If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

"Love is a Headache" is from 1938, a short second feature that runs one hour and 15 minutes, and stars Franchot Tone, Gladys George, Mickey Rooney, and Virginia Wiedler.Tone plays Peter Lawrence, a gossip columnist who knew one Broadway star, Carlotta (whom he calls Charlie) Lee back when they were kids. He never lets up on her, and when she takes a role in a flop show, he says the show is no good and she's making a mistake. She's about to sign a contract for another dud and is angry with Peter for writing about her in his column.Peter also has an interest in two young kids, Mike and Jake O'Toole (Rooney and Wielder), who are now orphans after their father is killed. On his latest broadcast, he calls out for anyone who can adopt these children. Carlotta's publicist thinks will be great for her, so he arranges to have the children brought to her apartment. Meanwhile, Peter knows nothing of this, planning to thoroughly investigate anyone interested. When he finds out, he assumes this is a cheap publicity stunt.Entertaining film, with Gladys George giving a wonderful performance as Carlotta, a dedicated performer but a woman with a heart. Rooney as the tough older brother is, as always, excellent, and as his vulnerable little sister Wiedler is excellent as well. Franchot Tone is smooth and sophisticated as Peter Lawrence.Those were the good old days, when columnists were an important part of the Broadway and movie scenes, and many times they would broadcast their programs from nightclubs or high-end restaurants, adding some glamor. There was a fun clip of the old Times Square at the beginning of the film. Wow, times have changed.

In the late 1930s, MGM turned out some high-concept programmers that are fun to watch. None of these, to my knowledge, cause migraines-- just fits of laughter. Love Is a Headache is one of these charming films.The story, which is rather simplistic, is about a fading actress (Gladys George) who adopts two street urchins as a publicity stunt. The urchins are portrayed by Mickey Rooney and Virginia Weidler, who convey a realistic and believable sibling relationship. (The studio would re-team Rooney and Weidler in a few other films, notably in an installment of the Andy Hardy series.) The picture also benefits from the presence of MGM contract player Franchot Tone (who was Mr. Joan Crawford at this time). Tone plays Miss George's love interest and is in all likelihood going to become a daddy to the two urchins. It's nice to see him in more of a 'family'-type comedy.

Despite being from a great studio, this isn't a particularly distinguished film--in fact, it's pretty poor. The biggest problems are that there really isn't any romantic chemistry and the plot seemed very forced.The film begins with a Broadway actress (Gladys George) having yet another flop on stage. Her agent (Ted Healy) is always trying to think of ways for her to get publicity and a friend (Franchot Tone) is trying to get her to be choosy about her projects and listen to him. In one of his radio broadcasts, Tone talks about some orphans in need of a home (including Mickey Rooney--who was a bit old to be adopted). Healy and George get the bright idea of adopting--or at least PRETENDING to adopt the kids for publicity. Tone is appalled and the rest of the film is spent watching George inexplicably becoming attached to the two kids and Tone somehow marrying George by the end...even though there is zero chemistry between them and the film never shows any indications that romance is in the air.The film is supposed to be a wacky comedy but wacky it seldom is. In fact, things happen repeatedly throughout the film for no apparent reason. As a result, the film is very weak and very skipable.

This gives the superb Gladys George a good, meaty role. The plot is a bit well-worn. But she is in all her glory as a temperamental grand lady of the stage with a heart of gold. (The plot involves no drinking on her part, which is a nice change from the general typecasting her tough voice and soft manner brought.) Let's get one thing clear: The title means nothing. It seems slapped on out of desperation. What romantic title could not be called "Love Is A Headache"? From "Gone With the Wind" to "Mala Noche," with many stops in between, there could have been hundreds of movies with that title.The supporting cast is fun. Franchot Tone is fine. Mickey Rooney and Virginia Weidler are real pros.Though I liked this primarily because of Ms. George, I have to say that Rooney shines. He had that quality the camera loved that certain big stars had. Marilyn Monroe is one of them. When either of these two appeared in a movie's early scenes, the audience sits up and says "Whoa! Who is THIS?"