The Moon's Our Home (1936)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

Faith Baldwin (novel)
Alan Campbell (writer)

Release Date:

10 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Writing | Drawing Room | Based On Novel

Cast

Margaret Sullavan	...	Cherry Chester / Sarah Brown
Henry Fonda	...	Anthony Amberton / John Smith
Charles Butterworth	...	Horace Van Steedan
Beulah Bondi	...	Mrs. Boyce Medford
Henrietta Crosman	...	Lucy Van Steedan
Walter Brennan	...	Lem
Dorothy Stickney	...	Hilda
Brandon Hurst	...	Babson
Lucien Littlefield	...	Ogden Holbrook
Margaret Hamilton	...	Mitty Simpson
Spencer Charters	...	Abner Simpson
Margaret Fielding	...	Miss Manning
Grace Hayle	...	Miss Hambridge
Monte Vandergrift	...	Brakeman
Richard Powell	...	Candy Butcher

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

[Cherry apologizes for almost injuring Mrs. Medford]
Cherry Chester: If I ever did, I'd blow my brains out!
Mrs. Boyce Medford: I know. And then I'd have to tidy up afterward.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

Enjoyable screwball comedy

If you like, as I do, the romantic comedies from the thirties and early forties then this movie might be a good choice. It's definitely lightweight, but Margaret Sullavan is utterly charming as a movie star with a sophisticated and elegant public persona, but a decidely klutzy and ditzy offscreen personality. Henry Fonda is the bestselling author, who has to run away from adoring fans in Beatlesque fashion (about twenty five years before they had to).

When they meet, they have no idea the other is really famous, and the silliness ensues. Henry Fonda is always worth watching, and the supporting cast includes some favorites like the Wicked Witch of the West herself, Margaret Hamilton, Beulah Bondi and of even in a brief part it's fun to watch Walter Brennan.

You can easily picture Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in these parts (all the way down to Sullavan's insistence on wearing pants). The resolution is a little weak, and at places the plotting tends to sag, but all in all, a fun time.