Sublime Pecado

A lot of the recent TCM rediscoveries (and U.S. premieres!) of Warners' British productions from the 1930's are turning out to be quite good movies and not the cheap, reviled "quota quickies" of legend. This is one of them, a charming British foray into the screwball genre with some of the same sexual cheekiness American productions of the so-called "pre-Code" era (1930-34): the heroine spends a good chunk of the film in male drag and the bridal suite actually has a double bed. It's quite a bit slower than a U.S. version of the same story would have been, Margaret Lockwood's crying jags get tiresome (she'd go on to be a major British star and is best known as the female lead in Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes") and some musical underscoring would have helped, but on the whole this is a clever and amusing film. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who in his American films in the period was sometimes cast in roles that were beyond his acting skills, is perfectly cast here and delivers a memorable comic performance, and after seeing (and being unimpressed by) some of Laura LaPlante's late silent and early talkie performances at Universal, I was pleasantly surprised by her work here and disappointed only by her utter lack of a British accent. (I kept expecting to hear a bit of dialogue explaining that she was an American stranded in Britain and forced to take a secretarial job there to survive.) Let's hope the other 27 surviving Teddington productions get shown here soon!

Two American expatriate players Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Laura LaPlante are dropped in the middle of this British screwball comedy that turns just a bit silly. I'm not sure suicide is a good premise for a comedy.

Laura decides to end it all and Doug saves her from drowning. But when he brings her home and his bride to be catches sight of her in a Marlene Dietrich like man's outfit it's the end of that engagement After that Doug starts to see her point of view.

It's off to Monte Carlo with their last few shekels. After that you see the movie to see how it works out.

Margaret Lockwood has an early role in her career as Fairbanks's eternally weeping fiance. She would have better opportunities to show her talent in the next decade.

Average sort of screwball comedy.

I enjoyed this film, its easily equal to the screwball comedies being made in the US at that time. In some ways even more daring since it deals with subjects that would quickly be censored in the US. Suicide, extramarital sex & office romances, a single woman staying and traveling with a single man (It Happened One Night), cross dressing, rowdy stag parties that walk a thin line just to mention a few. Plus the scenes around pre-war London are fun. But the real reason for watching this film is Laura LaPlante, what a terrific actress. Great comedic timing, a natural accent, pretty in a non-30's way (I kept thinking of Laura Dern), and obviously willing to do slapstick. LaPlante energized every scene she was in, and put sappy Margaret Lockwood to shame. Its a mystery why she couldn't compete with the likes of Carole Lombard or Myrna Loy - she was definitely their equal. I particularly liked the scene by the river when Mary is trying to get her nerve up to jump in, but her nerves and the river aren't quite up to the task. The stag party scene made me cringe, was that planned by the director - or was that truly a more innocent time. While Mary may be a dreamer - she's not stupid, she enjoys a challenge, and she has found it in the Fairbanks character. There was an off hand chemistry between La Plante and Fairbanks and its a shame that it wasn't nurtured. I would like to see more of the British La Plante movies screened.

MAN OF THE MOMENT is a trifle about an impetuous woman who decides to drown herself (LAURA LA PLANTE) and a man who happens to be driving by when she's floundering in the water (DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, JR.) Naturally, they fall in love after he dives in to rescue her.

But not too quickly. The man is engaged to a young woman (MARGARET LOCKWOOD) and this is just one of several obstacles. Fairbanks plays his role in debonair style with good humor and a sense of comic timing, but Laura La Plante is a bit ungainly as the ditsy young woman, in the sort of role Claudette Colbert would have played with charming ease.

The comic situations are pretty lame and the film only becomes worthwhile for watching DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, JR. in an early role as the happily engaged man. MARGARET LOCKWOOD as his fiancé is even more of an airhead than La Plante and shows no particular skill for comedy in an irritating number of crying scenes.

Summing up: Screwball British comedy is a trifle easily forgotten.

From 1923 to 1930 Laura LaPlante was the Queen of Universal Studios. She was a delightful comedienne and a fine dramatic actress. She was outstanding in the part-talkie epic "Showboat"(1929) though the film itself in its current form is mediocre at best. She left Universal in 1930 after two musical flops but found considerable success in England starring in half a dozen comedies for Warner Brothers-Teddington Studios. "The Man of the Moment"(Warner Bros, 1935) made its U.S. debut last night and proved once and for all that LaPlante should have had a great talkie career in the kind of films she excelled in the silent twenties. SHe makes a delightful pairing with the handsome young Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. The film is given a glossy Hollywood-style sheen, the script and direction is excellent, but it is these 2 stars at their charismatic best that makes this constant fun. Why Warner Brothers did not re-team these two is a mystery....The film never got a U.S. release though Fairbanks was a major star at the time. LaPlante's career was going into eclipse but she was still widely known by the public.