This was really fun, paying tribute to the insanely hot chemistry between Myrna Loy and William Powell (in everything, but for this essay I wrote about Love Crazy) and – my favorite – Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea in one of the best romantic comedies ever made, The More the Merrier. Check it out over on Film Comment: TCM Diary: The Chemistry Set
When I teach Lawyers in Movies I sometimes show “The Talk of the Town”, in which Ms Arthur shines. One of the great bits in the movie is when the local judge sits down next to Ronald Coleman’s character at a ball game. It’s a fun way to discuss why Chief Justice Robert’s conformation testimony about judges calling “balls and strikes” is utter fiction
I love the moment when Ronald Colman busts Jean Arthur sneaking around … in her own house.
and instead of being like “Dude, I live here” she acts SO busted and it makes me roar every time.
Okay so I finally saw Love Crazy (The More The Merrier still to come!) and gosh, it has a lot to enjoy in it; the unending cascade of terrible choices! That bit in the Lunacy Commission when he’s so perturbed he messes up the shapes test and you’re just waiting for him to start to disintegrate — and then he starts, like, eating the pieces just to mess with her, I was rolling. I loved how steadfastedly Loy refuses to believe any of his antics, because she knows him so well. If I had a complaint — in the diary you touch on who’s a lunatic and who’s the straight man — I did find myself hoping that Loy would get a chance to stretch, a la Rogers in Monkey Business or something — I was dying to see her become a lunatic too. Carson and Bates were very entertaining but in tandem they eventually exhausted me, haha. Still, such a delight. Not many duos get in shouting distance of what they do.
Jessie – ha!! I love your comments! Please let me know when you’ve seen The More the Merrier. It’s so romantic I want to shoot myself. Lovingly.
// I loved how steadfastedly Loy refuses to believe any of his antics, because she knows him so well. //
Ha! I know! I love how during the divorce trial the lawyer keeps trying to get her to say how awful and “crazy” her husband is – and she knows she’s supposed to do that but she keeps defending him. It’s automatic. They had a blast together.
// I did find myself hoping that Loy would get a chance to stretch, a la Rogers in Monkey Business or something — I was dying to see her become a lunatic too. //
That would have been fun. Her sanity is so strong that she realizes he is not at all insane, that he’s just FUNNY and she loves him.
I think one of my favorite moments is when Carson says he isn’t wearing a shirt because he “needs my torso free when I shoot my bow and arrow.” lol And then Loy repeats that phrase later to Powell – who is like, “Excuse me?”
I wanted to get into the whole brilliance of all those pratfalls on that rug – AND how Myrna Loy’s dress at one point has the exact same fleur-de-lis pattern as that dangerous rug – which basically tells you: she is a force for chaos too. But she’s the only one who doesn’t fall on that damn rug!