Double Wedding (1937)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Memorable, crazy movie

Fantastic!

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 don't usually write reviews, although I do tend to read them. All I can say about this film is that there's a decent enough premise, and plenty of onscreen time for Powell and Loy, if that's what you want. But the whole thing is lacking in anything like focus, timing, plot progression, or even good gags. The director seems not to know what to do, but just stands back and lets the script do the work, which it doesn't. A Sturges might have been able to make something out of it, but it would have involved a huge rewrite. And may I blaspheme here and say that Powell and Loy are way off form, too. Neither manages to generate much sympathy for their characters. Loy is a cold stick, even at the end, and Powell's attempt at Bohemianism is unconvincing. Pacing is slow, dialog is redundant, and the tacked on slapstick at the end is strictly by the numbers. I guess we can be charitable and lay the blame on Jean Harlow's demise.

For the most part Double Wedding is a standard rom-com about opposites attracting, with Myrna Loy and William Powell carrying most of the screenplay weight. But it's John Beal's delightfully clueless literal- minded suitor to Loy's sister (ably but forgettably played by Florence Rice) that makes this film work. Scenes he shares with Powell as a hopeless actor and would-be man of the world are laugh-out-loud funny. His style of understated flat-affect comedy wouldn't become popular until the Coen brothers. Powell and Loy are capable as always, and the sets and costumes have a high sheen, but this film is Beal's steal. There's lots of misunderstandings and misapprehensions, all of which don't add much to the genre, but it's an amusing way to spend a few hours in the company of experts.

Watching this movie was like looking through a beautiful, whimsical kaleidoscope. So many facets are perfect: Loy at her peak of gorgeous, wry sophistication; the Deco sets; Powell's gentle irony; the relationships of various characters and the consistency of dialog; even the physical pranks were great--and I don't like slapstick all that much! This film reminded me of Shop Around the Corner. It wasn't as good, that's a tall order, but there was something bigger going on in this movie than just the usual romantic farce. I have to admire the writer's and director's ability to pull off a romantic comedy between two such diametrically opposed people. The heroine is the quintessential control freak; the hero, as laid back and tolerant as a hippie of the sixties. No one apologizes for their quirks, which is refreshing, and neither of them had to change all that much to make the ending work. And as far as acting goes, Loy and Powell don't hold back any punches (literally!) whenever the two characters collide. It is amazing to watch them knowing how they were reacting to Harlow's death during shooting. I love finding old movies, and this one is buried treasure.

A very funny, romantic movie. I enjoyed all the little creative pieces of "business" and lines such as "...you rang my gong." I enjoyed the treat of Sidney Toler as Keough.I enjoyed the beautiful, wonderful cars of the 1930s, and the background scenes of beautiful, wonderful downtown Los Angeles of the '30s and into the 1950s. I was born there in 1934 and remember it well when it was a beautiful place to live. Ah, nostalgia!! This is what it really did look like then.