La femme aux gardénias

"He always has a drink," said my wife. She was speaking, of course, of William Powell's various characters, and I observed that he was always wealthy. Was he typecast? That is a question for seventy-years-ago; today, we just enjoy his work.

And it starred William Powell. (Isn't that enough?) In DOUBLE HARNESS, Powell plays John Fletcher, a playboy millionaire who is targeted for marriage by Joan Colby (Ann Harding). She gets her man, and this turns out to be to his immediate benefit. She gets him interested in running the company he inherited, and with her help, he's quite successful at it. He's a savvy guy, but she's clearly the woman behind the successful man. (Yes, such a thing still exists, some seventy years after.) Joan's sister Valerie (Lucille Browne) is something of a ditz with spending proclivities beyond her means. This leads to a disaster of a sort, but it's nothing Joan cannot handle.

The ending, which I shan't divulge, left me with a few questions, but the answers were not necessary and I was pleased with the film. William Powell fans, you don't want to miss the master at work.

Just saw this on TCM and I have to say I was floored by Harding's performance, who I saw here for the first time. It takes real talent to act in melodramatic scenes and deliver them so naturally that the viewer never questions your authenticity. Harding adds hundreds of little touches - a gesture here, an eye movement there, that make her performance show you what natural acting is all about. In fact, she makes everyone else pale by comparison - Powell is his usual charming self, but next to Harding he comes off as a typical Hollywood performer. And talk about sophistication! Harding has to be the ultimate in "cool". I can only guess the reason she didn't become as big as Hepburn or Davis is that she didn't fight for better films. I'll be sure to look for more of her work soon.

This movie is an example of the kind of film that just can't be made anymore. At least not from a major studio. A compact, fast paced script that is based totally on character interaction. Ann Harding is cool as ice. Beautiful and smart, her character Joan Colby carry the film. William Powell doesn't have much to do except react to her, but he does it splendidly. He plays love interest John Fletcher with a world weary yet charming air, as only he could do.

The relationship between the two is introduced to the audience as a thinly veiled roll in the hay, interrupted by a father figure. Pretty racy for 1933 standards. From there, marital relations under the strain of a worsening economy drive the story. All very relevant today 70 plus years later. Even the quaint idea of "tricking" someone into getting married seems to fly here.

Well cast from top to bottom, each player does well to move the story along. The production value is somewhat above normal "B-movie" standards, with a few minor outdoor shots.

Watching this movie was almost like watching a ballet dance, with Ann Harding moving between each scene with so much grace she fairly shimmers. The other characters swirl around her, each flying by barely grazing her, in a well choreographed, almost clock like, movement. William Powell stays out of her way, literally and figuratively, till the end of the film.

If you love old movies this one is worth your 67 minutes.

Really well done adaptation of the play to the screen. Rather wordy as was most early 1930's films, but quite charming nevertheless. And, indeed, rather risque for its day since there is a supposition at one point that Ann Harding's character, Joan, in trying to trap William Powell into marriage, is giving pre-marital favors and is actually caught in the process. The chemistry between Harding and Powell is quite good and it is unfortunate that the two were never paired again in another film.

"Double Harness" is a wonderful but obscure little RKO treasure from 1933, directed by John Cromwell, a capable craftsman who throughout his career specialized in prestige studio pictures. This is the earliest Cromwell picture I have seen, an adaptation of a rather loquacious play by Edward Poor Montgomery. I wanted to see it because I love Ann Harding and she is always a beautiful sight in almost everything she is in. I was pleased how radiant and divine Ms. Harding turned out to be in "Double Harness" - definitely one of her top five best films.

It's a small picture, with short (67 min) duration. Yes it's gabby, but intelligent & rapturous all the same, and I urge to seek out if you get the chance. William Powell - restrained, suave, and charismatic - is also wonderful as her romantic interest. Their precise charm and camaraderie and some of the ways she snares him into marriage are quite witty and delightful.