Clark Gable (1901–1960)

A Cosmopolitan Magazine story by Faith Baldwin was purchased by MGM and fashioned for a great trio of big stars by Norman Krasna, John Lee Mahin, and Alice Duer Miller. Director Clarence Brown was given all the gloss and star power that could be finagled at the time. The results were warm and romantic, a fun film with a message urging viewers to just believe in someone and enjoy love, adding depth to what could have been just enjoyable fluff.

V.S. (Clark Gable) and Linda (Myrna Loy) are a couple happily and playfully in love, enjoying to the full all the wonderful pleasures of being married and truly in love. Loy is magnificent here, and so adorable that you get a real sense of how special she was as a star and actress. This role and his torn in Comrade X are perhaps Gable’s two most likable characters, and performances. He’s fun to watch, and so is Loy, their playful joy as a couple making the film bright, as if someone threw a big dose of sunshine at the screen.

Equally warm and fun is Van’s relationship with his wonderful secretary, Whitey Wilson (Jean Harlow). She’s smart and spectacular, and she’s his right arm. It is this close relationship Linda’s mother-in-law (May Robson) worries about, planting seeds of doubt in a garden hitherto barren of weeds. When V.S. must keep secret a sweet deal to take over a magazine, and spending time with Whitey in exotic Havana, those newly planted weeds take root. Whitey has her own problems, however, her beau Dave (James Stewart) pressuring her to quit the job which gives her a sense of self-worth.

Harlow gets to be the real Harlow here — a nice girl who just happens to be a knockout; a character much closer to her own personality than others she played on-screen. Humor and warmth blend with romance in this enjoyable film. The absence of a “bad girl” within the triangle is actually refreshing. Jean Harlow is a good girl here, and it fits her like a glove.

A rare and wonderful tone and a gorgeous cast all make this story a pleasure to watch. A must-see classic for fans of any or all of these stars. Great fun.… (meer)