Sposiamoci in quattro

Considering that this film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy, it's definitely worth seeing--as are all of their films together. Even their lesser films together are wonderful and worth seeing--so it's a natural that I watched "Double Wedding".

In this film, Powell plays the ultimate bohemian and Loy plays a lady who is incredibly controlling and anti-fun. The idea of these two getting together is pretty far-fetched! But, because this is a Hollywood film, you know that eventually the two will find love. However, how they get there and how much fun the film becomes is exactly why you should see the film.

It all begins with Powell teaching a young couple to act and they are discussing his latest screenplay. The three are fast friends and have fun planning on making a film together. HOWEVER, when the very controlling sister (Loy) finds out about this, she assumes the worst and demands Powell stop seeing her sister and her fiancé. Mostly this is because Powell isn't in her plan for the two--as Loy has decided the two will marry, where they will go on their honeymoon, etc.--and the two idiots allow this! Little does this compulsive planner and controller know that Powell has plans for her! Overall, this is yet another fun pairing of Powell and Loy. While the film is silly and contrived, it's also very entertaining and clever. The ending was insanely chaotic--like a Marx Brothers film--and a lot of fun.

"Double Wedding" is an enjoyable, albeit dizzying comedy starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.

It's really a tribute to the cast that they were able to carry on in such a wacky movie despite being shut down for a time due to Jean Harlow's untimely death. Both Powell, who was involved with Harlow, and Loy, who was a friend of hers, took her death very hard.

Powell and Loy play polar opposites in this film. She is a complete control freak who has her life, her sister's life, and the life of her sister's fiancé, planned down to the millisecond. Along comes Powell, who lives in a trailer and hocks items when he needs money. Once he's in their lives, all bets are off, and chaos reigns supreme.

The cast is great but the whole thing kind of veers off focus from time to time. The writing isn't as strong as in some of the other screwball comedies of the era. But Powell is a treasure and teamed with Loy, even more so.

Powell is an artist, a free spirit who disrupts the well-made plans of Loy, who controls the lives of her kid sister (Rice) and the latter's fiancé with an iron fist. Like the dozen other teamings of Powell and Loy, it is fun to watch the two pros match wits. Beal is funny as Rice's milquetoast fiancé, whom Powell tries to make a man out of. Powell is an aspiring writer/director who coaches Beal and Rice in acting out a love story; unable to arouse passion out of Beal, Powell demonstrates by passionately kissing the lovely Rice, who falls in love with him. Of course, Powell falls in love with Rice's sister, Loy, setting the stage for comic situations.

Watching this movie was like looking through a beautiful, whimsical kaleidoscope. So many facets are perfect: Loy at her peak of gorgeous, wry sophistication; the Deco sets; Powell's gentle irony; the relationships of various characters and the consistency of dialog; even the physical pranks were great--and I don't like slapstick all that much! This film reminded me of Shop Around the Corner. It wasn't as good, that's a tall order, but there was something bigger going on in this movie than just the usual romantic farce. I have to admire the writer's and director's ability to pull off a romantic comedy between two such diametrically opposed people. The heroine is the quintessential control freak; the hero, as laid back and tolerant as a hippie of the sixties. No one apologizes for their quirks, which is refreshing, and neither of them had to change all that much to make the ending work. And as far as acting goes, Loy and Powell don't hold back any punches (literally!) whenever the two characters collide. It is amazing to watch them knowing how they were reacting to Harlow's death during shooting. I love finding old movies, and this one is buried treasure.

I have always found this movie more than a little strained and Powell and Loy not up to their usual shine. In fact, Myrna Loy's character seems downright unpleasant!! Much of this may have to do with the death of Powell's fiancee Jean Harlow during production. Myrna Loy, in her autobiography, states that she cannot bear to watch this movie because of the pain they all felt while making it. While the two do their professional best (and the uninformed would never guess that real tragedy was plaguing them) you are much better off watching Powell and Loy in one of their better works...ie The Thin Man Series, Libeled Lady,I Love You Again, etc. FYI: Powell developed colon cancer in the year following Harlow's tragic death and nearly died himself. He recovered and returned to active film work with 1939's Another Thin Man and proceeded to beat the odds and live another 40 years!!!