A Favorita

This is the best of the Kay Francis vehicles, and I had never heard of it before a couple days ago.

Kay is stylish, George Brent actually looks handsome. And there is a real plot, not just cutesy and/or tear-jerking posturing.

Married couples, formerly married couples. And -- a couple who are jewel thieves.

It zings along and is great, amusing, romantic fun.

This is just a real cute movie, especially on a drab, frigid winter's day. Kay Francis sparkles and her wardrobe, is as ever, beautiful. George Brent is bright & breezy and seems to be giving the audience inclusive, knowing wink. It's a fun way to spend an hour.

Don't let the first ten minutes put you off. You might get the impression that it's going to be a stuffy drawing room comedy about people you're not going to like but you'd be wrong - it becomes an engaging and genuinely funny old fashioned farce.

The biggest revelation this picture gives you is that men's swimwear in the 30s was insanely ridiculous. The second revelation is that Kay Francis' dress could only exist in a world where gravity didn't exist - logically that shouldn't stay up! All that aside, this film after a slow start eventually turns into a charming silly comedy in the same vein as TOP HAT.

We've got a bunch of people stranded in a country house swapping bedrooms with the wrong partners, plots to break up a marriage, plots to save a marriage, plots to bring two people together, plots to steal diamonds and.... well it's not that important, just enjoy the trip.

OK, the first ten minutes doesn't shout out to you: this is going to be fun but stick with it because it really is. Kay Francis and George Brent were never going to win any Oscars but they are perfect in something light like this - they do make a great romantic couple. Likewise Genevieve Tobin, once you get used to the affected accent, also shows a real talent as for comedy whilst also adding a bit of class.

Overall it's put together perfectly. The script is tight, witty and fast, the acting natural and believable and the direction, although nothing spectacular is professional but most miraculously of all is that dress!

Delightful comedy in which Kay Francis is a divorcee who devises a cunning plot to get her ex husband back from his new wife (Genevive Tobin) whom she overhears planning a rendezvous with another man (George Brent). Things get very complicated and several people end up pretending to be someone else, including a couple of jewel thieves. With all the complications, imposters etc, this film reminds me a bit of a story by P.G. Wodehouse, his books were always rich with imposters, and he had more than one jewel thieving couple. He could have written this entertaining tale, it even has a formidable elderly aunt (Helen Lowell). Great fun.

A silly but smoothly directed farce that throws together adultery, smallpox and jewel thieves acted by a game cast against the usual luxurious backdrops. Routine but fun.