This is How Movies Should Be Made

Great Film overall

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It's hard to determine whether Nothing Sacred is a comedy or a drama, but if you decide to watch it all the way through, you'll find out it's a very strange comedy. Carole Lombard thinks she's dying, and when she finds out she's going to live at the exact moment reporter Fredric March appears to interview her, she decides to hide the truth to get attention and sympathy. So, since the main storyline involves someone pretending she's dying, it's a little bit odd. If you like Carole Lombard in her classic screwball comedies, and you don't think there's anything wrong with joking about death, you might find this movie funnier than I did. I like Carole much better in dramas, and the same goes for Freddie. Plus, it's a staple for screwball comedies to be extremely over-the-top and have one ridiculous antic after another, and in general, I prefer my movies to be a little more believable. But this is the only film in which you'll get to see Carole in Technicolor, and she herself really liked it, so if you're a fan, you can give it a whirl and see if you like it.

It's nice to see Frederic March and Carole Lombard in color, especially since this was the only color film she ever made. The premise is pretty silly, that so much would be made out of this 'dying' woman in the press and all over New York that shows would be stopped in her presence, she would be given the key to the city, etc., but it's a screwball comedy, so you just have to roll with it. The film had its moments, such as the treatment March faces in Vermont, with its taciturn adults, and a child who scampers out from behind a fence to bite him on the leg. However, it's pretty uneven in terms of humor, with a lot of run of the mill content, and several groaners. You'll also have to forgive some racial stereotypes, and March working Lombard up into a fever by boxing with her, and then knocking her out in one of the film's big scenes. Those bits are in keeping with the time period and not too ugly though, and it was nice to see Lombard give as good as she got. The production value for the film was high, as despite the weakness of the early technicolor process, it had a nice score, and many fantastic shots around New York.My favorite moment in the film is when March proposes to Lombard, despite thinking she has only a few weeks to live. In a film with a lot of screwball moments and one-liners, it had this little gem: "Oh Wally, I... I mustn't. Don't ask me. Please, just kiss me once more and let it go at that without ruining your life." "So what the devil is there better to life than we've got? A handful of perfect hours. That's all the luckiest ever get out of it. Just a handful of hours to save and remember. And then... I'll be there at the end, sailor. I'll be there waving you goodbye. It'll be the same as if you and I had lived forever. And you'll... you'll grow old in my heart."

Nothing Sacred is another screwball comedy that fits the bill with the rest of the films during that time. Carole Lombard, after playing Irene Bullock in the ultra successful My Man Godfrey film a year earlier, once again is brilliant as she plays Hazel Flaggs. The film is able to present comedy through excellent execution of the dialogue and creative script writing from the filmmakers. the movie is very well directed by William Wellman and is truly successful in getting humor out of the eccentric characters and the overall feel in the film. The acting in the movie is superb with each joke or line being delivered perfectly in order to make the film funny and light-hearted. Nothing Sacred combined terrific script writing with tremendous acting to become a classic movie from a time when movies were forced to follow the strict guidelines of the 1934 censorship code.

Nothing Scared was another great screwball comedy directed by William Wellman. It starred Carole Lombard and Fredric March. Carole Lombard was great in this movie just like she was in My Man Godfrey. She was a woman name Hazel who supposedly diagnosed with radium poisoning. She does a great job hiding the fact that she actually doesn't have the poison. She was very believable. Wally was a newsman who was looking for Hazel. They wanted to bring her to New York before she died to get the newspaper the publicity it needed. She decided to not tell the truth and live with the publicity like she was a celebrity. They were both perfect for each other which made it work. Wally fell for her throughout the movie still without knowing she was faking it. He had to learn the hard way that she actually was faking it but still loved her even after finding out. I thought the color in this movie was pretty good for that time. It made it a little easier to watch.