Coup de foudre

On the face of it, this film is a bit ridiculous on just about every front. A millionaire playboy is involved in a minor car accident. Whilst he is being treated for the after-effects, he meets (chooses, more like) the doctor and next thing they have an whirlwind romance and are soon married. The thing is that she "Dr. Hunt. (Barbara Hale) is determined to keep on being a doctor, and although he "Kirk" (Larry Parks) has no objections initially, he soon becomes insanely jealous of the time his wife is spending with other men. Initially, this jealously is quite good natured and mildly entertaining, but as his behaviour becomes more obsessive, the jokes starts to wain and the film actually becomes just a little bit creepy as finally she has had enough - or has she? The scenarios recycle themselves far too often, and though the writing is amusing at the start, that recycles itself too often, too - by half way through, the film is actually beginning to get quite annoying. Alan Reed has a few fun scenes as his barber/confessor but sadly, the rest of this is just a bit of a one joke film that peters out quite quickly.

Emergency Wedding (aka Jealousy) (1951) [D: Edward Buzzell. Larry Parks, Barbara Hale, Willard Parker] Peter Kirk, bored young millionaire, tired of running his inherited business, takes to the road, is caught in a car crash, meets Dr Helen Hunt, woos and marries her, only to fall prey to jealousy when he discovers she treats male patients (one of whom wants the good doctor for himself). A few complications ensue, Dr Hunt leaves him, but all ends happily when he finds a good cause, and the usual Hollywood bromides work on the doc to prevent a divorce. A piece of silly fluff, made as a 75 minute 2nd feature. Competent in all respects, but the only reason to keep watching is to see what will happen next. The theme of Dalton Trumbo's story could have made for a more subtle exploration of the roles of husbands and wives, but this was 1950, and a mere nod at this tricky issue was enough. Not bad of its type, but the type was I think already past its sell-by date in 1950. *½

Larry Parks has sold the family department store and is enjoying the money when he runs into Barbara Hale. Actually, she runs into him, and their cars wind up smashed. He's instantly in love and proposes marriage. She is a dedicated doctor and refuses, until he kisses her and promises she can keep on working if she wants. However, he's intensely jealous of any good-looking male patients.

It's a remake of YOU BELONG TO ME, and like many a post-war remake of a pre-war comedy, the changes in society render the humor in the situations a lot less funny; in addition, Parks and Miss Hale are not Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck. The result is the two leads here seem perpetually grouchy, rather than amusing. There are some funny lines for Irving Bacon and George Meeker, but unlike most comedies that switch off when the plot gets going, this one actually gets more interesting with the drama about social issues. Meanwhile, Una Merkel, Jim Backus, and Alan Reed are largely wasted.

This comedy might appear slightly too professional and exclusive, dealing with the problems of too much money and medical ethics. However, it is worth following it closely to the end, as some social problems also are brought up, and although quite outdated today, this was certainly an issue in those days, America being full of highly educated European refugees that were not allowed to work in America because of law formalisms. Barbara Hale is a qualified doctor who gets married to millionaire Larry Parks, who finds himself desperately jealous of all her male clients, one of them even flirting and wanting her to marry him. She has the upper hand because of her professionalism, while his money is of no value to her ethics and dedication to her job. However, he succeeds in turning the tables, while she discovers that other men (and all men) are just as much good-for-nothings as he. There are many twists to this comedy, but on the whole it holds water being splendidly spiritual with almost screwball ingredients, and the social chapter is interesting. Watching this will be no loss of time.

Having been a fan of Larry Parks for over 60 years (I 'discovered' him in "Blondie Goes to College" in 1942!) , I have quite a collection of his films. Recently, I finally acquired "Emergency Wedding" and enjoyed it tremendously. Larry and Barbara Hale were a great team in "Jolson Sings Again" and once more, in this film they are wonderful together. It is a charming, and funny film about a lady doctor and her jealous husband (especially of her male patients) and Larry handles the comedy exceptionally well. Some of Mr. Park's 'post Jolson' films were disappointing, but this movie more than makes up for them. Perhaps it was because Edward Buzzell was always such a good director.