I think this is an outstandingly fun movie and would recommend to anyone who likes this one to watch The Gay Deception. It also has Francis Lederer in it and is totally charming. Does anyone else have any recommendations along this line?
"Remember, every Cinderella has her midnight."
You might like two relatively early Billy Wilder comedies, Ninotchka and A Foreign Affair, or the William Powell/Myrna Loy non-Thin-Man comedy I Love You Again.
shareI would definately recommend most of Claudette Colbert's other comedies which are usually in the same vein.
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
THE GILDED LILY
I MET HIM IN PARIS
BLUEBEARDS EIGTH WIFE
ARISE MY LOVE
THE PALM BEACH STORY
NO TIME FOR LOVE
GUEST WIFE
Check out the romantic comedies starring Jean Arthur (EASY LIVING, TOO MANY HUSBANDS, THE MORE THE MERRIER etc.) and Carole Lombard (MY MAN GODFREY, LOVE BEFORE BREAKFAST, TWENTIETH CENTURY, etc.) as well.
HarlowMGM-
I agree with all the above mentioned films, but would add Colbert's comedies "Tovarich" & "The Egg & I" to your list...such funny enjoyable films. To me screw-ball comedies are THE best.....I never tire of seeing them. Colbert, Arthur, Stanwyck, Lombard and Hepburn made wonderful comedies.
"Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all reported miracles grow"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Great suggestions.
I'll add the comedies of Irene Dunne, particularly "The Awful Truth" and "My Favorite Wife" both with Cary Grant.
I would recommend Ben-Hur or The Three Faces of Eve.
shareIf you liked this movie, you'd probably also enjoy:
Without Reservations http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039110/
He who is tired of "Weird Al"... is tired of life.[/i]"]He who is tired of "Weird Al"... is tired of life.
Easy Living. Great film!
Ball of Fire is a good companion piece for similar fairy tale scaffolding as Midnight.
-johnson1740
I agree with Easy Living, one of Leisen's best films alongside Midnight. A very rare film (I saw it at a MoMA screening and have never found it since) is the 1932 Paramount film This Is the Night -the most perfect film I've ever seen.
shareI really enjoyed the bright, easy pace of this film and its central casting. But I find it weird that the screwball comedies for me can be hit-or-miss. Many of the so-called classics of the genre strike me as dated, implausible, or simply not as delightful as my favorites.
What I've loved:
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
BALL OF FIRE (1941)
THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937)
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938)
What I've enjoyed:
THE THIN MAN (1934)
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
ADAM'S RIB (1949)
WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) (But not nearly as much as Adam's Rib)
What I didn't care for:
THE LADY EVE (1941) (Had a good moment when Stanwyck first catches sight of Fonda, but after that, it went downhill with a slow and implausible plot)
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) (I love Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in other films, but oddly enough, here I found them to have little chemistry. The comedy was way too over-the-top without being charming or clever, and as much as I wanted to enjoy the fast-paced dialogue, I honestly couldn't stand it after a short while.)
MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936) (I honestly don't remember much from this one. Wouldn't even classify it as a screwball comedy myself. It dragged on for too long. Gary Cooper was good, but I didn't care for his dramatic material.)
FYI...Gary Cooper was not in My Man Godfrey. Come to think of it, I don't think Cooper ever made a single screwball comedy.
I highly recommend the films of Preston Sturges to you, especially:
The Lady Eve (yeah, Stanwyck was one very sexy lady)
The Palm Beach Story (where oh where is MY Weinie King?)
Sullivan's Travels (though I don't like it nearly as much as the others)
and my personal fave/rave, The Miracle of Morgan Creek, where Sturges systematically makes mincemeat of the Hollywood Production Code (maybe the Code people were too busy laughing to notice what Sturges was doing?).
I'm not a big fan of Garbo, but Ninotchka is hilarious.
Really, there are very few outright bad screwball comedies...
oops, meant Mr. Deeds
shareCooper was in Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck at her sexiest. It's one of my favorite screwball comedies. I agree with you about Sturges, and would also recommend the first movie he directed, The Great McGinty. And we can't think of many bad screwball comedies because the bad ones are rarely shown, and like most bad movies, eminently forgettable! lol
shareGary Cooper did so make a screwball comedy! He co-starred in "Ball of Fire," not often ranked among the screwball classics, but it's very, very good -- and so is he. The deadpan delivery that makes him a such an iconic flinty American in other movies (Mr. Deeds, High Noon) is deployed to great comic effect in B of F.
As for other screwball favorites -- almost all of them hit their mark, probably because of the great writing and astonishing depth of comedic talent. All the Powells, Lombards, McCreas, Harlows, Colberts, Freds (Astaire and March), and so many others! I don't think I could reply to a call for my Top 10 without naming at least my Top 30.
I am a big fan of "Midnight". Others that I like:
"The Palm Beach Story"
"The Women"
"Day-Time Wife"
"Egg and I"
"Ma and Pa Kettle"
"The Thrill of It All"
"What's Up, Doc"
"Family Honeymoon" - lesser known Claudette Colbert/Fred MacMurray domestic comedy with a great performance by Hattie McDaniel as well as very bratty children.
"Hotel Paradiso" - another lesser known domestic farce and unfortunately not available on DVD.
Some suggestions that haven't yet been mentioned ---
"Talk of the Town" (another 'false identity' story, with Cary Grant out to teach Ronald Coleman a lesson --- Jean Arthur hilarious as the woman who tries to keep them balanced !)
"Sabrina" (another 'Cinderella' story, with the sparkling Wilder touch, starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden)
"Roman Holiday" (a 'reverse Cinderella' story, this time with Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Eddie Albert)
"Love in the Afternoon" (again with Billy Wilder's sparkling touch, Audrey Hepburn impersonates a much more experienced woman in order to win Gary Cooper)
...and in a bit goofier vein, Lucille Ball and Eddie Albert in "The Fuller Brush Girl" ('mistaken identity')
"A bride without a head !"
"A wolf without a foot !"
A few favorites of mine that haven't been mentioned yet ...
- Libeled Lady (William Powel, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow!)
- To Be or Not To Be (classic Lubitsch)
- The Shop Around the Corner (another Lubitsch masterpiece)
- Trouble in Paradise (more Lubitsch)
- Hands Across the Table (with Carole Lombard)
- The Good Fairy (written by Preston Sturges)
- Theodora Goes Wild (Irene Dunne's first comic role)
- The Awful Truth (Dunne & Grant)
You can't go wrong with any of the above.
I love many of those mentioned above, especially His Girl Friday and anything by Preston Sturges.
Might I add "Nothing Sacred" with Fredric March and Carole Lombard?
The Lady Eve
Ball of Fire
Christmas in Connecticut
Remember the Night
It Happened One Night
The Palm Beach Story
Arise, My Love
Ninotchka
Born Yesterday
Try "Trouble in Paradise." The script is superlative and the acting is hilarious! It is a little earlier than this one and is "Pre-Code" so is full of innuendos and outright comments that show why today's audience would love Pre-Code films! I cannot recommned it highly enough.
shareI would also suggest The Major and the Minor starring Ginger Rogers. It was Billy Wilder's first directing credit.
share