I have, since falling madly in love with her in "The Awful Truth," every movie made by Irene Dunne -- at least every one listed in the filmography here. Some of her women's pictures are surprisingly good and one -- "I Remember Mama" -- is impossible stomach, at least or me. "Shaw Boat" is my favorite movie musical.
I don't care for "My Favorite Wife," one of her most famous, because it seems snobbish and mean. And "A Guy Named Joe" rings false from start to finish.
This one falls somewhere in between but it is definitely a lesser entry. She is fine but Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., is way, way too self-consciously cute. The toy duck and the duck sounds he make are really from hunger.
I think she was a trifle old for her role in "Show Boat" but her singing works and the est of the singing, especially by Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson, is extraordinary. And the Tosti we hear her singing in the recital Cary Grant barges in on in "The Awful Truth" is delightful.
Here, the music doesn't seem to work. She was a good, but I think not any sort of great, singer. There is something static about the presentation of her songs here.
My favorite Irene Dunne movies are "The Awful Truth," which I consider the funniest comedy ever made; "Show Boat"; "Unfinished Business," which is a real heartbreaker and one of Gregory La Cava's very best; and "Anna and the King of Siam," which I consider a very beautiful movie, despite the politically incorrect casting of Rex Harrison as the king.
I don't care for "My Favorite Wife," one of her most famous, because it seems snobbish and mean. And "A Guy Named Joe" rings false from start to finish.
This one falls somewhere in between but it is definitely a lesser entry. She is fine but Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., is way, way too self-consciously cute. The toy duck and the duck sounds he make are really from hunger.
I think she was a trifle old for her role in "Show Boat" but her singing works and the est of the singing, especially by Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson, is extraordinary. And the Tosti we hear her singing in the recital Cary Grant barges in on in "The Awful Truth" is delightful.
Here, the music doesn't seem to work. She was a good, but I think not any sort of great, singer. There is something static about the presentation of her songs here.
My favorite Irene Dunne movies are "The Awful Truth," which I consider the funniest comedy ever made; "Show Boat"; "Unfinished Business," which is a real heartbreaker and one of Gregory La Cava's very best; and "Anna and the King of Siam," which I consider a very beautiful movie, despite the politically incorrect casting of Rex Harrison as the king.