Bridal Suite (1939)

Thanks for the memories!

Simply Perfect

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

I started watching Bridal Suite and thought, this looks like a vehicle that Robert Montgomery could have made a meal of. Then read Trivia, and it was intended for Robert Montgomery originally. Robert Young makes this character very unappealing. He behaves like a thoughtless lech, and speaks harshly in an attempt to be "light." His singing is awful. Annabella versus Luise Ranier is more of a puzzle. The supporting cast redeems it, as was often the case with a clinker of this vintage: The darling Billie Burke; Walter Connolly, Gene Lockhart, Felix Bressart, and, very briefly, Arthur Treacher. Worth watching for their collective professionalism and craftsmanship alone. Produced by the accomplished and unjustly obscure Edgar Selwyn, for MGM.

Neil McGill (Robert Young) is a very spoiled son of a rich man. For the second time, he's missed his wedding with Abbie. Although he claims to love the woman, it's certainly not apparent. But his dippy mother (Billie Burke) wants to try to salvage the relationship and insists on taking Neil to Europe to get a note from a famous psychiatrist that says Neil was suffering from amnesia! However, some unexpected things happen...such as his falling in love with a poor lady (Annabella) as well as wanting to finally make something of himself.This is a modestly interesting story. However, it's also a bit of a hard sell because through so much of the story Neil is unlikable and a bit of a spoiled jerk. Had be been less dislikable the story would have worked a bit better.

This is a B movie, but quite a pleasant one. Robert Young is excellent as a playboy with an aversion to the altar...until he meets Annabella in Switzerland. He becomes quite captivated. And, there's quite a bit of snappy dialog here...more than you would expect for the fluff that this movie really is...but it's enjoyable fluff! Annabella is quite wonderful here, too.There are enough great character actors to go around here -- Walter Connolly is superb as the psychiatrist, and Billie Burke paid her usual air-headed self...just one film before her Glenda in "The Wizard Of Oz". And you'll recognize several others, as well.A word about the mountain climbing scenes. While clearly fake, they are rather well done, although three people stranded on a mountain would remain that calm, I'll never know.This film is a nice mix of light comedy and drama. I think you'll enjoy it. And I still don't quite understand why, in movies, Robert Young didn't quite reach the success I think he deserved.

Before the paternalism and the pipe, Robert Young played charming, rich wastrels and heavy-drinking womanizers, all charming and sympathetic. MGM put him in quality B+ productions of which this is one, a light romantic comedy that borders on screwball with Young the screwy one. He is in top form, as is the entire excellent cast. MGM's typical blitheful avoidance of little old WWII, alluded to twice in jest, as the setting shifts from wartime England to Switzerland to transatlantic liner is a big downer. That and supposed-to-be-funny-but-never-is Arthur Treacher in a small role. Oh, and the whole lame and overworked premise that honest work will cure Young of his scalawag ways, though it provides Annabella material for her one and only laugh in the finale. It's big enough to keep you happily laughing as the end credits appear.Incidentally, how many movie feature musical numbers with zithers. The Third Man, of course, and Sunnyside Up with Janet Gaynor (an extremely great movie musical moment) and this movie (not so memorable).