Classic Comedy Hall of Fame

I like that last scene too, very satisfying ending and fun!

Yes! they were great. I was going to mention that, glad to see you gave them a shout out. I especially liked the pairing of Charles Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton. Edward Everett Horton made my list of top 1930s actors/actresses and come to think of it Miriam Hopkins did too.

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

I've been meaning to post commentary about TiP for some time, so I might as well jump in following CR's reminiscences.

This is a delightful Ernst Lubitsch film, played to perfection by Herbert Marshall, Miriam Hopkins, and Kay Francis. It portrays both elegant sexuality and sophisticated larceny perfectly delivered by Marshall and Hopkins, whose chemistry and comedy rivals that of Powell/Loy and Tracy/Hepburn.

As a pre-code film the lines were delightfully suggestive; and an ending which permitted the success of a crime was permitted.

I've always felt that Marshall was wooden as an actor. But here he's in full bloom. Only recently did I learn that he had lost a leg from the knee down in WWI, which caused his peculiar gait with a prosthesis, and also a great deal of chronic pain. Miriam Hopkins is alluring, funny, and charming as his foil (and lover). And Kay Francis is believable as a wealthy perfume manufacturing owner. Edward Everett Horton and Charles Ruggles turn in enjoyable supporting performances.

The plot has plenty of twists, and of course all resolves nicely in the romantic and amusing ending. This one is not easy to find. I believe Netflix disc rental has it, along with some libraries.

~Doc

Ruggles and Horton WERE great together! I've always love Horton from childhood where I knew him as the narrator for Fractured Tales in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. And for the longest time, I would search him out to get a face to the voice. Amusingly, it is the last few years, through HoFs and Countdowns have I REALLY gotten to see most of him.

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An excellent description throughout. I loved everyone in this. And that their "mark" wasn't someone you looked forward to being conned, but as equally delightful, clever and suggestively witty as Hopkins and Marshall.

Comparing Marshall and Hopkins to Powell/Loy and Tracy/Hepburn IS very apt. I was thinking the same both the first and now, the second time I've watched this. Especially Powell/Loy.

Had no idea about the missing leg and I had assumed it was a very cavalier style of gait. Thank you for that tidbit.

EDIT: speaking of which, I just thought of one of those clever shots using a mirror with a statue in front of it, showing Marshall running up some stairs where you don't actually see his face. Having a prosthesis, he may not have shot up those stairs as he did, making the shot not only clever, artistically, but a necessity. Interesting.

I was just in Arizona and for the first time ever I had access to TCM. Gosh that was a dream! It's the only cable channel I would care to have. And guess what they showed? Kay Francis movies, and I watched several of them and who do I spy? Mr Horton and as funny as ever. Kay was good too, but mostly she was playing bad girls and murderess which was quite different than her role in TIP.

You're right Netflix DVD.Com has the disc for rental, I just checked. And if someone has streaming Netflix they can also add the DVD in the mail plan to their existing streaming plan. It's only a few dollars more each month, AND there are a ton of older movies and classics that are not available from Netflix streaming, but are available by Netflix/DVD.com disc plan.

I used a link, as I was in a hurry to watch it so if anyone needs a link just give a shout out.

TMC is the ONLY channel I truly and utterly miss since I got rid of cable. Every other Sunday we visit my mom for the day and I always check to see what's on TMC that day that she might enjoy. I tried watching The Best Years of Our Lives once and she didn't care for the rougher parts of it. She did love the day that featured a couple of Judy Garland films: A Star is Born and, I think, Meet Me in St Louis. She loved those.
In short, no gangster flicks, noirs or even war films. Just comedies, musicals, and romance and no really serious drama. She just scowls at those.

there's also a great streaming site with a secondary site that has a fantastic list of oldies where I watched this and will be watching several others from this, so I can supply links as well. INCLUDING Nothing Sacred and True Confession!!

Yeah, they used a body double in that scene. Marshall was not capable of running up stairs.

BTW, which streaming sites are you referring to re streaming the two classics? I couldn't get them on any of my more shady streaming sites...

~Doc

sent you a Comment with the site.

It's a Gift
It's a pretty fun movie, but nothing really happens in it. My main problem is similar to that of Monkey Business, in that it consists of mainly no plot at all, except for his desire to have an orange ranch. There's no character development, just three or four extended sequences - which were entertaining for what they were - containing our poor main character just always being at the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing. His wife was an annoying ****, and I know she was supposed to be, but even her acting seemed kind of forced. But it was still a light and fun watch, no real harm done.

Ahwell, you're on a roll I haven't read many of the reviews, yet, as usual I want to wait tell after I've seen the movie...but I'll will read them all.

Yeah, trying to knock many of these off as I'm not sure how much time I'll have in a couple weeks.

a great director once said that he have a sign on the wall of his office that asked, ''What would Lubitsch have done?' that director is the one im my avatar sitting with his five oscars.

wilder was probably referring to what's known by The "Lubitsch touch" which is the style that can be found in his movies and that emphasizes subtlety and elegance, expressive of good taste, and being economical about what does and doesn't need to be shown. at least that's how imdb describes it

this was the second time i watch this movie and i gotta say that i'm happy that i nominated it for this HoF because i think that this movie is like the basis of all the romantic comedies of that era and we can easily notice the influence that it had on Screwball comedy subgenre movies like Bringing Up Baby, The Lady Eve, Pat and Mike and many many others.

the movie is filled with delightfull little subtleties, and there is few that i would like to mention:

- at the beginning credits the title reads just "Trouble in", doesn't show the word "Paradise" and then at the bottom is a bed. It means "Trouble in Bed".

- when he says if he were her father he give her "a good spanking" then pauses and adds in the business sense of course...
They continue with her asking him: What would you do if you were my secretary?
And he replies: Then I would give you a good spanking too.
Her: You are hired.

- When the two are talking about their plan for the next day. He suggests activities like breakfast, a stroll, lunch, etc. and she adds "together" to the end of each. He then suggests that after lunch they could take a nap. She starts to respond "to-" then stops herself and smiles a little.

- when we see their reflection on the bed..

and many many others..

needless to say that the dialogue was excellent , witty , charming and fun with a lot of memorable quoets like the one by Lily Vautier: I wouldn't fall for another man if he was the biggest crook on earth! and many others.

finally the actors were all great from the three leading roles to the secondary supporting ones, but i must say that i liked miriam hopkins the most.

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I missed the opening with the bed and movie title, rats! I'm going to try and rewatch this as I was really tired and I think some of the more subtle innuendos slipped right over my sleepy head. BTW Miriam Hopkins is great in this. Have you seen her in anything else?

No i haven't, do you recommend anything ??

She’s great in Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

Nice commentary, AW! I like the repartee you pointed out between Hopkins and Marshall. Being pre-code, they got away with a lot of obvious innuendo that the Hays code would have screeched at.. Also, even though it was a comedy, the code would have nixed them getting away with a heist at the end. Growing up watching movies, I just assumed all criminal acts were caught and punished...

~Doc

His Girl Friday
This is another awesome screwball comedy with some great innuendos. It's not quite as good as Trouble in Paradise, but I love the wittiness and flavor of it. Hildy is such a great character, maybe my favorite in these comedy movies so far. She's strong, kind, and not very annoying. In the end, there are some great moments and some not-so-great moments, but the effect is a fun and fast paced comedy that I thoroughly enjoyed.