An absolute delight, a first-rate romantic comedy that stands out even in an era when Hollywood was producing several classics in that genre. It helps in that it has a strong central idea – a tycoon wants to meet his son’s fiancée before he dies, the girl is unavailable so the son grabs a hat check girl, the tycoon revives. Also the three players are leaders in their fields: Charles Laughton, Deanna Durbin, and Bob Cummings. Laughton is known for being a brilliant actor when his attention was engaged and it is here (I love the comedy bits of him hiding cigars from his doctor – a stock situation is given freshness here by superb playing).
Deanna Durbin was a revelation – it had been years since I’d seen her in anything, and they were mostly teenage roles, but here she’s a young woman and she’s terrific: pretty, sensible, bright, nice. She can dance and do slapstick – it’s a real shame she wasn’t given more first-rate material when she was an adult. On the whole, I wasn’t a big fan of the singing interludes – nothing against Durbin’s singing abilities I’m just not a fan of opera. (Having said that, there aren’t that many of them and I did really like her sad song.)
Robert Cummings is the perfect foil for her. He was one of the best light comedians working in Hollywood movies, even if he never got his due, and he’s at his peak; he and Durbin have lovely chemistry and even engage in slapstick. I felt the script (co-credited to Norman Krasna) lost it’s way slightly at the end with a dinner sequence involving Laughton and Durbin when we want to see Durbin and Cummings, but generally is very good, being consistently inventive. Great fun, wonderfully charming.
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