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Theodora Goes Wild (1936) More at IMDbPro »

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17 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Smart, subversive, hilarious screwball comedy!, 24 April 2000
Author: anasu

This is one of my favorite screwball comedies -- a very smart movie with a sharp screenplay that never lags. In the same subversive spirit as Miracle of Morgan's Creek (another favorite film) - and builds to a similar stunning, hilarious, code-breaking climax. The script is beautifully structured and the performances are all terrific -- it's Irene Dunne's best film, and Elizabeth Risdon is wonderful in a smaller role as the aunt. Very underrated, don't miss it (check out James Harvey's insights on the film in his marvelous book, "Romantic Comedy").

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20 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Movie!, 27 March 2004
Author: theirenedunnefan from Indiana

I've seen this movie many times, and it just keeps getting funnier every time I see it. It reminds me a lot of myself, growing up in a small town like "Lynnfield", and being brought up to think and act the way Theodora was. Then when I moved away from home, some people thought I went "wild!" This has all the qualities for people who can relate to small towns, even with the "worst town gossip" to make you wonder what's going to be spread next... For a fact, this movie is a lot like Irene Dunne's life, actually her friends said they liked her best in this movie, because it is most like her in character. If you come from a small town, it's a classic film you can kinda relate to...and just have to see!

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22 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
one of the greatest sleeper-comedies ever filmed, 28 April 2005
10/10
Author: millriver from United States

Theodora Goes Wild is perhaps the greatest sleeper in film history. When other comedies such as Midnight, Lady Eve, It Happened One Night, and especially the over-rated Bringing Up Baby are touted with 4 star ratings, this relatively unknown gem sweeps them all away in its irresistible path. One of the finest comedies ever filmed, this is a masterpiece in every way. The direction is superb, the writing sparkles with a wit that time has not dimmed. But the frosting on its cake is the comic genius of Irene Dunne, one of Hollywood's most underrated actresses. This, her first real comedy, is an object lesson to any aspiring comedienne, so perfect is her timing and delivery of virtually every line. This film should be studied by every student in the field of film and enjoyed by countless others who have never even heard of it. It's too bad that Irene Dunne is not given the credit she truly deserves. My bet is that in 50 years she will be considered perhaps the finest Hollywood actress of her time. If you think I'm joking, just watch her in Back Street, Love Affair (much better in my opinion than its more popular remake Affair To Remember), Show Boat, I Remember Mama, this film, The Awful Truth, A Guy Named Joe, Anna and The King of Siam, Life With Father, Ann Vickers........

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Just Short of Seventy Years Old And At Least As Timely Today As In Its Day, 18 August 2005
9/10
Author: David (Handlinghandel) from NY, NY

The first time I ever saw this was my introduction to Irene Dunne. She is one of the greatest actresses in the history of American movies and never better than she is here. ("The Awful Truth" is virtually flawless and she may be more polished in it. But she is a true revelation here.) The story involves hypocrisy, puncturing it, overcoming inhibitions, being decent in a true sense rather than according to a pre-prepared code.

Dunne is a rather frumpy woman from a small town who has written a scandalous novel under a pseudonym. She sneaks off to her publisher in Manhattan, with a visit to her reprobate uncle, now and again. And this time she is swept off her feet by Melvyn Douglas (a little too madcap initially.) She sheds her alias after he's come to her town to woo her. She returns to New York, only to find him as stuffy as her elderly aunts and their friends. (These ladies are portrayed delightfully by actresses including Spring Byington and Elizabeth Risdon.) She really does go wild -- not just dumping her modest clothes for feathers and chic hats but turning up at all the best parties. And embarrassing people who have presented themselves as liberated.

Dunne was not a beautiful woman. Sometimes she looked pretty and sometimes not really even too pretty, though she wore clothes well. But she was an extraordinary film actress. Her range was broad and her hits included many women's pictures, several comedies (including "Joy of Living," dismal through no fault of her own.) And she played Magnolia in my favorite of all movie musicals: "Showboat," which came out this same year.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Lynnfield's Terrible Secret, 12 February 2008
8/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

I'm not sure how Theodora Goes Wild would be viewed today because of changing demographics. Some of those small New England towns like Lynnfield are not bastions of conservatism any longer. Today the home of a well known author like Irene Dunne would be a tourist attraction.

But back in the Thirties, this still was the New England of Calvin Coolidge and descendants of the town founder just don't go writing romance novels. But that's what Irene Dunne is doing only its under a pseudonym, lest the good people of Lynnfield make life uncomfortable for herself and her two maiden aunts.

Irene's cover will be blown though when she meets her illustrator at her publisher. Melvyn Douglas is quite smitten with her and he follows her back to Lynnfield from New York and persuades her that she ought to live life a little and not just vicariously through her novels.

Dunne takes his advice with a vengeance after he's thoroughly embarrassed her. But when Theodora Lynn does go wild she takes no prisoners. Coming out in public under her pseudonym of Caroline Adams, Dunne gets fame and notoriety confused. Today she would be big time tabloid fodder and pays Douglas back in a way he can only blame on himself.

It's charming pair of leads with a delightful supporting cast that play their roles to perfection. A particular favorite of mine is publisher Thurston Hall who gets to do a drunk scene with Dunne, something the very proper Mr. Hall didn't often do.

Irene Dunne got one of her five Oscar nominations for playing Theodora Lynn aka Caroline Adams, but lost in the big sweepstakes to Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld.

