the audience applauded

Don't Believe the Hype

Admirable film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Sometimes getting up way too early pays a few dividends. I want to say that watching this Frederic March vehicle was one of those dividends, but that would be somewhat inaccurate. I wanted to be paid for watching this film, but no luck there !! March as a performing actor has always been something of a mystery to me as a film aficionado. His abilities have always reminded me some of one of my other favorites from this era, Dick Powell. With March, in a role in a film, there's always the sense that there is something important happening inside his skull, behind his eyes, behind his manners and demeanor. The best parts of this film are those flashes where March does seem to be thinking about something big and yet talking about something small.This is a film about trying to resolve "class envy" in the 1930s, and in that regard it has a political subtext. Yet that subtext is obscured in the way the film was put together. It's definitely not in the same league with Gable and Colbert in "It Happened One Night." The reason that it isn't, is fairly obvious: after seeing this movie I had to ask myself -- what was their rush to get through this story ? The general plot device of "It Happened ..." was a winner, and it seems evident that with skilled players like March and Eugene Palette, this film could have been a winner, too, as both a comic romp and a socially aware satire. Yet it is evident that these great players were simply not given enough time or the right material to evoke such a satire.Because there are great flashes of brilliance held in this otherwise dreadful rehash of other plots, I registered a vote of five, for the film. It's not a waste of time at all, for the true film buff, or for the fans of Frederic March and Virginia Bruce and so on ....Then again, where this film promises a banquet, it only delivers a sandwich, and that's served without the sweet pickles.

Hokey story but the ice skating scene is a hoot. Skaters play the old "cakewalk" game on ice skates. The actors and stunt men did an incredible job with a simple concept taking pratfalls and sliding across the ice. I've never seen anything like it.The rest of the story is full of cringe-worthy sexist gibberish, but there are some fun moments. Stereotypes abound: the evil newsman, the imperious tycoon, the simpleton stringer. The plot is classic boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back. "She's stubborn and he's too proud."There's also a fun drinking song (newsmen of course).The actors seem to be theater-trained - they seem to shout like they're afraid the mike in the last row won't hear them. But it's still fun.

Though the gimmick of the runaway heiress was beginning to wear thin by 1938, There Goes My Heart still is entertaining enough with a sparkling cast going through it's usual paces.Virginia Bruce is our heiress in this one and reprising his role of hard hitting reporter from Nothing Sacred is Fredric March. Two leads of this magnitude is not usual for the Hal Roach studio which normally was doing two and three reel comedies. But even though this is recycled material it still is served up rather nicely. Best scene for March and Bruce is at the skating rink playing musical chairs on roller skates. March is good, but this was the kind of material Cary Grant would have relished.Hal Roach did give his director Norman McLeod a fabulous supporting cast to work with all going through their various screen images that we love. Best in the group is Patsy Kelly playing the shop-girl who happens to work in Bruce's grandfather's department store and who takes in Bruce not knowing who she is and gets her job at the store. Nancy Carroll the former silent screen star is a jealous co-worker and Irving Bacon is the sexually harassing supervisor. Others in this incredibly good cast are Claude Gillingwater as Bruce's tycoon grandfather, Eugene Palette as March's editor, Arthur Lake as March's friend and newspaper photographer and Alan Mowbray as Kelly's boyfriend studying to be a chiropractor. Yes, Alan Mowbray and Patsy Kelly as a couple. Until i saw this film I never would have believed them as a screen team. Patsy's best moments are demonstrating an exercise machine at the store. You should also see newly hired sales person Virginia Bruce waiting on Marjorie Main.At the very end of the film, former silent screen comic star Harry Langdon plays a minister. At this point in his career, Langdon was accepting any kind of work and part he could get. Nothing especially hilarious about his performance, it's too brief and he's surrounded by too many other high caliber performers in this cast to shine in any way.It's not one of Fredric March's best films, but it's still amusing enough and the ensemble can't be beat.

I think I liked this movie despite the rather formulaic and ridiculous plot because both Viginia Bruce and Frederic March did such a wonderful job with this romantic comedy from Hal Roach Productions.Virginia is the grand-daughter of a very wealthy but extremely overprotective man. He won't let her go anywhere without him and sees danger around every corner. As a result, she is smothered and bored--aching to live a real life. She escapes and establishes a new identity as a regular working girl. However, reporter Frederic March finds out about the ruse and wants to exploit the woman for a buck. However, once they meet, sparks begin to fly and he is torn between riches and his new love.You know about where the movie will end--after all, it's a formulaic romantic comedy from an era when the movies never dared stray from the expected course. However, how delicately and believably the stars follow this formula is what makes this film so worth watching. A cute and satisfying little film.By the way, at the very end there is a cute little cameo by the silent screen star Harry Langdon as the preacher. While his best years in movies were long behind him, he did continue to do small roles in a variety of films over the years.