The Goose and the Gander (1935)

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

After Kay Francis retired from films, she was recognized. "Aren't you Kay Francis?" someone asked. She answered, "I was." Certainly no one had risen higher than Francis and had stuck it out, even when Warners filled her scripts with words that had 'r' in them to play up her speech impediment, and even when she could only get roles at studios like Monogram and Republic. Tough isn't the word.Here she's at the height of her career, very glamorous, in "The Goose and the Gander," from 1935. Besides Francis, the film features George Brent, Geraldine Tobin, John Eldredge, and Claire Dodd.At a party, Georgiana (Francis), whose husband left her for another woman, overhears that woman (Tobin) planning a weekend affair with another man (Brent).Georgiana puts together an complicated plot whereby the cheaters wind up at her house, and her ex comes over and catches them. The situation that brought them to her house (too complex to go into - it concerns no gas and a quarantine) brings another couple to her door - jewel thieves!As others have pointed out, this was probably written during the precode era and rewritten to meet the Code. The only thing that confused me is that Brent and Tobin were going to spend the weekend together and present themselves to Georgiana as a married couple. So she naturally puts them in one bedroom. Tobin has a fit and forces Brent out onto the roof! What were they planning on doing on this weekend? Play cards? It made no sense, even though it was funny.Very cute comedy, and Brent looks quite handsome. Nice to see Francis in something besides a turgid melodrama. She not only suffered well, but she had a nice comedic style.

Kay Francis is Ralph Forbes' ex-wife, because Genevieve Tobin stole him away from her. But, when Kay meets Ralph after two years apart and sees his wife with another man, she gets it in her mind to trap her and force the wife out of the marriage, so Kay can get Ralph back. But the other man just so happens to be George Brent, who sees Kay at a fancy party and appears to like what he sees. She, too, but maybe just to be playing with him. The plan is to get him and the wife at her country place, where she asked her ex to show up for lunch, thereby putting them all in an awkward situation. But, what she doesn't count on is John Eldridge and Claire Dodd, a married couple who are jewel thieves and who must make a quick getaway. Because they stole Genevieve's car, they are brought to Kay's place. (Watch it to understand.) When they're all together, things happen. The film's quick one-liners and the chemistry of Kay and George make this feel like a guilty pleasure, especially since Kay is great at being enticing. How can such a funny and fulfilling picture be so unknown? If you've never heard of The Goose and the Gander, then you need to discover Ms. Kay Francis at her sizzling best.

Starting in 1934, when the new Production Code was enacted, 'inappropriate' adult themes were generally forbidden in films. That's because in the fast and loose 20s and especially early 30s, all sorts of very adult themes crept into films. Cursing, talks of abortions, extreme violence, adultery and even nudity were in films for general consumption---including in a Tarzan film (which appealed mostly to kids). So, a backlash took place and most of these topics were out or else if a sanitized version were allowed, by the end of the film the wrong-doers had to be punished.THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER is about as racy as they come in the Post-Code era. My assumption is that because the movie came out in 1935, it had been designed as a Pre-Code style film but had been re-written for the new sensibilities. So, on one hand, the film has themes of adultery BUT because it's Post-Code, the people never actually get a chance to consummate their illicit affairs. And, by the end of the film, people had learned their lesson and went back to their spouses or, in the case of the criminals, were arrested.The film begins with married Genevieve Tobin trying to arrange a tryst with George Brent. But, this tryst is interrupted by Kay Francis and her friends. It seems that some time back, Tobin had stolen HER husband and now using a rather intricate plot, she diverts Tobin and Brent to her home--planning on keeping them there while secretly contacting Tobin's husband so he could come there and find his wife with another man. However, when two thieves get caught up in the plot, the entire plan falls apart and where this all leads is anyone's guess.Overall, this film is very entertaining and funny--with typically good acting from Brent and Francis. Despite the Code, the film makers managed to work around it and make a nice little movie. The only negative, and I was able to look past it, was that the ending seemed a bit hard to believe.

The best thing about this romantic comedy is how good it looks thanks to cinematographer Sidney Hickok. This 1935 but the interior scenes look like they were shot in the 1950's. Hickok was a brilliant cinematographer whose career began in the silents and he would go on to shoot such films as The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, To Have and Have Not, A slight Case of Murder, Gentleman Jim and the sci-fi classic Them. Charles Kenyon wrote the story and the screenplay about a woman who overhears the woman who stole away her husband planning a weekend affair with another man so she hatches an elaborate plan to embarrass the woman and her ex by diverting the cheating couple to her home and getting her ex to come over to catch them. Another couple who are jewel thieves are inadvertently lured into her trap and things start getting complicated. It's a good story and a good cast with Kay Francis, George Bret, Genevieve Tobin, John Eldredge, Claire Dodd, Ralph Forbes, William Austin and Helen Lowell. With the rampant infidelity theme this story was probably written with pre-code Hollywood in mind but with the code going into effect the year before it's release it was filmed as a little less salacious. Alfred E. Green who would make such films as The Jolson Story and The Jackie Robinson Story directs. it's a fun little film and I would give it a 7.0 out of 10.