Trouble for Two (1936) User Reviews (17)

Fascinating combination of mystery, suspense, and comedy

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 10 February 2006]

"Trouble for Two" is a benign title that belies what an unusual film this is. Robert Montgomery plays a foreign prince who is approached by a beautiful, mysterious woman (Rosalind Russell) on board ship to London. She asks him to hold an envelope for her until they disembark, at which time she will meet him at the bottom of the gangplank. She never does. It turns out the envelope is full of blank paper. While in London, Montgomery meets Louis Hayward, who tells him and his aide (Frank Morgan) of the existence of a suicide club. The prince insists on accompanying Hayward there, over his aide's objections. There, in this exclusive club where people pay to die with another member's assistance so it looks like natural causes, he sees the mysterious lady again...

This is a very intriguing story with twists and turns that will keep the viewer interested. Montgomery and Russell did five films together and make a good team. She's quite striking-looking and somber in this. Montgomery does an excellent job as the prince, a young man who can't resist the idea of adventure and who is willing to take even foolish risks. Louis Hayward's role is small but a different one for him. He looks heavier and softer. As the actor who first portrayed The Saint, he normally was quite suave and dashing.

You have to pay attention during "Trouble for Two" - it moves fast. Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's story "The Suicide Club," the script could have been stronger, but it's a good effort and a change from the usual fare.

A unique film... at the start

[thegreggor-1 · 7/10 · 21 August 2001]

Starts off really intriguing and seems to differentiate itself from other films of its era. A successful mix of comedy and suspense at the beginning, and Rosalind Russell looking so surprisingly beautiful, that she seems to come across in her early scenes as a black-haired Garbo. I've never seen her look more beautiful. The film is worth seeing for Russell's early scenes alone. But unfortunately, silly and unbelievable coincidences surface midway in the plot that considerably weaken and conventionalize the film. At its finish, I ended up feeling vaguely disappointed at what could have been a really unique and special film. I still think its worth seeing though, as the performances were all around quite good. A great film that could have been!

Variation on Shakespeare

[hcoursen · 7/10 · 1 February 2006]

Prince Florizel of Bohemia -- where have I heard that before? In one of Shakespeare's final plays, 'The Winter's Tale.' There, the young prince falls in love with a beautiful shepherdess, Perdita, who is actually a princess. She doesn't know that, of course (it's a version of the Cinderella story). Roz Russell is also incognito in the film, but she knows who she is. So 'Winter's Tale' gives MGM the idea for filling out the Stevenson story by giving a role to Russell. The film also has traces of Henry IV, where the king admonishes his son, and where, at the end, the son must fight for his kingdom, as Prince Hal does against Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury. There's also a trace of 'As You Like It,' a play in which a disguised woman administers a love-test to the man in whom she is already interested. I do not believe that the Shakesperean elements of this film have been noticed. I'll have to reread the Stevenson "Suicide Club' stories, which I do not have at hand, to see how much of the Shakespearean context is there. It's a strange and sometimes compelling film, beginning with a musical comedy format, where we expect to see Nelson and Jeanette any moment, and then moving into a fogbound London mystery. Montgomery is very convincing as an absolutely fearless prince and Russell is lovely as the mystery woman assigned to kill the prince. This one is worth watching. I just read the Stevenson story. Prince Florizel is of Bohemia (a la 'Winter's Tale'), but there is no woman in the story, only the mention of a failed love affair at the outset that motivates the young man who introduces the two Bohemians to the Club. So Roz's role as the disguised princess is an addition to the story -- and a good one at that!

A Scandal From Bohemia?

[theowinthrop · 31 May 2004]

Say "Robert Louis Stevenson" and "movies" and people recall the swashbuckler historical tales: KIDNAPPED, TREASURE ISLAND, The MASTER OF BALLENTRAE. The one exception everyone recalls is DR. JECKYLL AND MR. HYDE. But actually several other "modern" (i.e. 19th Century) stories were filmed as well. That marvelous comedy THE WRONG BOX was based on Stevenson's novel with his step-son Lloyd Osbourne. Lloyd Nolan, Ray Milland, Oscar Homolka, and Barry Fitzgerald appeared in THE EBB - TIDE (redone with Robby Coltrane in the late 1990s). There is also this film comedy, based on a set of stories from a book that was a best seller of the 1880s, but is forgotten today. The book was called THE NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS, and the stories are called THE SUICIDE CLUB ("The Young Man With the Cream Tarts", "The Doctor and the Saratoga Trunk", and "The Adventure of a Hanson Cab"). These three stories deal with this club, and how a foreign visitor (Prince Florizel of Bohemia) gets involved with uncovering this club and destroying it's leader. Florizel also appears in several of the other tales of the total collection of stories.

