Boring

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This is basically a more complicated retread of Gable's "It Happened One Night." Once again, a reporter hooks up with an heiress to get a big scoop, and in spite of initial antagonism, their high level of physical attractiveness inevitably leads to love. But in this one there's also professional rivalry and a few spies.Gable has a lot of charm, but his character is really pretty awful. Screwball stars are often a bit obnoxious, but for me, he seemed particularly conscienceless. He casually commits major crimes and treats his rival (well played by Franchot Tone) worse than I would treat an enemy, yet this is all played as harmless hijinks. There are some cute scenes, most notably one in a castle, and it's certainly watchable, but I just found this movie both mildly amusing and mildly objectionable.

Love On The Run (1936)W.S. Van Dyke, who's famous for doing great madcap, romantic, screwball comedies, like the Thin Man series, did an okay job with this one too. Crawford and Tone were recently married in real life and Gable has been friends (and more) with Crawford for many years.Two competing reporters, Michael Anthony (Clark Gable) and Barnabas Pells (Franchot Tone) chase down the story of a runaway bride heiress Sally Parker (Joan Crawford) who recently married and then jilted a European Prince Igor (Ivan Lebedeff). Naturally, you know that Sally is going to fall in love with Michael despite her hating reporters. Barnabas is slowly catching up though. Later they meet the Baron and Baroness Spandemann (Reginad Owen and Mona Barrie) who, as it turns out, are international (Nazi?) spies. Then the story veers off into a totally different direction.

This movie is an obvious re-working of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and is a couple steps below it in quality. However, considering that Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and Franchot Tone do such a good job with the material, it's still an excellent film. That's because despite the familiarity of the material, the movie is so much fun to watch. The dialog is snappy and the pacing is great. And, despite the film being pretty predictable (as most were of the era), I didn't mind and felt myself being caught up in the movie.Joan is a runaway bride and Gable is the cad pretending to help her but he's got a secret agenda. In the end, they are head-over-heels and the movie closes. Sounds familiar? Of course, but who cares--it's still lovely to watch.

This one is worth seeing for Crawford's delightful performance: she positively glows as the madcap heiress on the run. Despite the silly story and uneven performance from Gable (his legendary chemistry with Crawford is nonetheless in evidence), there is always the snappy dialogue (much of it written by John Lee Mahin of "Red Dust" and "Bombshell"), to keep the laughs coming. Crawford's then husband Franchot Tone plays Gable's fellow reporter. For anyone who wonders why she is called the ultimate movie star.