Escândalos de Amor

This film is described in Carole Lombard's biography by Larry Swindell as "one of the horrendous flops of the thirties decade" and by Photoplay as "inane" and "pointless". I must say that I was expecting something as horrendous as Carole's 1933 movie "White Woman", but was pleasantly surprised to find this an endearing, lighthearted romp. The actors seemed to enjoy themselves and recognize that they were not filming Shakespeare, but a screwball comedy. The scenes are varied and interesting, the action moves along at a bright pace and things are anything but dull, including a surprise ending to top things off.

The only criticism I can make is that Carole does seem to shout her lines for some unknown reason. I assume this is the director's fault. And the overall tone of the movie should probably have been toned down and played with more sophistication in spots to give the film a little more class. In a few places it almost goes over the top into a "Three Stooges" mode. Ralph Bellamy really made me laugh a few times. However, Carole has never been more beautiful, and I was not turned off by Fernand Gravet's performance as so many seemed to have been at the time. Come on, no ones perfect. If this film had been made a few years earlier in her career, I think it could easily have been a classic.

American actress (Carole Lombard) visiting Paris meets a penniless Frenchman (Fernand Gravet). He becomes smitten with her and pursues her for the rest of the movie. This doesn't sit well with her dull American beau (Ralph Bellamy).

Carole Lombard tries too hard in this to overcompensate for the weak script by acting like she's in one of her other (better) screwball comedies. She shouts a lot, for some reason, and it's annoying. She is beautiful, though. French actor Fernand Gravet has no chemistry with Lombard and seems ill-suited to being a leading man. It doesn't help matters that he's French yet has a nasally English accent. Presumably this is because Gravet was raised in England. Ralph Bellamy is fine in a role he was very used to by this time. Poor Ralph Bellamy. His career was built on playing the boring nice guy who gets thrown over for the more exciting, flirtatious guy. Nice support from Allen Jenkins, Marie Wilson, and Isabel Jeans. A huge box office flop when released, it's considered by many Lombard fans today to be her worst movie. It's not very funny, that's for sure.

Kay Winters (Carole Lombard) is vacationing in Europe under the name Kay Summers; she is a famous movie star from Hollywood but wants to avoid crowds. She runs into an attractive young man named Rene (Fernand Gravet) who is on route to a party of a mutual friend, but neither know of this connection. They decide to skip the party altogether and spend the evening dining out. After a delightful night, the two decide to see each other again, but Kay is all set to return to the states. Her love keeps her, though, and she and Rene meet. Soon, love turns sour for the couple and Rene does all he can to create a scandal for Kay. He takes a job as the cook in her home and before long the whole town is swarming with rumors about Kay's new beau.

This film starts out strong, wanes a bit in the middle, and then ends in a fit of laughter. Of course Lombard is best known for her ability with a comedic story, and this film is no exception. Gravet is quite impressive too. He is hysterical in the dinner scene where he does all he can to break up Kay and her fiancée (Ralph Bellamy).

Carole Lombard and Ferdinand Gravet are "Fools for Scandal" in this 1938 comedy from Warner Brothers, also starring Ralph Bellamy and Allen Jenkins.

Lombard plays an incognito Hollywood star in Paris who meets Gravet, who falls for her. He's totally broke, and the best parts of the film are the trips to the pawn shop to free his tux, etc., which means his buddy (Jenkins) has to wear a sandwich board around town to advertise the shop. There's also a masquerade party where everyone goes as their favorite animal.

This is a very slight comedy, with Bellamy in the familiar role of Lombard's eager fiancée. Lombard's acting is quite frantic and high pitch, but she's lovely. Such a sad and early end to her life, I always feel sad when I see her.

Good performances, but unless you're a Lombard fanatic, you can skip this one.

Carole Lombard plays a famous American actress staying in Paris; she encounters handsome but broke Fernand Gravet, who spends the first part of the film trying to rescue various items from the pawn shop, and then ends up as Lombard's chef—whether she wants him or not. It's all mildly amusing.

Allen Jenkins does his best as Gravet's sidekick but is hampered by lack of strong dialog. Isabel Jeans gives a deliciously gossipy performance as "Lady Malverton," a pillar of society who knows a good scandal when she smells one.

Ralph Bellamy is good as always, playing his usual chump in love with easily-distracted Lombard. One of the picture's few highlights is when Bellamy tries to tell a joke about a man ordering a steak—it's a really crummy joke made worse by Bellamy's chuckling as he tells it. (That this is a highlight unfortunately says a lot about the rest of the picture.)

The story is okay, the production slick, the dialog decent….but it's all just a little slow, or flat, or too predictable. Lombard is beautiful and frenetic as always—but there's just not much to her character, and certainly nothing memorable or unique from her other similar roles. And Fernand Gravet? Whether he was miscast or mismatched, I don't know—but he's just not very appealing.

Overall, a nice try but pretty forgettable. Too bad.