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IMDbPro

Idiot's Delight

  • 1939
  • Approved
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
Clark Gable and Norma Shearer in Idiot's Delight (1939)
A group of disparate travelers are caught and thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the beginning of World War II.
Play trailer3:57
1 Video
28 Photos
Dark ComedyDark RomanceRomantic ComedyRomantic EpicScrewball ComedyComedyDramaRomance

A group of disparate travelers are caught and thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the beginning of World War II.A group of disparate travelers are caught and thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the beginning of World War II.A group of disparate travelers are caught and thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the beginning of World War II.

  • Director
    • Clarence Brown
  • Writers
    • Vicki Baum
    • Robert E. Sherwood
  • Stars
    • Norma Shearer
    • Clark Gable
    • Edward Arnold
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    1.9K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Clarence Brown
    • Writers
      • Vicki Baum
      • Robert E. Sherwood
    • Stars
      • Norma Shearer
      • Clark Gable
      • Edward Arnold
    • 53User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 3:57
    Official Trailer

    Photos28

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    Top cast55

    Edit
    Norma Shearer
    Norma Shearer
    • Irene
    Clark Gable
    Clark Gable
    • Harry
    Edward Arnold
    Edward Arnold
    • Achille Weber
    Charles Coburn
    Charles Coburn
    • Dr. Waldersee
    Joseph Schildkraut
    Joseph Schildkraut
    • Captain Kirvline
    Burgess Meredith
    Burgess Meredith
    • Quillery
    Laura Hope Crews
    Laura Hope Crews
    • Madame Zuleika
    Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher
    Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher
    • Donald Navadel
    • (as Skeets Gallagher)
    Peter Willes
    Peter Willes
    • Mr. Cherry
    Pat Paterson
    Pat Paterson
    • Mrs. Cherry
    William Edmunds
    • Dumptsy
    Fritz Feld
    Fritz Feld
    • Pittatek
    Virginia Grey
    Virginia Grey
    • Les Blondes - Shirley
    Virginia Dale
    Virginia Dale
    • Les Blondes - Francine
    Paula Stone
    Paula Stone
    • Les Blondes - Beulah
    Bernadene Hayes
    Bernadene Hayes
    • Les Blondes - Edna
    Joan Marsh
    Joan Marsh
    • Les Blondes - Elaine
    Lorraine Krueger
    Lorraine Krueger
    • Les Blondes - Bebe
    • Director
      • Clarence Brown
    • Writers
      • Vicki Baum
      • Robert E. Sherwood
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was the only film in which Clark Gable performed a dance number. He spent 6 weeks rehearsing the steps with the dance director, George King, and practicing at home with his wife, Carole Lombard. Because of his fear of messing it up during a take, the set was closed during the filming of this sequence.
    • Goofs
      In the middle of the "Puttin' on the Ritz" performance, the Les Blondes dancer second from the viewer's left is barely in step and not doing any arm movements because she is holding her costume's right-shoulder strap which has broken. The strap is no longer broken when it cuts back to the performers after a reaction shot of Irene (Norma Shearer).
    • Quotes

      Irene: Did I ever tell you of my escape from the Soviets?

      Achille Weber: You've told me about it at least eleven times, and every time it was different.

      Irene: Well, I made several escapes. I am always making escapes, Achille. When I worry about you and your career, I have to run away from the terror of my own thoughts. So I amuse myself by studying the faces of the people I see. Just ordinary, casual, dull people. That little English couple for instance - I was watching them during dinner, sitting there close together, holding hands. And I saw him in his nice, smart British uniform shooting a little pistol at a huge tank. And the tank rolls over him. And his fine, strong body that was so full of the capacity for ecstasy... is a mass of mashed flesh and bones. A smear of purple blood, like a stepped-on snail. But before the moment of death, he consoles himself by thinking, "thank God she is safe. She is bearing the child I gave her. And he will live to see a better world." But I know where she is. She is under a house that has been racked by an air raid. She is as dead as he is. But he, he died in action against the enemy gloriously. But she died in a cellar, not so very gloriously. There will be many who will die this way in this war, won't there Achille?

      [he does not respond]

      Irene: You don't say anything! Probably you are bored. But I like to think about these things, Achille. And it makes me so proud to think that I am so close to you, who makes all this possible.

      Achille Weber: That's all very interesting, my dear. But before you waste too much sympathy on these little people like your English friends, just ask yourself this: why shouldn't they die? And who are the greater criminals - those who sell the instruments of death or those who buy them and use them? It is they who make war seem noble and heroic, and what does it all amount to? Mistrust of the motives of everyone else! A dog-in-the-manger defence of all they've got, greed for the other fellow's possessions! Oh, I assure you, Irene, for such little people, the deadliest weapons are the most merciful.

    • Crazy credits
      The six actresses who play Les Blondes are not credited with individual character names. Instead, they are credited using the group character name "Harry Van's Les Blondes" followed by a list of the six actresses names. This appears on a separate title card after the cast list of the other credited roles.
    • Alternate versions
      MGM filmed two endings for this film: one for American audiences and another, more spiritual and optimistic ending for International audiences because of the war clouds that were gathering in Europe.
    • Connections
      Featured in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Big Parade of Hits for 1940 (1940)
    • Soundtracks
      Over There
      (uncredited)

      Written by George M. Cohan

      Incorporated into the score in the opening scenes

    User reviews53

    Featured review
    6/10

    well worth seeing because it's so ODD!

    This is perhaps the weirdest Clark Gable film. First, it is an odd anti-war film that came out just BEFORE all the anti-fascist films of the early 40's and it's an amazing contrast to them. Second, it features Gable as a song and dance man!! Why they worked so hard to have him dance, I wouldn't know--the studio could have always rented the services of either Jimmy Cagney or George Raft or anyone of a number of other actors who already knew how to dance. Third, the over the top and bizarre role played by Norma Shearer--it's rather silly and reminiscent of Garbo. So, overall is it a good film? Well, it's decent but not great. Some may find it a little silly, but for those who love the Golden Age of Hollywood, this is a must-see.
    • planktonrules
    • Jul 14, 2005
    • Permalink

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    FAQ17

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 27, 1939 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
      • Esperanto
    • Also known as
      • Idiotovo zadovoljstvo
    • Filming locations
      • Clarence Brown Ranch - Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,519,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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