Une femme qui tombe du ciel

I was never a big fan of ROBERT MONTGOMERY but have to admit he acquits himself very well in this light romantic comedy opposite the very adroit MYRNA LOY, who could play either comedy or drama with equal finesse. The two of them hold this little tale together--and since the camera is on them most of the time, it's not really that difficult to do.

The film might more aptly be titled "Cabin Fever" because once Loy's plane crashes (with would-be husband Reginald Owen aboard), she spends most of the movie cabin bound with lonely wireless operator Montgomery in the wilds of Labrador. All of it has a stage-bound look and is obviously photographed on the MGM sound stages with artificial snow and ice for a few background shots. The flimsy tale has Montgomery falling head over heels in love with the stranded Loy, who at first resists his charm but soon becomes undecided about being Reginald Owen's fiancé.

It's so simple and yet it plays extremely well because of some bright dialog and the effortless ease with which Montgomery and Loy play screwball comedy. Not as fortunate is REGINALD OWEN, given to the kind of mugging and overplaying that usually sinks a film like this. But it's the skillful emoting of the two stars that saves the day.

A pleasant trifle, typical of '30s film fare in this realm.

Trivia note: Watch for a glimpse of handsome young DENNIS MORGAN as a band singer in a nightclub scene in an uncredited bit role.

The remoteness of a cabin in Labrador where Robert Montgomery sits at his wireless set with only some Eskimo retainers for company is not exactly the setting one would think of for drawing room comedy. But in Petticoat Fever Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy and the rest of the cast make it work.

Montgomery is not all he seems, he's a minor offshoot from a noble family in a kind of exile for some indiscreet behavior. You have to say though he does manage to live well. I mean when he does get some unexpected guests he does entertain well given his circumstances.

The guests are Myrna Loy and Reginald Owen and he's some London society bigwig. Their plane has crash landed and they're forced to stay with Montgomery for a bit. He's a most hospitable host and the usual happens with Bob and Myrna.

Things get sidetracked a bit Gloria Shotter shows up who is a woman who think she has an understanding with Montgomery, but these things do work out in these kind of films.

As the only conversation that Montgomery has listen to some of the understated lines that Otto Yamaoka has. That Japanese-American playing an Eskimo has some wit to him. Sadly I read he spent World War II interned and never did return to the screen post World War II.

Petticoat Fever is a very bright comedy that still hold up after over 80 years, I recommend it highly.

Dascom Dinsmore (Robert Montgomery) is a lonely telegraph operator in the frozen isolation of Eskimo Point, Labrador. He can't get a wife to live in such a remote place and it's been 2 years since he's seen a beautiful white woman. Sir James Felton (Reginald Owen) lands his plane in the snow with companion Irene Campion (Myrna Loy).

Dascom is not wrong. Myrna Loy is one beautiful white woman. I would do much of the same to keep her around. Only problem is that Dascom is all wrong. He shouldn't be trying for a proper Englishman. He should be a wild man of the north. In that way, he and Myrna Loy can have a clash of cultures comedy. I never got to the point of rooting for Dascom despite agreeing with him.

This diverting little comedy is refreshingly different from the standard rich boy-wolf chases girl comedies of the 30s. It's set in the Alaskan wilderness instead of of swanky night clubs and penthouses, the situations are set up to be amusing rather than hilarious, and it's played by Montgomery and Loy with a kind of knowing delicacy rather than wryness or zaniness.

Robert Montgomery has fled England for Labrador, where he runs a radio shack with the aid of Inuit Otto Yamaoka. He hasn't seen a girl in two years -- the two Eskimo girls that Yamaoka brought in are kept discreetly out of sight in another building. In pop Myrna Loy and fiance Reginald Owen for some reason or other. Montgomery falls in love with Miss Loy instantly. It takes her the entire first act to concede. Matters are settled, when up pops Montgomery's fiancee, Winifred Shotter, and Act Two begins.

As always, Owen's presence is a mystery to me; his idea of express emotion is to half close his eyes and speak emphatically. His method of conveying disinterest is also to half close his eyes and speak emphatically. His idea of telling a joke is to half close his eyes and speak emphatically. If he was ever cast as a corpse, I'm sure he half closed his eyes and spoke emphatically. It's certainly a pleasure to see Miss Loy, of course, whose voice has come down on the British side of the Transatlantic accent, while Montgomery, being very English, speaks as he always does. George Fitzmaurice, having finally returned to the majors, directs this essentially one-set comedy for efficiency, and wraps the whole thing up in a brisk eighty minutes. More than good enough.