Yes, it might be fluff to some, but it is fluff that makes the pillow comfy! The type of film that helped make living in the depression fun, acting like the depression didn't exist, that millionaires never lost their fortune, that everybody dressed in silks, ermine, white tie & tails. Everybody was gay, when gay meant giddy....
It's no wonder that Joan Crawford was the biggest female star of the mid 1930's, not a female impersonator who actually happened to be a woman (Mae West) or a snappy little girl with curls (Shirley Temple). She was glamorous, full of life, and someone who rose from poverty to be a beautiful movie star. And here she is, a bride left at the alter by her childhood pal (Robert Montgomery) who nevertheless continues to see her socially on the side unaware that their other best pal (Clark Gable) is madly in love with her himself. Montgomery is instantly unhappy in his new marriage to venomous Frances Drake and longs to rekindle his romance with Crawford.
People forget that Joan was adept in both comedies and musicals, not just the women's picture, so this film (based upon a Broadway play that starred Tallulah Bankhead) is overlooked in the history of great screwball comedies. Toss in flighty Billie Burke, droll Charles Butterworth and wisecracking Rosalind Russell (in one of her first films), and you end up with a practically perfect crowd-pleaser that shows us how "Mommie Dearest" was as once as hot as today's "A" list stars and got to the top in a style that can't be copied today.
The fun opening credits instantly got my attention with music that made me think that the three stars were going rollerskating. My favorite scene was the one in which Crawford and Montgomery stop by a roadside hamburger stand and Montgomery takes over while the cook is out back. It is a witty moment of rhythmic dialog that is sadly a thing of the past. This scene flows nicely to another great scene with Montgomery riding a bicycle with a nervous Crawford on the handlebars that ends up with a nice pratfall. Here's mud in your eye!
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