Quem Ama... Castiga!

Loretta Young, Don Ameche and Tyrone Power in a madcap comedy about an heiress who turns the tables on a reporter by announcing they are engaged. Power as Steve Leyton is classicly comic as the sensationalistic reporter whose world is turned upside down when the media spotlight is focused on him. Don Ameche wonderfully offsets him as the city editor, an old friend, who grapples with Power to get a scoop. Loretta Young is pretty and charming as heiress Toni Gateson who chases after Power to keep him in the media spotlight.

The acting is wonderfully funny, and the supporting actors do equally well--George Sanders as the egotistical count jilted by Young, Dudley Digges as Young's wealthy uncle, and Jane Darwell in a minor role as Power's landlady.

Though remade in 1948 as "That Wonderful Urge" with Gene Tierney, this is one case where the original is much better. The comic rapport between Young and Power keeps the action moving. Though Power was one of the most romantic of leading men throughout his career, this movie showcases his talent for comedy.

Back when this film was made in the mid Thirties there seem to be an abundance of films about madcap heiresses. In the middle of the Great Depression films about the rich partying away seemed to find an audience.

Back then the real life model was Peggy Hopkins Joyce, today it's Paris Hilton. We just love to read about the rich doing their reveling.

So the premise is a bit ludicrous about Loretta Young getting very angry at the newspaper reporters for reporting on her every move. Believe me if she didn't want publicity she wouldn't get any. Believe it or not, then as now, there are rich people out there who are not tabloid fodder.

But I guess anyone can get a little cranky and Loretta has come her time of crankiness in Love Is News. When an especially enterprising reporter gets on board her private plane, she's had it. While reporter Tyrone Power thinks he's scooped his colleagues, Young has an impromptu press conference with the others and announces she's engaged to Tyrone Power.

And then Power as he was in real life becomes the object of a lot of tabloid fodder. His editor is Don Ameche who keeps firing and hiring him back to straighten the mess out. If this were done at Warner Brothers, Love Is News would have been perfect for James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.

Twelve years later Power did a remake of this same film with Gene Tierney. Hard to choose between the two which is better.

Ty is at the beginning of his career and Darryl Zanuck was casting him in all kinds of parts, comedic, adventurous, dramatic. And Power himself was perfecting his screen image.

Best scenes in the film involve small town judge Slim Summerville who Young comes up before for speeding and that sets up a whole bunch of funny situations.

I can see this being remade today, unless Paris Hilton herself wants to star in it.

LOVE IS NEWS is a great old style film that they just don't make any more. It's really a shame, as I had a lot of fun watching it and don't know why the film isn't better known. Sure, I'll admit that the plot is hard to believe, but this is like most screwball comedies of the era! You just need to suspend disbelief and enjoy.

This is one of the earliest films of Tyrone Power and considering his short record in films, it was quite the coup to be starring in this film with Loretta Young. Power plays a guy much like many of Clark Gable's--glib, good looking and not afraid to stretch the truth...'a bit'. In fact, Gable played newspaper men like this on at least a couple occasions at rival MGM. Power, despite his lack of experience, was at the top of his game--delivering a professional and enjoyable performance. Young is equally likable, though considering she'd been in films for some time and her track record, it wasn't surprising at all that she was up to the task.

The film begins with Power sneaking on to a plane to get an interview with a rich millionairess (Young). The problem, though, is that Young hates reporters, as they've made her life a circus for years and she gets no peace at all. So, on a lark, when she discovers that Power is yet another reporter, she decides to give him a piece of his own medicine and have him learn what it's like to be constantly hounded. She tells the other reporters that she and Power are engaged and soon Power is besieged with fortune hunters, reporters and people wanting to sell him practically everything! And, no matter how much he tries to convince everyone that his is NOT engaged, Young insists that they are! Knowing where this all will end isn't a total surprise but the journey there is exceptional--and fun! The supporting characters (I particularly liked Slim Summerville as the judge and he had a great little jail) were great, the writing (aside from a ridiculous plot) was great and the whole thing was directed very well--resulting in a funny as well as romantic old film. After seeing it, I could easily see why Power soon rose to fame--this was an excellent vehicle.

By the way, this film and its remake (also starring Tyrone Power), THAT WONDERFUL URGE, are available bundled together on DVD. Of the two, LOVE IS NEWS is definitely the better film--not just because it's original but because it just works much better.

Three of 20th Century Fox's stars of the late '30s team up for "Love is News" - Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Don Ameche. Power plays a clever reporter, Steve Layton, who is after a big story on a $100 million heiress, Toni Gateson (Young). Sick of being hounded night and day by the press, Young turns the tables on him and announces to the world that she and Layton are engaged. It comes as a surprise to him, as it does to his editor, Ameche, and of course, they don't have the story and the rest of the papers do. Layton soon learns that being engaged to Gateson has some perks and also a few things that aren't so great, particularly when the two of them end up in adjacent jail cells.

There is a very funny scene in the beginning where Power and Ameche become hysterical laughing as they reminisce about the horrible things they've done to one another. The actors worked together often and make a great team. Young is gorgeous as the heiress, and she and Power are a beautiful couple as usual. This is one of Power's very early films - he was about 23 at the time - and still in his pretty phase. You can't take your eyes off of him when he's on screen - he lights it up.

This is a high-energy, pleasant comedy with a delightful cast, though there's nothing particularly unusual about the story. Madcap heiresses abounded in '30s films. Power actually remade this movie with Gene Tierney in 1948 as "That Wonderful Urge." By then, it was tired stuff, and Power was tired of these roles. But here, it's three young stars on top of the world, and you can't beat the spirit with which they imbue "Love is News."

Not knowing this, I approached it with trepidation thinking : Oh no, not another loud un-funny so-called Screwball Comedy. But wow - this is actually brilliant. Guaranteed to make you smile for 80 minutes!

If only all Screwball Comedies were this good I wouldn't have avoided them all my life. I love BRINGING UP BABY and IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT but loathed the plethora of all those formulaic copy cat movies. They're all essentially drivel .... or so I thought until finding this - the third best 1930s Screwball Comedy!

Admittedly I confess that I only watched this for of the pleasure of seeing lovely Loretta Young for an hour and a bit - undoubtedly the most beautiful young woman who's ever lived. I'm so glad I did and not just for opportunity to seeing my bird. It's surprisingly genuinely funny from start to finish. Perfectly directed at a perfect pace (again by the hugely underrated Tay Garnet), it's witty, well acted and professional.

It's hardly an original story, a cynic might call it a complete rip off of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT but what makes this special is the likeability of its cast. Apparently these comedies legally required a prescribed cast of a ditzy heiress, a mischievous rakish reporter, a newspaper editor on the verge of a nervous breakdown and a gruff but wise old parent. OK, it is a rip-off but Power, Young and Ameche seem to be having such genuine fun together and are just so nice, you can't help but love them all and love this wonderfully sweet, sparkling and silly film.