Mademoiselle Palmer et son Psychiatre

Lady in a Jam is a not very successful attempt at a belated screwball comedy, with Irene Dunne as the lead.

Although it has some fun moments, the film is, overall, unbalanced, seeking to transform a useless and wasteful socialite into a peasant, gold researcher in Arizona, under the tutelage of a psychiatrist, who begins full of certainties, in his science and diagnosis, and ends up more confused than the patient herself.

However, there is a lack of a partner worthy of Irene Dunne, for the comedy to work fully. Patrick Knowles may be young and handsome, by the standards of the time, but he lacks the talent and energy to keep up with Dunne's madness.

The presence of Ralph Bellamy, in a supporting role, helps a little, as he plays an interesting character, a romantic cowboy, who sings serenades to his childhood crush, with the sensitivity of a peasant from deep Arizona.

But, although it is nice to watch, it is certainly not a reference work in the genre.

I was long awaiting this film as I love all things Irene Dunne but I must say I was disappointed. "Lady in a Jam" is a strange amalgam of screwball comedy and classic romance. It never seems to gel as either. I kept waiting for the film to pick up pace but it continues on at a slow, lackluster pace. There are the talents of character actors Eugene Pallette and Samuel S. Hinds to boost the film and leading man Patric Knowles is certainly handsome. But the movie just never really interests me. The only thing I can imagine is that Miss Dunne and her cast mates had an overriding interest in roughing it in Arizona, the site of its on location scenes. La Dunne is just as if not more beautiful when she goes "au naturel" as a gold prospector. She just glows. Jane Crawford, the little girl who plays "Strawberry" has the best role in the movie. The wisdom that she spouts to Irene Dunne's character is priceless. Ralph Bellamy as Dunne's hapless corn seed suitor is largely repeating the part he played opposite Miss Dunne in the much superior "The Awful Truth" five years earlier in 1937. I guess this movie would be okay if you're stuck inside on a rainy day or sick in bed with a bad cold.

This is not one of her better or better known films and Patrick Knowles, handsome Brit, is not quite up to her stature as a big movie star but she IS charming as usual and there are a few laughs and Ralph Bellamy in support is also a welcome player, as is Eugene Palette. Irene is doing here a screwball comedy in which she excelled but the script is not up to her usual comedies, including THE AWFUL TRUTH and MY FAVORITE WIFE. Still if you are an Irene fan, its worth a visit for an hour and a half. Miss Dunne was at RKO and then went to Universal...This was at Universal and she would soon go over to MGM and make some of the best films of her career. She is beautiful as always.

Here's an Irene Dunne comedy that you may well have missed. I did, and thought I'd seen them all. Looking over the other reviews, the general consensus seems to be that it's inferior to her other comedy classics, and that's not entirely untrue. But on the whole, it's quite well made and due to the earnest efforts put in by creators, cast, and crew, I stayed with "Lady" till the end---and overall, was glad I did. Dunne's character is indeed an airhead, but she's so spirited and upbeat that it's hard not to like her a little. Patric Knowles' performance here lacks the spark of Cary Grant (who matched Dunne's "screwball" so well in their films together) but to be fair, Knowles' character is written as being very strait-laced throughout the story; his going screwball wouldn't have fit, and Knowles fills the bill as is. The supporting cast is very strong, and by the end, I was glad I'd seen it, even though I knew I wouldn't revisit it as much as Dunne's other screwball outings. It's worth a look for her fans especially.

Gregory LaCava was one of the greatest directors of madcap comedy film in the Thirties. W. C. Fields, a good friend and drinking companion, not a man known to waste compliments, once said of LaCava: "I hate his guts, but he's the greatest director that ever lived." Fields often asked LaCava, uncredited, to direct him in scenes in other director's films. LaCava has left us two well-made,original films under his own name: MY MAN GODFREY (1936) and STAGE DOOR (1937), as well as many lesser films, LADY IN A JAM (made at Universal in 1942) being one of them. The film has some wonderful actors--among them, the enchanting Irene Dunne as the ditzy heiress reminiscent of Kate Hepburn in BRINGING UP BABY; Ralph Bellamy as the bumbling songwriting cowpoke; Eugene Pallette as the growly trustee of Irene's failed estate; and little Queenie Vassar as the owner of the abandoned gold mine. The major fault in the film, however, is the choice of Irene's co-star, the handsome and likeable Englishman actor Patric Knowles. Cast here as a confused innocent, a psychiatrist who abandons his profession to be chauffeur and nursemaid to the heiress. The script by LaCava's longtime collaborator Eugene Thackery doesn't give him much to do other than to act frustrated or befuddled. Consequently, the romantic moments don't come off. Perhaps Henry Fonda or Cary Grant might have made something more of the underwritten role, but sadly Knowles, competent and likeable as he was, had none of the others sexual allure. We wonder why a dynamo like Dunne would have found someone so passive attractive. Despite the silly and often improbable story, there are many delightful moments, perfectly staged and cast by the great La Cava. His career came to an end in 1948 with another miss, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS with Robert Walker and Ava Gardner, but his best work lives on.