Bataille de dames

"Ever Since Eve" is a cute comedy from 1937 starring Marion Davies, Robert Montgomery, Patsy Kelly, and Allen Jenkins.

Davies plays a secretary who gets sick of the men she works for hitting on her all the time - so sick, in fact, that she makes herself into a homely frump and goes to work for Robert Montgomery, who plays an author in need of someone efficient so that he can finish his book.

Davies' transformation is very good, but I have to admit that I didn't find her so much of a knockout normally that no man could keep his hands off of her. It was really a role for someone like Jean Harlow.

The interesting thing is, Davies was 40 at the time. It was unusual in those days for an actress to still be playing starring roles by then and only superstars with clout could get away with it.

Norma Shearer retired at 40, as did Greta Garbo; by the time Joan Crawford was 38, MGM was giving her junk, and she was drummed out of the studio.

Davies is very good, and the film is cute, with good performances from the rest of the cast. Davies' acting abilities come as no surprise to me, as I have enjoyed many of her performances. She was a bright presence as well.

"Ever Since Eve" goes down easily. It's not a masterpiece, not a classic screwball comedy, but it's very enjoyable.

Many screwball comedies of the 30's and 40's are regular fixtures on the TV movie circuit, so, that you might know movies like It Happened One Night or Bringing Up Baby almost by heart they've been on so often. I've seen Ever Since Eve a couple of times on TCM, but that is about the only place you'll run into it. Too bad! But at least it does keep the story somewhat fresh, as much of it works with an element of surprise. Still this is a well-made gem that deserves to be seen more often.

Short plot summary: Marge Winton is caught between eating 3 squares a day and preserving her virtue. She's a very good secretary who happens also to be very good-looking. Every time she lands a job the boss tries to land on her after hours and she has to quit. She happens upon a publishing company that insists that all their secretaries be unattractive and decides to disguise herself and take a job there. She ends up working for a playboy author who is not doing any work largely because of girlfriend Camille (Ralston) The publisher sets Marge to the task of making him write.

The cast is filled with veterans who provide predictable laughs and display well-honed comic chops. Patsy Kelly and Alan Jenkins are great fun as Marge's roommate and her loutish boy-friend. They keep the action moving and push the screwball accelerator down a notch when the story threatens to get too soppy. Likewise, Marcia Ralston with her jealous girlfriend sets a tempestuous tone that keeps us from thinking too hard and would explain Freddy Matthews' (Robert Montgomery) inability to get his life in gear. Anyone who's dated a psycho can relate. Montegomery, as usual, is smooth and bubbly as the boy hero. He played that role so often, he could no doubt play it in his sleep.

While most of the story can be seen coming there is a real surprise when Davies pulls off the transformation.

In contemporary movies, we've had several stars try this trick. It's almost a Hollywood stereotype. Most notably we've had Julia Robert's trying to convince us that she was the ugly duckling sister; Sandra Bulluck as an unattractive(?) cop; Gwyneth Paltrow donning a fat suit and Renee Zellweger actually gaining weight for the part. No one could possibly believe the first two examples, because gosh darn it they were just too good looking. The Bullock example is stunning, because she is in the top .001 percentile of attractive women on camera. The studios have never made her look unattractive. The last two succeeded sort of. Zellweger took on the frumpy role just as De Niro took on the weight in Raging Bull, she wasn't made-up she was. Paltrow is wearing a fat suit and carry's off the ploy, but this is a triumph of extreme make-up.

Davies pulls this off stunningly. Although it is but a wig, glasses and a change of clothes, it is thoroughly convincing. In fact, it is her acting chops that really pull this off, because she really takes on the manners and attitude of the plain girl and can just as easily switch back to the babe. When she tests it out for the first time on us and plumber Al, who is expecting the babe, we are already expecting her plain Jane disguise, but she exceeds our expectations. She could have easily slipped on to another movie set and played the frumpy secretary. Later on she even shows us the transformation from one to the other but it is still believable. She has brought the dual role to life much as Hoffman in Tootsie made us accept the dualism in his drag role. Really, the only thing that is hard to believe in this story is that Montegomery could actually write. Though, we can believe that Davies could get him to do it.

All in all this movie is unrelenting fun and a fine time waster.

Had always heard how rotten this film was. Imagine my surprise when I finally saw it and found it one of the most enjoyable of the Warner's 30's comedies. Marion is a delight, totally natural . . . which is why I guess, they never thought she could act! The film has a great supporting cast. Louise Fazenda has a hilarious role as Abigail Beldon the book publisher, and Merle Oberon look alike, Marcia Ralston makes a vicious "other woman". The whole thing is fun. Take it for what it is . . . just entertainment.

Oh yes, plot is Marion makes herself over to be plain and ugly to get a job and falls for Robert Mongomery, her employer.

Very entertaining romantic comedy starring Marion Davies as Marge, a gal who keeps quitting or getting fired from her secretarial jobs because she's too attractive to keep her bosses from chasing her, asking her to stay for "night work", etc. At the employment agency she hears about a job at a publishing company that only hires "homely" secretaries, so she makes herself over to look plain - complete with thick round eyeglasses, short dark wig, over-sized suit, sensible shoes, and funny-looking hat (de rigueur for this kind of deception, it seems) - and gets herself the job. She's soon put to work as secretary for handsome ladies man Freddy Matthews (played by Robert Montgomery) who is writing a book with a firm due date at the publishers - problem is, he just can't keep his mind on the job. So - he thinks she has a "face that would stop a clock" (hmmm - he met her as herself in an earlier scene and thought she was a beauty, just a pair of glasses makes that much difference?!) so has no interest in her, she takes it upon herself to press him into completing his book and keep him away from distractions like his jealous, extremely hot-headed girlfriend.

Well, this film is a lot of fun - the story is very enjoyable and funny, with well done performances by all. Marion Davies is fun to watch switching back and forth between blonde beauty and plain jane, Robert Montgomery is his handsome, charming, usual self, Patsy Kelly adds some humor to the mix playing Davies wisecracking roommate/gal pal and Frank McHugh is amusing as a man who writes books for young girls under a female pseudonym. The plot of this film has an element that you just must except (like many other similar films with this sort of disguise) - the fact that our man is completely unable to recognize, either visually or by her voice, Davies character when she has on the glasses and wig. He actually meets Marge at one point in the film, dressed as herself, and they go out and begin to fall in love - and he doesn't have a clue that she and his secretary are one and the same person! All in all, I found this film to be a pleasant watch, well worth seeing.

What a gem of a movie! Sure, some of the circumstances are preposterous, even for 1937, but the pace is fast, the characters are fun and the building tension as the main character tries to juggle being both Marge Winton and "Sadie Day" is as much fun as the climax of "Mrs. Doubtfire" in the restaurant when Robin Williams just continually change between characters. I'm stunned this has never been remade (or perhaps it has?).

Marion Davies is a delight, every bit as fun as Carole Lombard. I've never seen her in a movie, and always heard she was a mediocre actress. But she's actually quite good, perfect for this role.

On the one hand, this is an incredibly dated movie. On the other hand - is it? Sexual harassment is certainly still a problem in the workplace, though how a woman looks is no protection against it or invitation for it, as this movie implies. But the scene where Marion Davies, in frumpy disguise, isn't helped as she enters a hotel and doesn't get a very nice reception from the front desk clerk, but beautiful "Sadie Day" gets helped and warmly welcomed - has anything really changed from then until now?

It was also startling, and refreshing, to see black British actor Frederick Clarke as the urbane butler, though I held my breath when a character was furious with him started to insult him with a word that started with "n" - and sighed with relief that the word turned out to be "nincompoop."