Good movie but grossly overrated

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This film was originally devised as a starring vehicle for Marion Davies and William Powell. Powell had co-starred in Davies' 1922 mega-hit WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER. The roles of Gladys and Warren were originally supporting roles. After Davies left MGM in 1934, the script was altered to beef up the roles of Gladys and Warren to take advantage of Jean Harlow's rise to stardom. Rosalind Russell was then seen as Connie, but the role eventually went to Myrna Loy to take advantage of the success of THE THIN MAN.Story has a not-so-ditzy heiress (Loy) threatening a lawsuit against a newspaper that printed false stories about her. The editor (Spencer Tracy) realizes the lawsuit will ruin the paper and so devises a plan to trap Loy with a fake suitor (Powell) and expose her for real. Part of the plot is to have Powell "married" to Harlow so the paper can play up Loy as a homewrecker.Of course Loy turns out to be a thoughtful and decent lady and Powell (as the cad out to trap her) falls for her. In the meantime, Harlow sets out to make Tracy jealous by pretending to fall for Powell, but then she does for real.As the film nears its finale, all sorts of complications and truths come out as the four stars confront each other. Marvelous comedy would have been a showcase for Marion Davies, but Loy, Powell, Tracy, and Harlow are all just fine. Walter Connolly co-stars as the dithering father. Others include Cora Witherspoon, Billy Benedict, Hal K. Dawson, George Chandler, Charley Grapewin, Bunny Beatty, and Spencer Charters.

Given the nature of the "marriage" of Harlow and Powell characters, a Reno divorce shouldn't have been necessary. A fast and simple annulment on the grounds that the marriage was never consummated or ever intended to be real. That would end the problem at the end of who was married to whom.

This movie features Hollywood royalty in 1936: Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, William Powell, and Spencer Tracy – that's quite a cast. And it's an interesting premise: Loy is the daughter of a rich businessman who is suing Spencer Tracy's newspaper for libel. Tracy is about to get married to Harlow, but puts off the wedding in order to deal with that, and turns to Powell to 'make it go away'. Their plan is to have Powell get on a ship crossing the ocean that he knows Loy and her father will be on, seduce her into getting into a compromising position, and then have someone burst in on them so that they can threaten her with a suit of their own. To make that work, Powell first gets married to Harlow, so that Loy would be subject to an "alienation of affection" lawsuit (a law that has since been abolished in most but not all states). Harlow isn't happy, but goes along with that because of Tracy's predicament, and because she knows she can later get a divorce.Not surprisingly, things don't go as planned. I loved the banter between Loy and Powell, as she dislikes him at the outset, and suspects he's scheming at something, she's just not sure what. The fishing trip she and her father take him on has some priceless slapstick comedy from Powell, and it's fun to see Loy out there fishing. Things get complicated as Harlow begins falling for Powell, and the movie finishes strong, with a nice twist in what is a great final scene. The movie was worthy of its nomination for Best Picture, but it was in a year when another Powell/Loy vehicle would win it ("The Great Ziegfeld"). It's a bit odd to me that it's considered a "screwball comedy"; I don't think that's the right designation at all, but it's fun, will make you smile, and is definitely worth watching.

I cannot overestimate how much I love this film. People compare it to "My Man Godfrey". Guess what? That film is not even close. Carole Lombard was not even remotely as beautiful as Jean Harlow, and she should not even be mentioned in the same breath as Myrna Loy. The two fishing scenes with Bill Chandler (Powell), first where he hooks Gladys (Harlow), and the second, where he catches "Old Walleye", and after taking a beating trying to land the fish, and cannot even take the hook out, is a sight to behold, and those scenes surpass the shower scene in "Godfrey." This is without question Powell's film, and he steals every scene he is in. But guess what? Who wins? Connie Allenbury (Myrna) that is who. Spoilers ahead: She makes Newspaperman Haggerty (Tracy) look pathetic when he tries to talk her out of the lawsuit, she actually proposes to Powell (What other woman did that in a film?), and in the final scene when Harlow will not give up Powell, she shows who is boss to Harlow, and until her dad (Walter Connelly) came in and yelled "Quiet", Harlow was going to suffer a serious smack down. Needless to say, Loy and Powell will end up together and Harlow will still be chasing after Tracy. There is not a single wasted moment in the entire film (Particularly the Powell and (or) Loy scenes)Which is why it is my favorite comedy of the 30s. is my favorite comedy of the 30s.