Árbitro do Amor

Another of the movies I would not think of watching but for Irene Dunne, playing anything but swank comedy here. It consists of basically two types of characters. One is ladies in lingerie or revealing gowns. (Dunne wears neither but at one point we see her in her boss's bathrobe.) The other is gentlemen who appear to prefer other gentlemen.

One of these is its director and star, Lowell Sherman. He had a solid hand as a director and is likable as a performer. But he's a little hard to buy as a ladies' man. And in one scene, he goes to a friend's apartment, demanding to see who's in the bedroom. Instead of the woman he's looking for, two men are there. They're fully clothed and maybe the audience at the time thought they were sleeping off hangovers. Maybe that's what the script meant, for all I know. But it's not the way they come across in the context of the movie.

The print I saw was fuzzy but it's chic and entertaining -- dated but also risqué.

I didn't expect much from this film when I first saw it, not knowing who Lowell Sherman was and figuring it would be extremely dated.

I found out the film provided some good laughs, some clever sarcastic dialog, realistic characters and a certain charm at the same time.

Sherman might have been a bit too old to be playing the role of playboy but he carried it off, being enjoyable to watch. It was fun seeing such a young Irene Dunne, too, complete with the early '30s short hairstyle. Unlike most of the women pictured in this film, Dunne played her typical high-principled character, reflecting the classy lady she was off screen, too.

I watched this on TCM for one reason: curiosity about Mae Murray. I had never seen her in a talkie, heard she was exceptionally bad and was expecting her to have a high-pitched or grating voice with a common accent. What a surprise to hear something more like a cross between Billie Burke and Myrna Loy but deeper. She still had "it" in the Thirties, with a fine figure, and I am not alone in wondering why she fizzled out so quickly. Over the top? Yes. Even obnoxious (particularly when she bursts into kooky peals of laughter) - but entertaining. When she's on screen you don't look at anyone else.

The second surprise was the direction by Lowell Sherman and the story by John Howard Lawson. There is a naturalness to the dialogue and a lifelike quality to the characters' frequent and casual banter that brings you inside the world of young ladies struggling in New York City during the early Depression years. Some exteriors are actual location shots of New York City streets and the interiors are depicted in detail, particularly clutter on tables (the aftermath of a wild party in the titular penthouse and breakfast paraphernalia in the humble flat inhabited by Dunne and her sister). Surely the leftwing Lawson was responsible for the haves-vs-have-nots element of the story. It's a witty and somewhat farcical tale about a Park Avenue business executive consumed with the pursuit and avoidance of an army of attractive young women until he meets Miss Right (Irene Dunne - no one ever righter). The supporting cast is mostly excellent, particularly Noel Francis as one of Sherman's pickups. She registered very strongly in a very brief scene as the prostitute in I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG.

At first sight one cannot accept the puffy and dissipated Sherman as a desirable ladies' man. Only in his mid-40s when he directed and starred in this film, he looks 10 years older and occasionally slurs his speech but nevertheless manages to be charming and totally in control in the kind of role Robert Montgomery was born to play. I see from IMDb that Sherman was a director of some note and consider it a sad loss for cinema that he died so young, though seeing him here and in WHAT PRICE Hollywood it's obvious he was far from robust. I intend to look for other films he directed based on my happy experience with BACHELOR APARTMENT.

