First Lady

It must have sounded like a cute idea--a cabal of Washington wives turns out to be the real power brokers who decide the Presidential nominee. But in practice it is very tame and dull. One keeps waiting for the zingers but in fact the wisecracks are mild and, for the most part, not very funny. Louise Fazenda, as the leader of 5 million obviously Republican clubwomen, is less a caricature of a dim, prissy, provincial battleaxe than simply a depressing reproduction of the real thing. And though the film ridicules her to the audience, she is never embarrassed, much less humiliated, to the other characters.

This tameness pervades the movie, which never even mentions the two main parties, and which reduces the horse-trading and viciousness of arriving at a candidate to one stuffy after-dinner chat, as unbelievable as it is boring. Walter Connolly, whom no one would take seriously, is miscast as the awful candidate--the part needed someone with a resonant voice and an authoritative, if pompous, manner. It's nice to see Verree Teasdale (Mrs. Adolphe Menjou) in a part of some size, but she is called upon only to be exasperated or icily condescending, and is not very funny in either mood.

Kay Francis, the movie's greatest clothes horse and a sparkling comic actress, is the only reason to see this, but she, too, has to fight the sluggish dialogue to keep her character merry and afloat.

A very dated but still amusing political comedy, "First Lady" showcases Kay Francis's great comedic talent as the wife of a secretary of state destined, in her view, for the White House once presided over by her grandpa. The screen text as the film begins to roll alerts viewers to the "fact" that men control politics but behind the scenes the ladies are not without influence. Dated! But funny!

A comedy of machinations and quick-witted dialogue, "First Lady" is a period piece and it's fun to see how the filmmakers of the late 30s fantasized a Washington that never was. This must have been a nice distraction as America inched out of the Depression and moved closer to global war. It's good entertainment today.

If you can tell yourself that you are seated in a Broadway theatre enjoying the first night of a George S Kaufman play, you will be delighted. The dialogue is wonderful especially if you like it a little bitchy and the actors put it over beautifully. Kay Francis is marvelous as usual but much credit goes to Verree Teasdale as Irene, Ms Francis' more than capable foil. By the way there are a couple of delightful scenes sans Ms. Francis especially one in which Ms Teasdale and Walter Connolly are "enjoying" an evening at home. Of course the political plot is rather ridiculous and should be ignored except as it moves the story along setting up the witty verbal contretemps. If you just like to "watch" movies, avoid this one. But if you love language and wit you won't be disappointed. And if I were trying to find a play for a community theatre, this sleeper would suit me fine.

Kaufman without Hart and Kay without Lubitsch results in a film with mid level ladies magazine dialogue and the cinematic quality of a Liberty Mutual commercial.

Added Bonus: My Personal Top 5 and Bottom 5 First Ladies of the 20th/21st centuries

Top 5 5) Jackie Kennedy 4) Rosalyn Carter 3) Michelle Obama 2) Betty Ford 1) Eleanor Roosevelt

Bottom 5 5) Jill Biden 4) Florence Harding 3) Melania Trump 2) Nancy Reagan 1) Edith Wilson.

Wow...the reviews for this film and mine are going to be a lot different. I guess that's okay, as there are movies for all tastes and I just didn't happen to like this one very much.

Kay Francis plays the lead as a very manipulative woman who is married to the Secretary of State. She and all the women seem to think their very successful husbands are actually idiots who can be easily manipulated by them into greater and greater political success. In other words, the women are all conniving and the men, generally, are quite dim.

While all this apparently went over very well in the 1930s on stage, I wonder how many other people might dislike the film because of its rather old fashioned and sexist ideas. My concern was actually less because of sexism but more because it all seemed so incredibly contrived and fake--and almost like the relationship between the women and men from "The Flintstones"! Plus none of the characters seemed particularly nice or likable. Instead of the conniving, I would love to have seen a more gentle film where a wife DOES help her husband become a success because they are a team--less because she's the reincarnation of Macchiavelli! Overall, this film does not seem to have aged well. I think had the men and women not been such obvious stereotypes OR if they had made the characters a bit more evil and manipulative, it would have been a better film (though in the latter case, it certainly wouldn't have been a comedy).