This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
... View MoreOk... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
... View MoreOne of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
... View MoreGreat example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
... View MoreCopyright 4 January 1944 by Loew's Inc. New York opening at the Capitol: 24 March 1944. U.S. release: April 1944. Australian release: 14 September 1944. 8,515 feet. 94 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Feeling neglected because Bill, her astronomer-husband, is preoccupied with a new comet, Vicky Whitley seeks some diversion. She meets an astrologer who tells her that, by the twenty-second of the month, she will fall in love with a man who has traveled widely. Vicky informs Bill of the prediction. Upset at her belief in astrology, Bill leaves her and goes to his observatory. Vicky patiently waits for her "man" to appear. After an uneventful day on the twenty-second, she telephones Bill; and admitting that she was wrong, asks him to return home. Just as midnight approaches, however...VIEWER'S GUIDE: Ideal for insomniacs.COMMENT: This wartime escapist farce is pretty tough sledding. The most generous assessment at our Hollywood Classics screening was that the wittiest thing about the movie was its title. A slight comedy spun out to 94 minutes, well beyond the point of tedium. A complete waste of some fine players. Admittedly, In the hands of a less talented director than Alexander Hall, who makes the most of the occasional jokes and mildly intriguing if far too repetitive situations, the results would have been considerably less than the just barely passable entertainment that this Heavenly Body offers.ADDITIONAL COMMENT: As bores go, The Heavenly Body is something rather special, in that it offers the ultra-luxury of being bored by no less a personage than Hedy Lamarr. - PM Reviews.
... View MoreThis is such a ridiculous and silly film that I found it impossible to watch all of it, as it was simply too exasperating and irritating. MGM must have realized they had a turkey on their hands because they employed seven screenwriters, including even the British novelist Michael Arlen, and hired a second (uncredited) director, namely Vincente Minelli, to try and save the film. But all failed. William Powell and Hedy Lamarr were the stars, and they did very well. But their valiant efforts and those of the seven screenwriters and two directors, were all for nothing. The fact is that it was a ludicrous project commissioned by idiots. The main theme of the film is that William Powell, an observational astronomer working at a big telescope (clearly mean to be Mount Palomar), has a beautiful but pin-headed wife who takes astrology so seriously that she will not let him touch her on Tuesdays and according to her chart she must leave him for another man she does not know. The irony of having Hedy Lamarr, probably the most intelligent female star in Hollywood, play the stupidest woman in the history of films, is extreme. The film is an absolutely disgusting attempt to make a comedy based upon the premise that women are unspeakably stupid. One does not have to be a feminist to want to throw up.
... View MoreWilliam Powell does a lot ham acting and a bit of leering at The Heavenly Body of Hedy Lamarr, but in the end The Heavenly Body just ends up more silly than amusing.Poor Bill and Hedy they did two films together, neither of them would be at the top ten of either of their list of film credits. The first was Crossroads based on an incredibly silly premise about amnesia. And try as I might I could not wrap myself around the concept that a woman who was married to an astronomer would have the slightest faith of any kind in astrology.I also couldn't believe that Hedy would be led into it by neighbor Spring Byington who is playing one of her usual airhead characters. But when astronomer husband Powell who is excited over the discovery of a new comet on a collision course with the moon is not paying attention to her, she's gullible enough for anything.Which includes Byington's astrologer Fay Bainter who says that Lamarr will have a new man in her life shortly whom she will marry. When new air raid warden James Craig seems to fit the bill, Lamarr kind of forces the issue with a bit of flirting.Of course if you've got Hedy Lamarr flirting with you, Craig's no fool.Which leaves Powell in the predicament of weaning his wife off astrology and James Craig.The Heavenly Body does have a couple of good scenes, the highlight is Powell getting absolutely plastered on vodka and inviting the whole Russian tea room over in the spirit of the American-Soviet wartime alliance. Powell's character here is no drinker like Nick Charles, in fact he's a teetotaler and he's not used to holding his liquor.In the end though The Heavenly Body asks just a little too much of its stars to carry a weak story resting on a silly premise.
... View MoreThis delightful film works well because of the perfect combination of William Powell and Hedy Lamarr. It's a classic screwball romantic comedy -- silly, fluffy, hilarious. Stunningly beautiful Hedy Lamarr (who was actually a serious intellect offscreen) is surprisingly convincing as a ditz who is blithely unaware of the effect her obsession with astrology is having on her long-suffering professor/astronomer husband (Powell). If this were real life, you'd want to throttle her -- but that's a lot of the humor here. Powell puts across just the right amount of loving good humor mixed with near-homicidal frustration. There are some cute surprises along the way, and lots of recognizable character actors rounding out the cast. While the script falls short of the witty dialogue you'll find in comedies like The Palm Beach Story and Bringing Up Baby, it's still a fun trip down memory lane.
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