Le gai mensonge

Fun romp with dashing Francis Lederer and lovely Frances Dee.

This is the kind of screwball movie that Hollywood can never make again. We have become too jaded, too complicated, too sophisticated.

You know the ending way before it comes, but the ride is full of smiles and giggles and silly surprises that will make your insides gurgle with joy and harken you gently into a more innocent time.

William Wyler's direction is nearly flawless. He wasn't Bette Davis' favorite director for nothing. It seems that he could do most anything.

Also, watch for the wonderfully goofy Lennox Pawle, stately Alan Mowbray and instantly recognizable Akim Tamiroff in one of the many roles that made their faces well-known but not necessarily their identities household names.

Sit back and take it in. Smile. You deserve it.

I love Wyler. People never talk about him regardless of the fact that he directed the best epic movie ever, Ben Hur, one of the best rom-coms ever Roman Holiday, and classics like The Best Years of Our Lives and Funny Girl.

he Gay Deception, like Roman Holiday, is a tale about a royalty wanting to be a normal, everyday person like everyone else. He ends up falling in love with a girl who on the other hand wants to be royalty, if only for one month, after she wins the lottery.

No prize for guessing the ending. But Wyler too knows the audience knows how the story will be resolved - so he makes every joke count. Every meeting is a delightful clash of the opposites, with fast witted dialogue and hilarious performances, especially by Lederer, whom I have never seen this funny.

If you look closely, you will notice small jokes with open references to sex and things impure that the Production Code was against and did not allow. This isn't It Happened One Night, but it's a nice film that will make you smile.

With 20th Century Fox swallowed up by that corporate piranha, Disney, I have a feeling many of these Fox films will be lost to viewing, since I assume Disney wants to hide these in a vault and promote their own stuff. So I've decided to use a list to see some films I haven't gotten to yet.

Frances Dee and Francis Lederer star in "The Gay Deception" from 1935. People would get another idea of this title were it made today. The beautiful, wide-eyed Mirabel (Dee) comes from a town where casaba melons are grown. She wants to let loose and live, but she has to make a living. Then she wins $5000 in a lottery.

The bank tells her that at 4% interest, she can make $3.85 a week. Mirabel is not interested. She wants the money in cash and is determined to have a blast for as long as the money lasts.

According to my research, despite admonitions by the bank manager, that would be quite a while. $5000 in 1935 buys $100,000 of goods and services today. With French hats costing $19.95 and hotel suites back them costing something like $32/day, Mirabel's money will go far even in NYC.

Mirabel takes the Peach Blossom suite at the Walsdorf Astoria Hotel. She arrives with tons of luggage filled with gowns, hats, and furs. However, she is constantly hounded by a bellboy named Sandro (Lederer) who advises her on what to drink, what to order, and where to go, and she hates it and him.

He drives her crazy, but she eventually has to admit to herself she's having a rotten time. She's alone, ignored by the famous society deb in the next suite, and there's a huge ball coming up, and she's not invited.

Sandro promises that she will attend the ball, and with a prince.

One of those light, sophisticated comedies that we won't see again, reminiscent of another favorite of mine, Cafe Metropole. Surprisingly, William Wyler directed, and it's a shame he didn't do more of this type of film.

Both of the stars had interesting -- and long lives.

In 1929, Francis Lederer made "Pandora's Box" in Germany starring Louise Brooks. He couldn't speak English, and she couldn't speak German. Fortunately it was silent. Here he is in 1935 speaking English impeccably and giving a marvelous performance.

Irving Thalberg intended to make him a huge star, but with Thalberg's death, Lederer failed to make Clark Gable status. He worked until 1971 and then opened an acting school; the week of his death, at 100, he was still teaching.

Frances Dee was pregnant with Jody McCrea with her husband Joel when this film was made; two more children followed, the last one in 1955. She stopped working in the '50s with no regrets. She was married to McCrea until his death in 1990.

Some trivia: Selznick considered casting Dee as Melanie Wilkes, but backed off when he thought that her beauty might overshadow newcomer Vivien Leigh. DeHavilland's beauty was more placid; described by James Agee as "one of the very few women in movies who really had a face...and always used this translucent face with delicate and exciting talent," Dee lived until age 94.

What a wonderful old film. This old flick moves along at a intelligent pace with wit and timing throughout. For a movie over 70 years old, the dialog is smart with no over-acting to be found anywhere. The interplay between Francis Lederer and Frances Dee is humorous, mature and completely entertaining. The story is not complicated, but the pace and writing carry it along fine.

What Hollywood would do with a re-make of this God only knows, but it would be well worth a try. Until then, I highly recommend The Gay Deception. Seek this movie out and you will not be sorry.

14 out of 14. (See the movie and you'll understand)

When office worker "Mirabel" (Frances Dee) scoops $5,000 in the state lottery, she decides to ignore the bank manager's advice to invest and heads to New York for a luxury stay. She is suitably fêted by the hotel staff, but soon finds her trip to this metropolis where she knows nobody a bit lonely. The only friend she seems to make is the elevator boy (Francis Lederer). He notices that she's not having the best time and determines to make her feel better. Thing is, he has a bit of a secret to keep and though that could ultimately help their budding romance, he needs to keep it for now and that's where their problems start. It's all a little predictable, sure, but there is quite an engaging effort from Lederer (and he resists any temptation to burst into song) and there are a few swipes at the posh, pompous and supercilious amongst the so-called glittering society types who couldn't spot a prince from a porcupine. "The customer is always right!"? Who ever came up with that stupid policy?