Fools for Scandal (1938)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Directors:

Mervyn LeRoy
Bobby Connolly

Writers:

Nancy Hamilton (play) &
James L. Shute (play) ...

Release Date:

16 April 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Plot:

Rene is broke and Kay is a rich actress visiting Paris. They meet, share a cab and dinner. He is smitten by her...

Plot Keywords:

London | Actress | Chef | Paris | Cook

Cast

Carole Lombard	...	Kay Winters, aka Kay Summers
Fernand Gravey	...	Rene Viladel (as Fernand Gravet)
Ralph Bellamy	...	Phillip 'Phil' Chester
Allen Jenkins	...	Dewey 'Dew' Gibson
Isabel Jeans	...	Lady Paula Augusta Malverton
Marie Wilson	...	Myrtle, Kay's maid
Marcia Ralston	...	Jill
Ottola Nesmith	...	Agnes (as Tola Nesmith)
Heather Thatcher	...	Sylvia Potter-Porter
Jacques Lory	...	Papa Joli-Coeur
Tempe Pigott	...	Bessie, the cook (as Tempe Piggott)
Michelette Burani	...	Mme. Lucien Brioche
Jeni Le Gon	...	Specialty (as Jeni LeGon)
Les Hite	...	Orchestra leader
Les Hite and His Orchestra	...	Themselves

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #3918)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Warner Bros. originally planned to shoot this movie in Technicolor.

Soundtrack:

There's a Boy in Harlem

Very pleasant surprise.

This film is described in Carole Lombard's biography by Larry Swindell as "one of the horrendous flops of the thirties decade" and by Photoplay as "inane" and "pointless". I must say that I was expecting something as horrendous as Carole's 1933 movie "White Woman", but was pleasantly surprised to find this an endearing, lighthearted romp. The actors seemed to enjoy themselves and recognize that they were not filming Shakespeare, but a screwball comedy. The scenes are varied and interesting, the action moves along at a bright pace and things are anything but dull, including a surprise ending to top things off.

The only criticism I can make is that Carole does seem to shout her lines for some unknown reason. I assume this is the director's fault. And the overall tone of the movie should probably have been toned down and played with more sophistication in spots to give the film a little more class. In a few places it almost goes over the top into a "Three Stooges" mode. Ralph Bellamy really made me laugh a few times. However, Carole has never been more beautiful, and I was not turned off by Fernand Gravet's performance as so many seemed to have been at the time. Come on, no ones perfect. If this film had been made a few years earlier in her career, I think it could easily have been a classic.