La regina di picche

Starts off really intriguing and seems to differentiate itself from other films of its era. A successful mix of comedy and suspense at the beginning, and Rosalind Russell looking so surprisingly beautiful, that she seems to come across in her early scenes as a black-haired Garbo. I've never seen her look more beautiful. The film is worth seeing for Russell's early scenes alone. But unfortunately, silly and unbelievable coincidences surface midway in the plot that considerably weaken and conventionalize the film. At its finish, I ended up feeling vaguely disappointed at what could have been a really unique and special film. I still think its worth seeing though, as the performances were all around quite good. A great film that could have been!

At first sight this MGM oddity looks like a typical over-the-top 30s effort, but I found it growing on me (despite the ever-increasing number of loose ends - why? what? how?). If you can accept Montgomery and Russell as 18th century foreign Royals who blend perfectly in a Britain even more nutty than it's usually depicted, then this is quite an enjoyable and unusually imaginative slice of early Hollywood.

Prince Florizel of Bohemia -- where have I heard that before? In one of Shakespeare's final plays, 'The Winter's Tale.' There, the young prince falls in love with a beautiful shepherdess, Perdita, who is actually a princess. She doesn't know that, of course (it's a version of the Cinderella story). Roz Russell is also incognito in the film, but she knows who she is. So 'Winter's Tale' gives MGM the idea for filling out the Stevenson story by giving a role to Russell. The film also has traces of Henry IV, where the king admonishes his son, and where, at the end, the son must fight for his kingdom, as Prince Hal does against Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury. There's also a trace of 'As You Like It,' a play in which a disguised woman administers a love-test to the man in whom she is already interested. I do not believe that the Shakesperean elements of this film have been noticed. I'll have to reread the Stevenson "Suicide Club' stories, which I do not have at hand, to see how much of the Shakespearean context is there. It's a strange and sometimes compelling film, beginning with a musical comedy format, where we expect to see Nelson and Jeanette any moment, and then moving into a fogbound London mystery. Montgomery is very convincing as an absolutely fearless prince and Russell is lovely as the mystery woman assigned to kill the prince. This one is worth watching. I just read the Stevenson story. Prince Florizel is of Bohemia (a la 'Winter's Tale'), but there is no woman in the story, only the mention of a failed love affair at the outset that motivates the young man who introduces the two Bohemians to the Club. So Roz's role as the disguised princess is an addition to the story -- and a good one at that!

Very imaginative reworking of Stevenson's classic short-story, The Suicide Club. Montgomery and Russell make a well-matched and very attractive couple, and Frank Morgan is superb as his faithful and loyal second. Reginald Owen is marvelous as the head of the club. And, the rest of the supporting class including a young and handsome Louis Hayward, is equally compelling. The score and photography are exquisite as well. This is one to be watched and enjoyed.

Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell after being teamed in Night Must Fall got a more upbeat film with Trouble For Two. Though the source for this movie is Robert Louis Stevenson's first book of a detective trilogy concerning Prince Florizel and sidekick Count Geraldine who as Prince and equerry have a whole lot of adventures going incognito.

The story is not entirely coherent, but the leads and Frank Morgan as the equerry make it enjoyable. Not unlike the former Prince of Wales and King Edward VIII ever so briefly, Robert Montgomery's silly behavior has forced dear old dad King E.E. Clive to send him into temporary exile of sorts. Stay incognito and stay out of trouble are the two commands.

Montgomery and Morgan come upon a club called the Suicide Club dedicated to dispatching folks to another plane of existence if you have the right fee. It seems to have a particular appeal to wastrel types who've decided they've gorged enough on hedonism. Such a one is Louis Hayward who has a brief and memorable role as such a one. In fact Hayward was particularly effective here and in other similar type roles.

Rosalind Russell is a princess who Montgomery is to be betrothed and he's not liking the idea. But she's targeted by this group as well and the shared adventure might just make this royal marriage a royal romance.

Head of the club and one nasty customer is Reginald Owen. He and Hayward in many ways steal this film from the leads.

It's not Stevenson's verbatim story, but an enjoyable film