomes the talk of New York with her wild outfits, saucy attitude, and smart remarks.

Underneath it all, of course, it's a love story some innuendo you don't find in a lot of '30s comedies, which adds to the fun. Highly recommended.

This is one of my favorite screwball comedies -- a very smart movie with a sharp screenplay that never lags. In the same subversive spirit as Miracle of Morgan's Creek (another favorite film) - and builds to a similar stunning, hilarious, code-breaking climax. The script is beautifully structured and the performances are all terrific -- it's Irene Dunne's best film, and Elizabeth Risdon is wonderful in a smaller role as the aunt. Very underrated, don't miss it (check out James Harvey's insights on the film in his marvelous book, "Romantic Comedy").

The first time I ever saw this was my introduction to Irene Dunne. She is one of the greatest actresses in the history of American movies and never better than she is here. ("The Awful Truth" is virtually flawless and she may be more polished in it. But she is a true revelation here.) The story involves hypocrisy, puncturing it, overcoming inhibitions, being decent in a true sense rather than according to a pre-prepared code.

Dunne is a rather frumpy woman from a small town who has written a scandalous novel under a pseudonym. She sneaks off to her publisher in Manhattan, with a visit to her reprobate uncle, now and again. And this time she is swept off her feet by Melvyn Douglas (a little too madcap initially.) She sheds her alias after he's come to her town to woo her. She returns to New York, only to find him as stuffy as her elderly aunts and their friends. (These ladies are portrayed delightfully by actresses including Spring Byington and Elizabeth Risdon.) She really does go wild -- not just dumping her modest clothes for feathers and chic hats but turning up at all the best parties. And embarrassing people who have presented themselves as liberated.

Dunne was not a beautiful woman. Sometimes she looked pretty and sometimes not really even too pretty, though she wore clothes well. But she was an extraordinary film actress. Her range was broad and her hits included many women's pictures, several comedies (including "Joy of Living," dismal through no fault of her own.) And she played Magnolia in my favorite of all movie musicals: "Showboat," which came out this same year.

I'm not sure how Theodora Goes Wild would be viewed today because of changing demographics. Some of those small New England towns like Lynnfield are not bastions of conservatism any longer. Today the home of a well known author like Irene Dunne would be a tourist attraction.

But back in the Thirties, this still was the New England of Calvin Coolidge and descendants of the town founder just don't go writing romance novels. But that's what Irene Dunne is doing only its under a pseudonym, lest the good people of Lynnfield make life uncomfortable for herself and her two maiden aunts.

Irene's cover will be blown though when she meets her illustrator at her publisher. Melvyn Douglas is quite smitten with her and he follows her back to Lynnfield from New York and persuades her that she ought to live life a little and not just vicariously through her novels.

Dunne takes his advice with a vengeance after he's thoroughly embarrassed her. But when Theodora Lynn does go wild she takes no prisoners. Coming out in public under her pseudonym of Caroline Adams, Dunne gets fame and notoriety confused. Today she would be big time tabloid fodder and pays Douglas back in a way he can only blame on himself.

It's charming pair of leads with a delightful supporting cast that play their roles to perfection. A particular favorite of mine is publisher Thurston Hall who gets to do a drunk scene with Dunne, something the very proper Mr. Hall didn't often do.

Irene Dunne got one of her five Oscar nominations for playing Theodora Lynn aka Caroline Adams, but lost in the big sweepstakes to Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld.

I'm not sure how you could do Theodora Goes Wild today though. I can see the town billboard on the Massachusetts Turnpike: Welcome to Lynnfield, Home of Caroline Adams.

As a fan of Irene Dunne's, and not having managed to catch up with Theodora Goes Wild, I was looking forward to finally getting to see this movie after having read the lavish praise heaped on it on this site. Having said that, I have to admit that while, yes, it was amusing, it was very much of a one-note idea that was stretched very thin. Dunne, as always, was at the top of her form and her talents in all departments were very much on display. What did let the movie down was a weak script and an irritatingly hammy performance by the usually reliable Melvyn Douglas. One only has to look at Ninotchka to see how good he can be when his comedy acting has a serious side to it. His character in Theodora Goes Wild was just too silly to be believable. The smalltown sequences were charming in their way but after a while became tedious with repetition. Thomas Mitchell's scenes (as editor of the local newspaper) were rip-roaring first class, which made one want for more. Would I recommend this movie? Yes, if you're a fan of Irene Dunne's and want to watch her comedic talents at work. Several postings on this site have recommended The Awful Truth as a must-see. Well, yes, if you're a Dunne fan but here again there are moments when the script sags and both Dunne and Cary Grant, both consummate professionals, are skating on very thin ice, pulling the movie onward through sheer force of personality. If you really want to see Irene Dunne at her very, very best then you should catch her in the much better written My Favorite Wife, or Love Affair, both infinitely superior to their later remakes. In these two movies her talents REALLY soar!