In keeping with the idea of a "new Arabian Nights" Florizel travels around at night-time incognito, like Haroun-al-Raschid in the original stories. He gets drawn into the club when he meets a young man selling cream tarts. Florizel soon realizes that the members of the club pay for the right to go through a nightly card game, in which one of them wins the right to kill another. It is the young man with the tarts who is the victim. The head of the club collects huge fees from the idiot members who are killing each other off. Florizel brings the club to the attention of the authorities, but as he has joined the club the head insists that he must live up to membership rules. So Florizel and the head of the club have a life and death duel in the three stories, only ending in the last story, "The Adventure of a Hanson Cab." At the end of the third story the head of the suicide club is killed in a duel. The threat to Florizel is over.

Why MGM chose this project, TROUBLE FOR TWO, as a film for Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Frank Morgan, and Reginald Owen is a mystery. The reason NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS was such an eye opener in the 1880s was that it suggested the hidden reservoirs of the odd and exotic that lay behind the facade of respectable Victorian London. It really set the stage for Stevenson's own DR. JECKYL, Bram Stoker's DRACULA, and Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (not to mention Professor Challenger). Within a year of NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS appearing in 1886, Doyle was publishing A STUDY IN SCARLET. But by the 1930s that reservoir was pretty well known, so there was no real reason to bring it back. Except it did have a period charm to it. And that may explain the use of Montgomery and Russell as the romantic leads. Except that (for Russell) there was a need for a rewrite, because her character does not figure in the original Stevenson stories.

It is an enjoyable film, which plays on the need of Florizel to occupy his time (he is supposed to be on a state visit from Bohemia to England, awaiting his return home to a royal wedding). He sees a mysterious lady (Russell) on the boat crossing the Channel, and tries to learn more about her (but she does have a habit of disappearing). Morgan, his aide-de-camp, tries to keep the curious and brave Montgomery under control, but his ideas of control are generally "ho-hum" He tries a guessing game with Montgomey to occupy their time: Morgan - "Can you guess this?: I am a well known English poet." Montgomery [Without missing a beat] - "Tennyson" Morgan - "That's right. Shall we do another?" [Montgomery looks at his aide as though he's insane.]

The villain is Reginald Owen, best recalled for his splendid Ebanezer Scrooge in the 1938 A CHRISTMANS CAROL, but capable of good and bad characters (all nicely acted). He is the villain who wants to buy Clark Gable's dog in THE CALL OF THE WILD, in order to kill the dog, and who later drowns when he and his greedy co-horts are weighted down with bags of Gable's stolen gold while toppled into an Alaskan river. He is one of Joan Crawford's gang in A WOMAN'S FACE (a kind of book keeper for the gang of blackmailers). But he also played "Uncle" Detlaff in Margaret Sullivan's THE GOOD FAIRY, determined to prevent old goat Frank Morgan from "ruining" her. And he was Sherlock Holmes once in A STUDY IN SCARLET (he also played Dr. Watson in SHERLOCK HOLMES in 1930). Here he is as villainous as in THE CALL OF THE WILD, as the head of the Club who has two ulterior motives regarding his club, one outlined in the short story, but a second one dealing with Florizel. Since he is an intellectual sort here, his head is bald - suggesting he has too many important things on his mind to need hair. Despite the obvious make-up job, he does an excellent job as someone you never trust.

Morgan is his typical loyal, decent, and befuddled character. His best moment is when he threatens Owen and his gang, in order for Montgomery to get away, with an object in a bag - supposedly an explosive. It turns out to be a plum pudding that is dripping brandy very liberally down his sleeve.

It is a good, amusing film. Not as funny as THE WRONG BOX, but quite good as a product of the MGM assembly line. If it shows up on the Turner Network again try to catch it.

A curious mixture of fun and fright...with romance brewing...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 30 January 2006]

ROBERT MONTGOMERY and ROSALIND RUSSELL head the cast of this comedy/mystery based on "The Suicide Club" by Robert Louis Stevenson. After an intriguing start, it gets lost in a strand of threads that are never unraveled with any finesse. The result is a less than satisfying mystery but told in an entertaining manner.