I really don't know why Mae Murray didn't continue on with her film career. She's quite sexy in this RKO picture. I first saw this in a crystal clear copy on the old AMC cable channel. A number of Lowell Sherman films, of which he either directed, starred in or both have shown up on AMC in newly struck prints in the past. This being a far cry from the old C&C television released prints of the 50s & 60s which were murky at best. This movie is basically another situation/drawing room type of comedy of which Sherman was showing so much adeptness at. Hopefully, this like Royal Bed, will show up on DVD in that nice print more or less. Mae Murray plays a sassy character similar to those then being played by the younger Jean Harlow over at the MGM. Having been a silent star Murray's voice modulated acceptably and her cross over to sound wasn't as harsh as let's say John Gilbert or Clara Bow. Then again Murray had been a stage performer(like Sherman) & Ziegfeld girl prior to entering silents in 1916 so she was no stranger to dialogue. Her silent movie sexiness & vivacity is toned down here but is in evidence notably in the bedroom scene. The bedroom scene is particularly striking as Murray wears a gown that can only be described as being 'nearly diaphanous'. She walks towards the door after calling for Sherman's character and her still fine figure at 42 is very much in shape. Irene Dunne is so much less sexy than Murray even though she's ten years younger. Dunne is already looking schoolmarmish years before her major successes with Cary Grant later in the decade. I must confess that I watched & liked this for Sherman's directing & acting and most of all for Murray's appearance. Having seen her beautiful face in so many silent film stills I wanted to see her in an actual movie(she also appeared in Sherman's next movie and her last titled HIGH STAKES). I really don't know why Mae Murray didn't continue on with talkies. She was delectable and still quite beautiful and even more beautiful than some of the up-n-coming new stars. Watching Mae Murray in a talkie one sees that she's a beautiful concoction of Jean Harlow & Mae West at best. She certainly could've adapt to talkies' situation-dramas or comedies. This being in contrast to her over the top silent film fantasy queen image such as in THE MERRY WIDOW or CIRCE THE ENCHANTRESS. Though beautiful as she was in those silents. But more than likely Mae sensing that she was aging and that talkie picture making environment certainly changed from the freedom of the silents chose to bow out like many a silent star. Also her fabled temperament with directors like Stroheim & Von Sternberg hampered her employment chances with the studios as she aged and that reputation she couldn't shake. Her later life after these early talkies was quite sad as she lived in poverty and perhaps seclusion ending up in obscurity before her passing in 1965. Something similar to Clara Bow whose crossover to sound was more harrowing. Curiously, Mae Murray was offered the now famous role of Norma Desmond first before it went to Gloria Swanson. Perhaps the role hit too close to home for the then 60 year old Murray with lines like "...we had faces then" a quote from when Norma is referring to bygone silent stars. But of Mae's few films(silent or sound)that are even shown on cable or television BACHELOR APARTMENT appears very occasionally on Turncer Classics and usually in the dead of night. Hopefully there's a revival of Lowell Sherman & Mae Murray performances and their talkies together BA & HIGH STAKES along with Sherman's THE PAYOFF and Mae's talkie debut PEACOCK ALLEY(she also did a silent of this) can be released on DVD.

Lowell Sherman plays wealthy businessman and playboy Wayne Carter who is juggling lots of women. He's not just NOT the marrying kind, he actively uses them and loses them. The easier they are to get the quicker he loses them as it seems the chase is 90% of the thrill for him. Then he meets a woman he cannot get - stenographer Helene Andrews (Irene Dunne). He can't tempt her with nice things, and he can't sweet talk her with his obvious come-ons. So he hires her as an executive secretary at his firm, and even that takes some talking for her to believe that this is anything but what it looks like - a long con attempt to get into her pants.

But then Carter starts to truly fall for Helene. The problem is that he, as part of his long con, has been extremely open about his love life and so any abrupt change in him would be eyed very suspiciously by Helene. The most complicating factor is an old flame of Carter's (Mae Murray) who married a rich man in his circle but who has decided that she wants to stay married to the rich guy but pick up her sex life with Carter where they left off before the marriage. And she's not averse to showing up unannounced at his penthouse, undressing, and jumping into his bed to wait for him. Complications ensue.

Subplots involve Dunne's showbiz sister (Claudia Dell) who, unlike Dunne's character, doesn't have a problem with sleeping her way to the top. Sherman had a breezy delivery of lines and a rapid-fire, almost overlapping way of doing dialog that seems very modern. You also get the feeling he ad libs constantly. The real curiosity here is Murray who was 45+ but is dressed like a woman in her 20s with an odd baby-talk way of speaking. It really is outrageous. Purnell Pratt plays Murray's husband who has murderous intent if he ever finds out who it is that his wife is seeing behind his back.

This was Irene Dunne's third feature film role, and it's not often you would see her pop up in a pre-code film, even with her usual virtuous persona.