I'm not sure how you could do Theodora Goes Wild today though. I can see the town billboard on the Massachusetts Turnpike: Welcome to Lynnfield, Home of Caroline Adams.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
highly enjoyable comedy, 28 April 2007
7/10
Author: blanche-2 from United States

Irene Dunne breaks out of small town conventions in "Theodora Goes Wild," a 1936 comedy also starring Melvyn Douglas, Thomas Mitchell and Spring Byington. Dunne plays Theodora, who lives a sterile life with her two aunts in a small, Puritan, judgmental town. However, she's got them all beat because she's living a double life - in New York City, she's Caroline Adams, a hot romance novelist who put the capital L in LOVE. Her scandalous best-seller is in the process of being banned by the town literary society. While in New York visiting her disapproved of uncle, she meets a friend of her publisher's, the flirtatious, irreverent Michael (Douglas). He doesn't know her real name or her literary alter ego so to prove to him she's no prude, she gets drunk and goes to his apartment - of course, she leaves screaming - but in doing so, drops a few papers that tell him who she is and where she lives. He soon shows up in her home town as a down on his luck man seeking work and she's more or less blackmailed into giving him a job as the family gardener.

This is a delightful comedy buoyed by the marvelous acting of Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas. The points are hit a little too hard, however, so that both characters come off as very annoying and exasperating at times. The fault lies in the script, because I don't think those two actors ever made a wrong move. Douglas, who in later life would prove himself one of the great actors of all time, sails through this film as he sailed through so many others in roles that gave no hint of his enormous abilities. Here he's charming, smooth and attractive, inspiring Theodora to take some risks - though he's got a few skeletons he fails to mention to her. Dunne is great as the staid spinster who becomes the talk of New York with her wild outfits, saucy attitude, and smart remarks.

Underneath it all, of course, it's a love story some innuendo you don't find in a lot of '30s comedies, which adds to the fun. Highly recommended.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A movie for our times that needs to be remade, 21 June 2007
10/10
Author: (richard@berrong.fr) from United States

I had heard about this movie for years, but only saw it tonight. The wait was my loss.

To begin with, it stars two of the undeservedly forgotten luminaries of the movie industry: Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas.

But more important is the content of this movie. It is all about small-minded bigotry in small-minded Americans. Given its time - the 1930s - that small-mindedness is linked to living in a small town. Unfortunately, today location has nothing to do with it: there are small-minded Americans in our biggest cities and our suburbs. But the movie has lost none of its relevance. It is very definitely a movie that calls out for a modern remake. Hollywood doesn't make movies like this anymore, and in this case, that is a loss for all of us.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Film from 1936, 6 August 2008
10/10
Author: whpratt1 from United States

This film surprised me with how well produced it was and what a great comedy it turned out to be. Irene Dunne, (Theodora Lynn) played the role of a small town gal living in Lynnfield where everyone was very religious and lived life straight as an arrow. One day the newspaper man in Lynnfield, Jed Waterbury, (Thomas Mitchell) posted a notice of a new book that he was going to feature in his daily newspaper called, "Sinner" by Adams. The people in town were outraged, however, they liked reading the articles in the paper and soon the people decided to tell Jed Waterbury to remove the book and the feature in his paper. It just so happens that the author of this book comes from Lynnfield and no one would ever expect just who it could be. Melvyn Douglas plays the role as Michael Grant who is linked romantically with Theodora and he gave a great supporting role. This is lots of fun to watch and enjoy this great classic from 1936.

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Kind of trivial and silly, but boy is this a fun film!, 3 March 2007
7/10
Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If you are looking for an especially deep or meaningful film, then you might want to keep looking. However, if you ignore the silliness and trivial nature of the film and just watch it for its entertainment value, then you are in for a fun little ride! Irene Dunne plays an overly prim and proper lady who lives in a town dominated by fun-hating old biddies! The town is extremely similar to the one from the Hal Roach comedy, MISS POLLY, except that THEODORA GOES WILD is a good and funny film. Unbeknownst to all the old ladies, Dunne is in reality a romance writer who wrote a number one best seller!! She is terrified they will discover her secret and she is very careful to hide her double-life. This aspect of the movie is very reminiscent of the great Errol Flynn film, FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK (another film I strongly recommend).

Into this careful balancing act arrives the very playful and slightly obnoxious Melvin Douglas. Through a bit of research, he figures out her two identities and just drops in on the town and makes Dunne crazy trying to shut him up and keep a lid on his odd behaviors. Eventually, though, the truth does come out and Dunne resigns herself to marrying Douglas and revealing who she really is. However, at this point, she realizes that Douglas ALSO has a secret to hide and when the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak, he is upset and pretends he doesn't know her!! Exactly why and how all this works out in the end is something you'll just have to see for yourself. Dunne and Douglas are terrific and the film, despite its ridiculous plot, is a lotta laughs and is a good example of a "screwball comedy".

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4 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Turnabout is fair play, 5 March 2007
8/10
Author: Dan from Chicago

Smalltown girl writes steamy novels under a pen name, is drawn out of her shell by a big-city playboy, and then returns the favor, to his horror.

The script may not have been the sharpest, but Dunne and Douglas are both terrific. Especially Dunne, who (if you ask me) showed how to do the Katherine Hepburn thing better than Katherine Hepburn. Of all the Hollywood movies I can think of in which the suave playboy goads the downhome gal only to find that he's seized a bear by the ears, this one is the best. An added virtue is that the makers of this movie understood that most important principle, i.e., romantic comedies should be short and sweet. At about 100 minutes, this movie doesn't drag.

The movie does have its oddities and annoyances, like the idea that out-of-tune whistling can ever be considered funny. Another shot that really irritated me was one in which they evidently closed a door on a cat's tail to get the "comical" reaction. That was definitely not funny.

But overall there's a lot of fun to be found in this movie. And the last line, a mere three words, are the single best ending to a romantic comedy that I've ever seen.

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