Love Is News

Love is News (1937)

*** (out of 4)

Loretta Young plays a millionaire with a strong hatred of the press who she feels is constantly telling lies on her. One reporter (Tyrone Power) is the most guilty with his lies but Young plans on getting even by announcing to the world that they're going to be married. This way the reporter will know what it's like to be in the spotlight all the time. I read a couple negative reviews of this film but I thought they were way too hard on the film, which I found to be incredibly entertaining throughout with some terrific laughs from the cast. Young is my favorite actress and she delivers another strong performance here as she really captures that society girl image and delivers great comic timing. Power also comes off terrific as does Don Ameche in his role as Power's editor. The two men are constantly battling over the headlines and their comic timing together is wonderful and adds many laughs. Power also works great with Young and the two deliver the laughs as well as the romantic angle. George Sanders has a small role as Young's ex-fiancé. The film runs 78-minutes and there are very few scenes that don't work. The screwball antics are all very funny and the entire situation just makes for some wonderful laughs. One of the highlights is a scene in the bar where Power and another reporter are playing checkers on the floor with whiskey and beer.

Back when this film was made in the mid Thirties there seem to be an abundance of films about madcap heiresses. In the middle of the Great Depression films about the rich partying away seemed to find an audience.

Back then the real life model was Peggy Hopkins Joyce, today it's Paris Hilton. We just love to read about the rich doing their reveling.

So the premise is a bit ludicrous about Loretta Young getting very angry at the newspaper reporters for reporting on her every move. Believe me if she didn't want publicity she wouldn't get any. Believe it or not, then as now, there are rich people out there who are not tabloid fodder.

But I guess anyone can get a little cranky and Loretta has come her time of crankiness in Love Is News. When an especially enterprising reporter gets on board her private plane, she's had it. While reporter Tyrone Power thinks he's scooped his colleagues, Young has an impromptu press conference with the others and announces she's engaged to Tyrone Power.

And then Power as he was in real life becomes the object of a lot of tabloid fodder. His editor is Don Ameche who keeps firing and hiring him back to straighten the mess out. If this were done at Warner Brothers, Love Is News would have been perfect for James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.

Twelve years later Power did a remake of this same film with Gene Tierney. Hard to choose between the two which is better.

Ty is at the beginning of his career and Darryl Zanuck was casting him in all kinds of parts, comedic, adventurous, dramatic. And Power himself was perfecting his screen image.

Best scenes in the film involve small town judge Slim Summerville who Young comes up before for speeding and that sets up a whole bunch of funny situations.

I can see this being remade today, unless Paris Hilton herself wants to star in it.

This picture is killingly funny. Newspaper man Tyrone Power is sent by his editor (Don Ameche) to get a scoop: an exclusive interview with an heiress arriving in New York (played by Loretta Young). He tricks his way into her airplane, she realises what he is after and turns the tables on him by announcing to his colleagues that he is her fiancee. Now they are hounding him. For the rest of the film, the two of them trick and fool each other, with hilarious results. The scene in jail is unsurpassed. There are elements of slapstick (Ty trying to close the drawers of his dresser without banging his head, Don Ameche taking him on and off the payroll), but the focus is on dialogue and on the reporter and the heiress sparing with each other. The two of them have great chemistry and comic timing. I can't imagine why this film is not much better known.

Three of 20th Century Fox's stars of the late '30s team up for "Love is News" - Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Don Ameche. Power plays a clever reporter, Steve Layton, who is after a big story on a $100 million heiress, Toni Gateson (Young). Sick of being hounded night and day by the press, Young turns the tables on him and announces to the world that she and Layton are engaged. It comes as a surprise to him, as it does to his editor, Ameche, and of course, they don't have the story and the rest of the papers do. Layton soon learns that being engaged to Gateson has some perks and also a few things that aren't so great, particularly when the two of them end up in adjacent jail cells.

There is a very funny scene in the beginning where Power and Ameche become hysterical laughing as they reminisce about the horrible things they've done to one another. The actors worked together often and make a great team. Young is gorgeous as the heiress, and she and Power are a beautiful couple as usual. This is one of Power's very early films - he was about 23 at the time - and still in his pretty phase. You can't take your eyes off of him when he's on screen - he lights it up.

This is a high-energy, pleasant comedy with a delightful cast, though there's nothing particularly unusual about the story. Madcap heiresses abounded in '30s films. Power actually remade this movie with Gene Tierney in 1948 as "That Wonderful Urge." By then, it was tired stuff, and Power was tired of these roles. But here, it's three young stars on top of the world, and you can't beat the spirit with which they imbue "Love is News."

Screwball comedy mixed with romance has worked so well in many films, 'The Awful Truth' immediately springing to mind, though there are also a fair share of unsuccessful endeavours. Tay Garnett will never go down in my estimations as one of the greatest directors, but he is deserving of more credit. There is always a main reason or two for me when watching a film, in 'Love is News' case that main reason is the cast. Talented actors in roles that sounded just right for them conceptually.

'Love is News' will never be one of my all-time favourites and it is not quite one of the all-time best screwball comedies. It succeeds (hugely so) much more than it fails, and actually it never really does that, though and is an immensely enjoyable film in its own right. It is not to be seen for its plot, but if one wants to see a deftly written and easy to like film with a lot of talent on display to distract one from all the stress 'Love is News' very much does the trick.

The least good asset is the story, which can get very far-fetched and tends to be quite slight. One should expect to see a lot of credulity straining, the latter stages of 'Love is News' is full of that.

On the other hand, there is an enormous amount to like here. For one thing, it is beautifully acted by these very talented actors. All in roles perfect for them and ones that they did prove more than once in other films that they could do them well. Tyrone Power is in his element and gives an immensely appealing performance full of life and strong comic timing. Loretta Young is in the type of role she could do easily and do it in her sleep, she is as perky, charming and amusing as ever and there is no going through the motions here. Don Ameche's role is not that challenging and is quite one-dimensional, but he acts the heck out of it and clearly was having fun.

Slim Summerville is hilarious and his material is a highlight. George Sanders did deserve a larger part but he does very well with what he has, few people did suave cads better than him and his performance here does nothing to change the mind. The rest of the cast are fine, though to me Stepin Fetchit didn't really fit with everything else. The film is slickly directed, with things moving along at a crisp pace, and it looks lovely. The photography doesn't try to do too much and is framed beautifully. The costumes are stylish too.

Music is lively and there is some nice use of pre-existing material. The script is full of hilarious and not over-worked lines and witty, tasteful banter. There is sparkling chemistry between the leads. Along with the comedy, the romantic angle is genuinely charming without being too frothy and the energy is present and crackles throughout.

In conclusion, immensely enjoyable. 8/10