In this update of Snow White, 8 eunuchs are sequestered (for years) to produce an encyclopedia of all human knowledge. Along comes a fast-talking dame (Stanwyck) who instantly makes the Linguist's (Cooper) language section irrelevant. The movie really lives when Stanwyck is just allowed to do her thing ("...yunh, yunh, yunh!" smirk) and when language is discussed. Early on, the movie delights in big-band era patois, half of it made up. Unfortunately, the promising scenario gets thrown overboard in favor of conventions (a "lerve" story, a paper-thin antagonist) and the quality of the movie disappears, the gags become overextended, and the conflict/resolution is, in the movies own parlance, "total cornball, Daddy-O." The more Gary Cooper is on screen, the more it dies. I barely made it through the second half involving some cardboard mobsters. And how many movies would have been superior if they'd been freed of the usual goal/machinations of gluing a couple together? Still I'd rather sit through this again than The Lady Eve.
It's nice to see Stanwyck in a light-hearted comedy, instead of one more angst-filled melodrama. The double entrendres are little more shocking than the era permitted ("I'm a pushover for streptococcus"). Worth a few ounces of interest, the movie is teeming with character actors you've seen elsewhere: ...the chatty diner lady from Out of the Past, S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakal AND the bartender from Casablaca (Leonid Kinskey), Clarence the Angel AND the bank examiner from IAWL, the actor who was the voice of Popeye, and about ten others. Even poor old Dana Andrews is in it! It's like a nice, warm blanket if you're fond of old movies.
Note: This is one of a handful of movies that Peter Bogdanovich borrowed from, to make What's up Doc? For the record, the movies he cribbed so artfully from in 'What's Up, Doc?' are: Ball of Fire, The Awful Truth, The Lady Eve, and To have and Have Not.
It's nice to see Stanwyck in a light-hearted comedy, instead of one more angst-filled melodrama. The double entrendres are little more shocking than the era permitted ("I'm a pushover for streptococcus"). Worth a few ounces of interest, the movie is teeming with character actors you've seen elsewhere: ...the chatty diner lady from Out of the Past, S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakal AND the bartender from Casablaca (Leonid Kinskey), Clarence the Angel AND the bank examiner from IAWL, the actor who was the voice of Popeye, and about ten others. Even poor old Dana Andrews is in it! It's like a nice, warm blanket if you're fond of old movies.
Note: This is one of a handful of movies that Peter Bogdanovich borrowed from, to make What's up Doc? For the record, the movies he cribbed so artfully from in 'What's Up, Doc?' are: Ball of Fire, The Awful Truth, The Lady Eve, and To have and Have Not.