Just so...so bad

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Jean Arthur imbues her movies with so much grace and inner-sparkle that her performances usually save the day, no matter what the picture. Curiously, both she and William Powell are stuck here in a second-string screwball outing, one with a flimsy plot about the investigation into the death of a jockey. Arthur (photographed in gauzy, movie-magazine fashion) either wants alimony from ex-husband Powell or another shot at marriage, but one never feels for her because the character isn't conceived as person--she's just a string of wisecracks. This is the type of 1930s heroine prone to comical inquisitiveness, yet once inside a morgue she does what all women are supposed to do--she faints. Powell reportedly had a high time working with Miss Arthur, but you'd never know it from these results. The two stars look awkward next to each other, hesitant over their banter. The actor playing Powell's valet is excruciating, and the pauses for the expected laughs are pregnant with unease. *1/2 from ****

William Powell and Jean Arthur star in this mystery caper/screwball comedy that is very much in the vein of star Powell's 'Thin Man' series.The interesting, if convoluted, plot involves a jockey who has died mid-race. Bickering husband-and-wife team Powell, a doctor, and Arthur, a mystery writer, do some investigative work to find what killed the jockey, and who is the killer. Powell and Arthur look good together and play off each other quite well, yet do not quite generate that indescribable electricity that made Powell and Myrna Loy such a great team in the 'Thin Man' series. I am sure that if this combination had been a success, more 'Bradford' movies would have been produced by RKO or perhaps snapped up by another studio. However, this film is a failure, yet a good failure regardless.The script has some sharp lines, yet ultimately lacks Dashiell Hammett's creative wit and sardonic humor. Powell, ever the consummate performer, holds the film together. Arthur seems a little bit off her best form in this one.Overall, an entertaining film that is not quite the classic it could have been.

Whatever gold is spun from this little mystery/comedy comes from the crackling performances of WILLIAM POWELL and JEAN ARTHUR (prettily photographed through gauze for her movie star close-ups). They do what they can to bolster a weak script that moves in lumbering fashion toward a climax that has all the suspects gathered together to await the revelation of the killer by debonair Powell. But by this time, none of the suspects have established any kind of identity, so the viewer can only yawn when the culprit is revealed to be one of the least visible supporting actors.As a mystery, it fails to have any real suspense nor does it have a satisfying enough conclusion. The method of killing is so far out that it has to be the most unlikely explanation a scriptwriter ever dreamed up. As a comedy, it falls somewhere between THE THIN MAN stuff and any other screwball comedy of the thirties that featured Powell and Arthur in tailor-made roles.However, fans of the couple will surely find their light touch with this sort of material refreshing, if not original. But somehow, it never quite jells in its attempt to be an amusing mystery caper. Nor is it original enough to dim the memory of the better scripted Powell/Loy outings.

William Powell is a doctor dealing with a murder and an ex-wife in "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford," also starring Jean Arthur, Eric Blore, and James Gleason. It seems that Powell had chemistry going with just about any woman with whom he was teamed. Though he and Myrna Loy were the perfect screen couple, the actor made a couple of other "Thin Man" type movies, one with Ginger Rogers and this one with Arthur, both to very good effect.Somehow one never gets tired of seeing Powell as a witty, debonair professional and "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford" is no exception. The ex-Mrs. B has Mr. B served with a subpoena for back alimony and then moves back in to help him solve a mystery that she's dragged him into. And this isn't the first time she's done that! It almost seems as though there was a "Bradford" film before this one or that this was intended to be the first of a series of films - Mr. B complains that his mystery-writer ex is constantly bringing him into cases. This time, a jockey riding the favorite horse in a raise mysteriously falls off the horse and dies right before the finish line.The solution of the case is kind of outlandish but it's beside the point. The point is the banter between the couple and the interference of the ex-Mrs. B. Jean Arthur is quite glamorous in her role and very funny. However, with an actress who comes off as brainy as Arthur does, the humor seems intentional rather than featherbrained. I suspect the writer had something else in mind - say, the wacky side of Carole Lombard. When Arthur hears that the police have arrived, she says, "Ah, it's probably about my alimony. I've been waiting for the police to take a hand in it," it's more of a rib to Powell rather than a serious statement. It still works well, and it shows how a good actress can make a part her own.Definitely worth watching, as William Powell and Jean Arthur always were.