Aller et retour

Claudette Colbert was given two of Paramount's up and coming leading men in The Gilded Lily which holds up very well today because it talks about the cult of celebrity. Ray Milland and Fred MacMurray co-starred with her and in MacMurray's fifth film he became a star.

Fred's a reporter and Claudette's a secretary and they have a regular Thursday date on a bench near the main public library in Bryant Park in New York. They talk about the state of the human condition while munching on popcorn. But one fine day Claudette runs into Ray Milland who is traveling incognito in the USA, he's a titled English Earl whose got a playboy reputation and a fiancé back across the pond.

MacMurray as it were happens to spot Milland and his father C. Aubrey Smith as they're boarding the boat back for the United Kingdom. His reporter instinct takes over and he breaks the story of Milland and Colbert and overnight he creates a celebrity, 'the No Girl.'

What to do, but try and exploit this all around and Claudette working class secretary one day becomes a celebrity like Zsa Zsa Gabor, Pia Zadora, or Jessica Hahn. The cult of celebrity was just beginning back in the day and The Gilded Lily is one of the first films to deal with that phenomenon.

Though MacMurray got his big break in this film after four other films which he didn't make much of an impact, the film really does belong to Claudette Colbert. She's got some great comic moments here, getting drunk and passing out under a nightclub table while MacMurray and owner Luis Alberni are discussing putting her in his club.

Of course Claudette doesn't sing or dance or do card tricks, so what will she do once she gets there. Another great moment is Claudette taking singing lessons from an exasperated Leonid Kinskey. This might have been the inspiration for the scene where Fortunio Bonanova tries to resign from giving singing lessons to Dorothy Comingore in Citizen Kane. Of course this one is played strictly for laughs as poor Colbert tries to croak out a song.

Claudette Colbert doesn't sing or dance or do card tricks, but give her her due as one of the best screen comediennes films had back in the Thirties. She's at her very best in The Gilded Lily and what the film says about celebrities and what it takes to be one is probably more true today than back in 1935. Don't miss this one if broadcast

However down you might be feeling, this will cheer you up. Its warm and uplifting mood will give you a big hug and put a big smile on your face. It's sentimental without being soppy making this a perfect little rom-com.

This might not be a classic but Claudette Colbert is as classic as ever. Besides being the most beautiful woman ever (as we, the enlightened ones realise!), she had that natural ability to make even the silliest role seem completely believable and real. In this, following a romance with one of those hundreds of sons of English Lords in disguise who, according to Hollywood seemed to populate America in the thirties, celebrity is foisted unexpectedly upon her. She copes with this just like any of us would - with incredulity followed by self effacement then reluctant acceptance. Her performance is so natural and so endearing.

Also, I must commend Fred MacMurray! You'd never guess that this was his first lead role - he and the divine Claudette show real chemistry. He was just one of those naturally natural actors.

The story is far from original, the humour's ok though not side-splitting but the intoxicating charm of the three leads makes this something special. The romance is cheesy and corny but it never ventures into the nauseatingly sentimental which a lot of films did back then. No, this has a healthy streak of cynicism flowing through it which adds to its realism.

Get that cast... Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Aubrey Smith, Ray Milland, Don Meeks. all so good. Marilyn (Colbert) and Pete (Mac) are buddies, working in new york city. When Marilyn bumps into Charles Gray (Milland), she gets all flustered, and they spend the next couple days running around the city together. but Gray must return to england to break it off with his fiancee. Marilyn sees the photos of Lord Gray in the paper, and thinks he has lied to her... he had, but only to break it off with the one back home. another little problem that snowballs into something much bigger, since someone couldn't tell the truth to begin with. Marilyn hits it big as a singer, and now things really turn around for her. can they pick up where they left off? Aubrey Smith was always the uncle, the congressman, the wise judge. here, he's Gray's father, and wants to avoid any whiff of scandal to protect the family name. Colbert and Milland had been around hollywood a bit, but this was one of MacMurray's first credited roles. it's fun to watch it all happen. liberal use of backdrops. clearly there was a magic between Colbert and Mac. directed by Wes Ruggles.was nominated for Cimarron. he had started in EARLY silents as an actor, and carried on with directing, into the talkies. had worked with the Chaplins. his brother Charles Ruggles was hilarious in so many comedies. Watch this one. shame they don't show it very often.

Just what I wanted from a film-- to feel good, smile, and applaud at the end. Colbert was fantastic.

Entertaining romantic comedy starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray as a pair who have a "date" each Thursday meeting on a city bench to eat popcorn together, sans shoes. He seems to be in love with her, but she longs to meet her dream man for her idea of an ideal romance. And she does - in the form of handsome Ray Milland, who assists her in a crowd situation on the subway. They have a fun date together at Coney Island where the camera takes us on a wild ride on the roller coaster with them; they fall in love instantly. She thinks he's out of a job - he doesn't tell her he is a Lord (and has a fiancée back home in England!). But when she sees his picture in the paper (coincidentally attached to a story done by MacMurray, a reporter) she believes she's been duped. Follows a series of publicity newspaper stories, out of her control, which causes her to become famous as "The No Girl" for saying "no" to a lord. Then he thinks she was just in the whole relationship with him for the publicity. Well, based on her huge public fame, she is amazingly hired to sing and dance in her own solo nightclub act - even though, as seen in a quite amusing performance scene, she has zero talent!

This is a fun, enjoyable romp - a little frustrating in the way of many romantic comedies in which you feel like you know a couple should be together, but misunderstandings have caused them to remain apart. The ending of this was not particularly what I hoped to see either. But - Claudette Colbert sparkles as always, she's great. Fred MacMurray also does a fine job in his part, Ray Milland looks very young, handsome and, well, rather dashing! One thing I wondered about in this film - why are the Colbert and MacMurray characters so satisfied with just a date on a bench once a week, how come they never desire to get together for a dinner out, go to a movie, or any other normal type activity?! Seemed a bit odd to me. All in all, a quite enjoyable film.