Victoria London is the setting for the story which, like most Stevenson tales, wanders into the dark side with some proper mood and atmosphere. Frank Morgan is his usual blustery self (what a great Dr. Watson he would have made if Nigel Bruce weren't around), but his mannerisms are played for less comic effect than usual.

The plot unwinds in a snappy one hour and fifteen minutes of running time but explanations are skimpy and you have to be paying close attention to catch certain facts. As the President of the Suicide Club, REGINALD OWEN is burdened by some obvious make-up alterations but does a competent enough job in his unusual role.

Passes the time and is worth a watch as a programmer of mildly entertaining interest. Louis Hayward is impressive in a brief and rather thankless role.

Intriguing drama of aristocrat recruited by a 'suicide club'

[denny-16 · 6/10 · 3 November 1999]

This is an intriguing version of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Suicide Club", with ever-urbane aristocrat being recruited by an apparent group of boring rich people, willing to kill themselves for sport ! All is not as it seems and after Montgomery encounters mysterious Russell, the stage is set for a surprising revelation and an exciting climax.

Prince goes incognito

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 17 August 2017]

Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell after being teamed in Night Must Fall got a more upbeat film with Trouble For Two. Though the source for this movie is Robert Louis Stevenson's first book of a detective trilogy concerning Prince Florizel and sidekick Count Geraldine who as Prince and equerry have a whole lot of adventures going incognito.

The story is not entirely coherent, but the leads and Frank Morgan as the equerry make it enjoyable. Not unlike the former Prince of Wales and King Edward VIII ever so briefly, Robert Montgomery's silly behavior has forced dear old dad King E.E. Clive to send him into temporary exile of sorts. Stay incognito and stay out of trouble are the two commands.

Montgomery and Morgan come upon a club called the Suicide Club dedicated to dispatching folks to another plane of existence if you have the right fee. It seems to have a particular appeal to wastrel types who've decided they've gorged enough on hedonism. Such a one is Louis Hayward who has a brief and memorable role as such a one. In fact Hayward was particularly effective here and in other similar type roles.

Rosalind Russell is a princess who Montgomery is to be betrothed and he's not liking the idea. But she's targeted by this group as well and the shared adventure might just make this royal marriage a royal romance.

Head of the club and one nasty customer is Reginald Owen. He and Hayward in many ways steal this film from the leads.

It's not Stevenson's verbatim story, but an enjoyable film

some good some fixes

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 June 2022]

Crown Prince Florizel (Robert Montgomery) and Princess Brenda of Irania are both leery of their arranged marriage. They haven't seen each other since childhood. The political situation back home is tense. Florizel is sent to Victorian London accompanied by Colonel Geraldine. He encounters Miss Vandeleur (Rosalind Russell) and is taken by her. He learns of a mysterious private group with a dark common purpose called the Suicide Club.

I like the reveal but I don't really like the various fights and escapes afterwards. It needs some better writing. It's a little unreasonable at times. I wouldn't mind a bit of a rewriting and rework the staging. I do like these characters. I would like Montgomery and Russell to have more time together. This has some fun, some good mystery, and some good connection. It just needs a bit of fixing.

Marvellously entertaining, clever, and imaginative

[aromatic-2 · 9/10 · 13 March 2001]

Adapted from a Robert Louis Stevenson story called "The Suicide Club", this is a rapid-fire brain teaser with plenty of terrific acting and witty dialogue, Robert Montgomery is wonderful in the lead, and Frank Morgan matched him parry for thrust. Reginald Owen (later Scrooge) is marvellous whenever he appears. I enjoyed it immensely.

A dreadful mangling of a highly entertaining story....

[retrocollage · 1/10 · 19 October 2010]

"Trouble for Two" is arguably one of the worst film adaptations of a literary classic to appear during the 1930's. It's true that the original story ("The Suicide Club" by Robert Louis Stevenson) was a novella in three parts that had to be condensed to fit the confines of a movie. And undoubtedly there was a need to pander to the tastes of the time by introducing elements of romance and comedy into the screenplay. But Hollywood chose to satisfy these conditions by combining several of the original characters, mutilating their personalities and the plot in the process, and introducing a silly prince-and-princess love story as a foreground element and motivator. To make matters worse, the film adds superfluous bit parts to create a spurious "Olde Englyshe" atmosphere that actually wastes time.

