tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067902550504189621.post5632972546035785806..comments2024-02-14T10:34:56.184+00:00Comments on Black and White: Cinema and Chocolate: Lucky Night (1939)Miguelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04531415630123832435noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067902550504189621.post-83011084060745350072010-08-30T10:16:48.791+01:002010-08-30T10:16:48.791+01:00I think there is certainly an element of that; but...I think there is certainly an element of that; but I think she also could do with a strong director and a good script (which most of her solo efforts are not). <br />I think she's wonderful in "Penthouse" and Warner Baxter is not in the same league as Powell, Montgomery or Melvyn Douglas (I don't like her films with Gable very much). There you had WS Van Dyke to guide her.Miguelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04531415630123832435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067902550504189621.post-77609252637906990652010-08-30T04:37:39.175+01:002010-08-30T04:37:39.175+01:00Myrna Loy may have been to actresses what Fred Mac...Myrna Loy may have been to actresses what Fred MacMurray was to actors -- someone who's at their most effective as a <i>complementary</i> star, not quite strong enough as a personality to take control. (That's not meant as a knock on either Myrna or Fred, as I adore the screen work of both.) But Loy was at her best playing off Powell, Gable or even Robert Montgomery, while MacMurray's qualities were best drawn out by being cast opposite Lombard, Stanwyck or Claudette Colbert.VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067902550504189621.post-83317804572643858342010-05-18T21:43:14.173+01:002010-05-18T21:43:14.173+01:00I agree entirely with what you said, except that I...I agree entirely with what you said, except that I loved "Third Finger, Left Hand". I didn't see "Man-Proof" or "Whipsaw" but the films she did with Gable have been disappointing. I too wonder how she could have done "Penthouse", "The Thin Man" and "Libeled Lady" and then a string of disappointing albeit highly successful films.Miguelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04531415630123832435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067902550504189621.post-20505674548334852712010-05-18T06:24:32.621+01:002010-05-18T06:24:32.621+01:00Ugh...I actually hate each of the MGM films in whi...Ugh...I actually hate each of the MGM films in which Myrna was the star or female lead (Man-Proof; this; Whipsaw; Third Finger, Left Hand) and even after reading her autobiography, I can't understand why she let the studio stick her in such crappy films. And even though I adore Myrna, she really needed the combination of a great script, a great co-star, and a great director--otherwise she tended to float through a movie, looking bored and haughty, and playing comedic scenes too heavily. <br /><br />Robert Taylor is an actor I've never been able to warm up to unless he was playing a villain (Undercurrent). He was pretty without the mustache, and handsome with it, but he had such a heavy, heavy touch with comedy, and couldn't inject enough pathos into his drama. <br /><br />As for the film, I have no idea what it was supposed to be about. Mainly, I felt the conflict between Myrna and Bob seemed better suited to one of those professional women/boss ladies that Barbara Stanwyck and Rosalind Russell (and to a lesser extent, Claudette Colbert) excelled at playing in the late 30s/early 40s, not a stay-at-home wife. And you're right, the plot did feel cobbled together: a runaway heiress mashed with a Ginger Rogers-esque working girl mashed with a downtrodden wife with an errant husband. Taylor's character was a huge flaw, because his free-spiritedness just looked foolish after marriage, and his philosophy was just so immature. I couldn't wait for this to end..Evangeline Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132593133675388609noreply@blogger.com