Ginger Rogers' second picture for RKO is a much better and more entertaining one than her first, PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART. It won't make you laugh but it will make you smile.
The three main leads are all very endearing, even Norman Foster comes across as someone you think you'd get on with thanks to decent direction from William Seiter and a believable script. We've also got the requirement for a classic rom-com: a likeable couple who think they hate each other but you know they'll get together in the end. This is one of those pictures which you can tell within two minutes that you're guaranteed to get a happy ending.
I am struggling however to think why anyone would want to watch this. It's a typical rom-com which is absolutely fine but it's nothing special. There are a handful of these types of films from this time, such as THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER which had a very similar plot, which are fantastic but this isn't one of them. There are literally hundreds of "pretty good" films as entertaining as this which if you feel like something light and non-taxing is as good as any. (It is however much better than a lot of so-called 1930s comedies!)
If you're a Ginger Rogers fan then she's of course lovely in this and if you've seen PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART then it's worth seeing just to prove that she could do better. Maybe you want to get a feel of 1933 by seeing what struggling RKO were trying to fill their theatres with in 1933 - along with that big gorilla! Back then, films like this were the equivalent of simply finding something on the TV, like an old episode of Friends etc to amuse yourself for an hour or so.
The three main leads are all very endearing, even Norman Foster comes across as someone you think you'd get on with thanks to decent direction from William Seiter and a believable script. We've also got the requirement for a classic rom-com: a likeable couple who think they hate each other but you know they'll get together in the end. This is one of those pictures which you can tell within two minutes that you're guaranteed to get a happy ending.
I am struggling however to think why anyone would want to watch this. It's a typical rom-com which is absolutely fine but it's nothing special. There are a handful of these types of films from this time, such as THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER which had a very similar plot, which are fantastic but this isn't one of them. There are literally hundreds of "pretty good" films as entertaining as this which if you feel like something light and non-taxing is as good as any. (It is however much better than a lot of so-called 1930s comedies!)
If you're a Ginger Rogers fan then she's of course lovely in this and if you've seen PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART then it's worth seeing just to prove that she could do better. Maybe you want to get a feel of 1933 by seeing what struggling RKO were trying to fill their theatres with in 1933 - along with that big gorilla! Back then, films like this were the equivalent of simply finding something on the TV, like an old episode of Friends etc to amuse yourself for an hour or so.