The original novella presented an adventure of Prince Florizel of Bohemia, an urbane, sophisticated sovereign of high moral purpose, who delighted in plunging into underworld escapades, chivalrously assisted by his friend and confidante Colonel Geraldine, a dashing and resourceful young cavalry officer. But in the movie, Florizel (Robert Montgomery) has become a trifling, light-headed fop, and Geraldine (Frank Morgan) a foggy, timid, middle-aged bumbler. Worse yet, the villain whom they meet, the President of the Suicide Club (played by Reginald Owen), has been changed from a corrupt genius of crime into a political fanatic and fused with another of the book's more entertaining characters, softening and weakening the film's spirit considerably. Events only go downhill from the first encounter of these three. And the scarcely-believable attendance of a lady (Rosalind Russell as Miss Vandeleur) at a Victorian gentleman's club undermines the plot's premise and credibility even further, if that's possible.

To their credit, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, and company play their caricatures tolerably well, though a depressingly wooden performance by Russell and the pointless disposal early on of the charming Louis Hayward contribute to the butchering of the story.

Anyone considering watching this movie would be well-advised to avoid it and save 75 precious minutes, and instead read the original novella (available for free online in Project Gutenberg's collection of Robert Louis Stevenson's works). It's a great but sadly neglected classic. Perhaps in future it will receive the film treatment it deserves, in all of its three-part glory, at the capable hands of the British film production companies that supply crime dramas to Masterpiece Theater.

Intelligent early-talkie thriller

[sultana-1 · 9/10 · 26 May 2001]

Very imaginative reworking of Stevenson's classic short-story, The Suicide Club. Montgomery and Russell make a well-matched and very attractive couple, and Frank Morgan is superb as his faithful and loyal second. Reginald Owen is marvelous as the head of the club. And, the rest of the supporting class including a young and handsome Louis Hayward, is equally compelling. The score and photography are exquisite as well. This is one to be watched and enjoyed.

This dark, slow, uncoordinated mess is not a comedy

[SimonJack · 2/10 · 24 March 2022]

"Trouble for Two" a comedy? A mystery of sorts, and a drama for sure. The film I just watched on DVD wasn't anything like the smiling faces and supposed humor and romance portrayed in the film trailer, on the posters or in any other promos. The only possible way I could conceive of this being considered a comedy would be if it were clearly set up as a farcical story, in which the actors all knew it was a ruse to begin with. Of course, that would be within the story. But it doesn't do that and it's not a story that lends itself for such.

For those who would like to see films of that type, two examples come to mind. The first is "The Great Garrick" of 1937, with Brian Aherne, Olivia de Havilland, and E. E. Horton. The second, of a somewhat modified type, is the 1942 comedy satire during WW II, "To Be or Not to Be," that starred Jack Benny and Carole Lombard. Both of those were set-ups within the movie and tremendously funny and good. "Trouble for Two" isn't a set up within a movie, and it has zero comedy. Where is the humorous dialog? Where are the pratfalls? Where are the antics and funny situations? Surely not in the traipsing off to get killed by pre-arranged surprise suicide methods. That's what this is about - it's the bulk of the film. It's dark and slow, and for the first three-fifths, very tedious.

Indeed, the only thing that could possibly lead some to think there might be comedy in this film, is the persona of Robert Montgomery. His normal, almost constant film appearance is with one of two facial expressions - a smile or a smirk. The latter is the majority of the time. The only time I saw Rosalind Russell or Frank Morgan smile was in the last few minutes of the film, once or twice for Russell. She seemed totally wasted in this film. For the first three-fourths, she is emotionless, with an almost blank dark and somber look, and completely wooden. She could just as easily sat out most of the film with a painted wooden picture in her place. And, this isn't disparaging her acting - I think it was an intentional aspect of the plot. Probably intended as part of the so-called mystery, but instead making it seem like a terrible film, dark and disjointed, slow, with just a tinge of mystery and absolutely no comedy at all.

