One of my all time favorites.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

A strong cast with two leading men, comedic moments, and intelligent commentary on justice in America all make this a very good film. Cary Grant is a man in jail in a small town on trumped up arson charges, and Ronald Colman is an eminent legal mind who is just arriving there to work on a book. Grant escapes to the home of his old friend Jean Arthur, and Colman shows up the same night to begin renting it from her. Grant is hidden away in the attic for awhile, but soon strikes up a friendship with Colman while pretending to be Arthur's gardener, and the pair engage in some interesting debates on justice and the law. Colman represents the viewpoint of the dispassionate letter of the law, while Grant cautions that such thought is too idealistic for the way justice is often administered. As a mob has been whipped up into a frenzy against him by the local corrupt businessman whose factory burned down, he ought to know. Grant and Colman are given equal chance to charm us and shine, and they do. Arthur more than keeps up them, delivering her lines so naturally, and she's delightful. The film keeps us guessing as to who she may end up with, as both men are attractive in their own way. I loved seeing a little bit of darkness and danger in Grant here, as well as moments of charm, such as when he widens his eye and assures Arthur that they won't recognize him from the photograph on a Wanted poster, because they hadn't captured his spirit. The film gets a little heavy-handed in some of its messaging as the film plays out, but I was swayed by just how relevant it is in the times of today's populism. The danger of the mob being manipulated by someone who is corrupt (how can one not think of 'lock her up' while watching that today?), the danger of rushing to judgment instead of listening to the facts and the evidence, and the need to fight for principles were certainly appropriate in 1942, but they're also timeless. Rex Ingram is strong as Colman's servant, including a moment where he gets choked up watching Colman shave off his beard. It seemed a rather odd to me at the time, but since it means Colman is going to fight for justice in this particular case, going against the mob, it may be that Ingram relates this to countless mobs lynching African-Americans, with no one standing up for them. The film has a few moments where you have to suspend disbelief, but I enjoyed it for its intelligence, and added dimension to what otherwise would have been a standard comedy or romantic comedy. It's a film that will charm you one moment, and make you think the next, and that's not bad.Here's a quote from Colman's speech to the mob: "This is your law and your finest possession - it makes you free men in a free country. Why have you come here to destroy it? If you know what's good for you, take those weapons home and burn them! And then think... think of this country and of the law that makes it what it is. Think of a world crying for this very law! And maybe you'll understand why you ought to guard it. Why the law has got to be the personal concern of every citizen. To uphold it for your neighbor as well as yourself. Violence against it is one mistake. Another mistake is for any man to look upon the law as just a set of principles. And just so much language printed on fine, heavy paper. Something he recites and then leans back and takes it for granted that justice is automatically being done. Both kinds of men are equally wrong! The law must be engraved in our hearts and practiced every minute to the letter and spirit. It can't even exist unless we're willing to go down into the dust and blood and fight a battle every day of our lives to preserve it. For our neighbor as well as ourself!"Hallelujah.

An essential comedy drama from producer-director George Stevens that features an outstanding cast: the powerhouse triumvirate of Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman in leading roles, and a solid supporting cast headlined by Edgar Buchanan.Nominated for Best Picture, it also received Oscar nominations for Sidney Harmon's original story, its Sidney Buchman-Irwin Shaw screenplay, its B&W Art Direction-Interior Decoration and Cinematography, Editing and Score. Dale Van Every is credited for writing the adaptation. Though an early work for Shaw, who wrote the play that became Out of the Fog (1941), Buchman brought significant (screwball, comedy) credentials to the project - Holiday (1938) with Grant, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) with Arthur, an Oscar win for Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941); he'd also just worked with Grant on The Howards of Virginia (1940).Grant and Arthur had successfully collaborated with Howard Hawks on Only Angels Have Wings (1939). Arthur and Stevens would work again on a similarly subtle political comedy The More The Merrier (1943) and the actress's last picture, the quintessential Western Shane (1953). But this film represents the only time that the two suave Britishers would ever appear together on screen.Colman plays Judge Michael Lightcap, a law professor come Supreme Court nominee from Boston that's renting a house in Lochester for the summer (to write a book) from schoolteacher Miss Nora Shelley (Arthur), the prettiest girl in town per Leopold Dilg (Grant), a fugitive who's hiding out in Shelley's attic after being framed for arson. Because Lightcap is unaware of this harboring situation, and Dilg is unable to travel per an ankle sprained during his escape, Nora tells the judge that the fugitive is her gardener named Joseph. The two men become fast friends despite but because of their differing points of view on the law - stuffy Lightcap's is theoretical whereas practical Dilg's is more reality based - and mutual love of chess.Buchanan plays Sam Yates, a local lawyer that's also a former classmate of Lightcap's; he and Nora try to get Lightcap involved in Dilg's case even though the judge wants and needs to remain uninvolved per his pending nomination/confirmation to the Supreme Court bench. During the course of events, both Lightcap and Dilg become attracted to Miss Shelley.

not great but nice. not special but seductive for a smart story, use of humor and romanticism, fake tension and Cary Grant. interesting for Rex Ingram and for the nuances of role exploited by Ronald Colman. a film with large ambitions who remains only another comedy about heroes and love. nothing new but amusing for the small scenes who seems be ambiguous or for the classic end, for the unrealistic events and for the good intentions. nothing memorable but useful for remind the flavor of lost period. that is all. a film with ordinary mistakes and drops of glamor. is it enough ? yes, in this case. because not the artistic virtue is the most important thing but the smell of a fragment from a golden age.

Like some of the other participants on this board, I too, am surprised that this isn't more revered, or for that matter, remembered. I have not seen it on any top 100 list on AFI or elsewhere.Not to sound like somebody with a schoolboy crush, but could you find another actress who is more charming than Jean Arthur. She is definitely one of the best actresses of the 30s and 40s. Don't get me wrong, there are other superb actresses like Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn of those years, but there is something about Jean Arthur that I can't resist. Maybe it's that voice? The memorable thing about this film is that you are a little thrown by the opening scene and what follows after. Grant, I can reveal, is wanted for murder and hides out with school chum, Arthur. Matters are complicated by tenant, Colman. At first, you think this is going to be a bedroom farce but it suddenly shifts tone to highbrow drama. Also, I was a little thrown by Grant's sudden appearance in front of Colman after hiding out in the attic. Colman doesn't look that surprised either.Like I said the film shits tone many times. At first, you think it's going to be a gritty crime drama, then it shifts to the aforementioned bedroom escapades and then just as suddenly, we are in the middle of philosophical discussion about law. But that's okay. I rather enjoyed the chemistry between Colman and Grant in those scenes.What is far less acceptable, is the tired convention of which man will the woman end up with. It is not only a cliché, but it is more than a bit awkwardly played out here. Still, you can't have Arthur dump them both, so I think that the filmmakers made the right decision of making it the more popular of the two, at that time at least.If you are confused by this commentary, don't worry. Wait 'till the next one.