Que Mundo Maravilhoso

Drunken tycoon Willie Heywood gets married for the fourth time. Private detective Guy Johnson (James Stewart) is his hired body man. One night, Willie stumbles upon the murder of his mistress Dolores Gonzalez. It's a setup by his new wife Vivian and her lover Al Mallon. Guy quickly grabs Willie and hides him from the police. Willie promises to pay Guy $100k to solve the murder. They are quickly arrested but Guy manages to escape. He kidnaps poet Edwina Corday (Claudette Colbert) as he makes a getaway.

The pairing is great. The screwball comedy plot is a little too screwy. The initial kidnapping is a little rough and they left behind the little dog. The glasses are hilarious. The wacky rambling adventure has its ups and its downs. Mostly, one has to love the comic chemistry of Stewart and Colbert.

Guy Johnson (James Stewart) is a NYC private detective working for 100 dollars a week keeping his boss, multimillionaire Willy Heyward, out of trouble, and that usually means out of trouble with women. But Willy has recently married, and a Latin American dancer is filling the headlines with her breach of promise claims concerning him. Willy gets drunk and goes up to settle things with the dancer, but he walks into a frame up. Somebody shoots the dancer and kills her, and Willy picks up the gun. Johnson walks into the scene not really knowing if Heyward is guilty or not, and so Johnson helps him hide out while he tries to find out who really did it. The police find the hide out though, and Willy gets convicted and sentenced to death. Johnson gets a one-year prison sentence for harboring him.

On the way to prison, Johnson sees a note in the personal column that he thinks is a clue as to who the real murderer was. So he escapes and is going to try and get evidence that Willy did not commit the murder. By the way, Willy had promised him in writing that he would give Guy Johnson 100K if he proved he didn't commit the murder. And then SHE shows up -poetess Edwina Corday (Claudette Colbert) - just in time to see Johnson escape. At first he has to drag her along as she screams the entire way and even sets fire to her own car, thinking he is an escaped murderer. But when she realizes Guy is not a "real" criminal, she won't stop bothering him. She persists in tagging along and nothing Guy does or says can shake her. Many complications ensue along the way to where Guy hopes to catch the real murderer.

I've never seen Claudette Colbert be annoying before, and she certainly is here as she gives a very shrill performance. It's odd seeing James Stewart throwing around language like he's straight out of a 30s Warner Brothers gangster film, but he, at least, makes his performance work.

Standouts include Guy Kibbee as Johnson's partner and Nat Pendleton always entertains as a rather dim and flaky flatfoot.

Extremely funny madcap comedy starring two of the greatest stars of the classic period of American film: tongue-in-cheek Claudette Colbert and good fella Jimmy Stewart.

Stewart plays a detective on the run, who's being chased by the police, because of his involvement as an accessory in a murder case, in which the principal accused is his client. Colbert is a poetess who `accidentally' gets involved in Stewart's escapade from the cops, reluctantly at first, eventually becoming a runaway herself and falling in love with Stewart, and causing him a lot of trouble in the process. Her character is joy to behold and is hilariously played with top expertise by this gifted comedienne, in one of the last original screwballs from the '30s.

This movie is a wonderful example of classic Hollywood comedy at its best, with top performances all around, by seasoned pros (Guy Kibbee, Nat Pendleton, et al). It's non-stop fun from start to finish, and by the way, Stewart plays a much rougher guy than his usual more likeable persona in this period -he even gets the chance of knocking around Colbert. It's a pity that it's not available on VHS or DVD. You may have the luck of watching it on TCM.

Although the title doesn't say much about the film, IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD (1939) is basically a screwball comedy about a detective on the lam and on the case. It's pretty funny, with great performances by Claudette Colbert and Guy Kibbee, and it's a story centered around murder, crime, evading the police, etc.

(The film's title comes from a line in a poem written by Colbert's character and has little, if anything, to do with the movie's plot.)

James Stewart, still early in his illustrious career, plays a private detective who is wrongfully accused and escapes on his way to prison. He thinks he can crack the case, if the cops don't catch up with him first. He is joined by Colbert's character and the two of them try to elude the police manhunt.

Stewart's character is a little different from the roles for which he's best known. As a detective he's rougher and more cynical than viewers would expect of Stewart. As always, his performance is solid. There's one part of the film when he wears a scout's master disguise, complete with silly thick-lensed eyeglasses. Some of the physical comedy stemming from the character's visual impairment is gold. It's cool to see Stewart star in a detective comedy.

Colbert is very good in this film as well, playing Stewart's accomplice. She's eager to help Stewart's character, even when he'd rather be rid of her. (She does her darndest to disprove Stewart's theory that all women are dumb.) Colbert was a seasoned Hollywood star by the time this film was made (she'd won an Oscar for 1934's IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT) and her performance is top-notch.

Key supporting roles go to Guy Kibbee as Stewart's partner and Nat Pendleton as the police sergeant on Stewart's trail. Kibbee has some scene-stealing moments in the movie's final act. A young Hans Conried (perhaps best known for his voice work as Captain Hook, Snidely Whiplash, and Horton the Elephant) has a brief role as the stage manager at the Saugerties theater.

A lot of talent worked on this rather obscure comedy. James Stewart and Claudette Colbert starred. W.S. Van Dyke directed. The great Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay. It seems like a recipe for success, but for whatever reason IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD is not well-remembered nowadays. (It's probably overshadowed by Stewart's other "wonderful" film, 1946's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.) I think it's a nice little comedy with some big names. It has its moments and it's pretty funny. It probably won't blow you away, but it's worth checking out if it's on TCM or something.

James Stewart tries his hand at screwball comedy in "It's a Wonderful World," a 1939 film also starring Claudette Colbert, directed by W.S. Van Dyke with a screenplay by Ben Hecht. Supporting players include Guy Kibbee, Nat Pendleton, Sidney Blackmer, and Ernest Truex.

Stewart plays a detective, Guy Johnson, whose client (Truex) is charged with a murder he didn't commit. Guy is sentenced to prison, too, as an accessory. On the way to prison via train, he spots a clue in the newspaper and escapes. On the run, he encounters a poetess, Edwina Corday (Colbert), an attractive if clumsy woman, and he has to take her along. The two get into all sorts of trouble on the road to trying to prove Guy's client didn't murder anyone.

This film has all the elements of a great screwball comedy, and a lot of potential, but for some reason, it doesn't quite hang together. The script is a little confusing and lets the actors down. It's reminiscent of "It Happened One Night," especially when they're hanging out by the fence, and Colbert's presence indicates to me that the powers that be had that connection in mind.

The performances are all excellent, with Stewart and Colbert very funny. It seems that both these actors could do just about anything. With a little bit tighter script, this might have been a real classic. As it is, it's enjoyable and has some good moments.