As for Montgomery's character, Prince Florizel, being an adventurous son who didn't mind taking risks, for this plot he was totally lacking in common sense or intelligence. Just before halfway into the film, I found myself entertaining the thought they maybe he would get bumped off, so the film could get on with the story. The plot with Miss Vandeleur, the princess incognito, recognizing him on the ship in his alias, and then concocting the rather dumb scenario to test him to "see what kind of a man" he was, is so hokey and bad. But, the entire film is that way - the various goofy scenes are loosely tied together with little or no cohesion

I don't know what R. L. Stevenson's short story might have been that this was based on - I read "Treasure Island" and some other of his works, but nothing like this. But whatever it was, it couldn't' have been as bad as the story that this movie is about. The single halfway good performance in this mess is by Reginald Owen. That's what gains it's two stars in my book. In spite of the fairly good rating by IMDb viewers with its small number as of the time of my writing here, the film did not fair well with audiences in its day or among critics who mostly panned or derided it. It finished way down the list of movies in 1936 - at 243rd in popularity. I couldn't find box office numbers anywhere, but would guess that with this cast, this movie probably didn't cover its production costs.

This is one of the worst movies I've ever watched and sat all the way through, thinking it must get better and have a good ending. But, it's just a dud after all. Even with a Robert Louis Stevenson story source, a movie plot with a suicide club wouldn't exactly appeal to many people. What was MGM thinking? It was smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression.

bizarre to say the least!

[didi-5 · 21 May 2001]

At first sight this MGM oddity looks like a typical over-the-top 30s effort, but I found it growing on me (despite the ever-increasing number of loose ends - why? what? how?). If you can accept Montgomery and Russell as 18th century foreign Royals who blend perfectly in a Britain even more nutty than it's usually depicted, then this is quite an enjoyable and unusually imaginative slice of early Hollywood.

What a treasure!

[jodilyn · 8/10 · 30 January 2006]

This movie is so fun to watch. A complete and wonderful gem both in plot and acting. Robert Montgomery is dashing and brave, while Rosalind Russell is lovely. Frank Morgan is in his before Wizard of Oz days, and he brings a funny kind of persona to this film. There is no mistaking his Oz voice though. Seems like he was perfecting it even then. Reginald Owen (Scrooge) is delightful as the villain! All of the cast members bring Robert Louis Stevenson's story "The Suicide Club!" to life even if the very name denotes death. I found myself captivated by the charm and wit of both Montgomery and Russell. It's a must see for any classic movie fan.

Just because a film is old and features some excellent actors does NOT mean it's a very good film.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 2 June 2017]

"Trouble for Two" is based on a collection of short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. While Stevenson wrote some wonderful stories (such as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"), he also occasionally had a misfire...and this MGM version of the story makes the mistake of actually sticking close to the source material!

Prince Florizel (Robert Montgomery) of some kingdom or other is in London along with his friend and bodyguard, Colonel Geraldine (Frank Morgan). The Prince is a very annoying sort of character...a guy who is bored with life and who longs for adventure. When he hears about something called a 'suicide club' he decides to join and see what sort of adventure awaits him in joining. Later, you learn the true purpose of the club...but it's all amazingly contrived and silly...and the film is also filled with lots of overly mannered and stilted dialog. Overall, a silly and impossible to believe film that often makes little sense and is a waste of fine talents. Incredibly contrived and a bit stupid.

Hollywood, Remake this film

[mangumman · 10/10 · 19 October 2010]

I think this is one of those stories that I could see easily remade into a classy suspense period film. Why are they butchering stories like "Sherlock Holmes" when more interesting and unique stories like this have basically sat on Hollywood's shelf since 1936. I know there have been other remakes of this story but none worth mentioning or at all famous. It would introduce this intriguing story to a new audience who know nothing of this Robert Louis Stevenson tale. Why is Hollywood remaking movies that are 20 years old and were giant hits to begin with in their own right (how can you even assume you could make a bigger hit than the original hit, i.e.- "The Karate Kid") when their are lost gems/stories out there from much longer ago that should be retold...stories that need to be reintroduced to the world- whose forgotten about some of these marvelous tales.

Bring back... "The Suicide Club".

Suicide Comedy

[GManfred · 30 July 2018]

Fanciful comedy based on an R.L. Stevenson story that is not as ghastly as it sounds. It is an underrated, 'sleeper' comedy masterfully played by a cast of Hollywood veterans, and relies heavily on Hollywood's British colony for support. The two principals, Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell, are at their best and get help from Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen and Louis Hayward, to name a few.

Montgomery is heir to a throne and scheduled for an arranged marriage he wants nothing to do with. He goes to London incognito and meets some strange people enroute and stumbles upon a Suicide Club. Keen for an adventure, he involves himself in the dangerous club and with a mysterious woman. Sound funny? Well, it is. The principals are two of Hollywood's best in this type of off-beat story. Very enjoyable and entertaining film from MGM and runs a quick 75 minutes.