FRANK CAPRA
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB. USA, 1931. Columbia Pictures Corporation. Story by Harry Chandlee, Douglas W. Churchill, dialogue by Robert Riskin, adaptation by Jo Swerling, continuity by Dorothy Howell. Cinematography by Joseph Walker. Produced by Harry Cohn. Music by David Broekman. Production Design by Stephen Goosson. Costume Design by Edward Stevenson. Film Editing by Gene Milford.
Hilarious society comedy that features an excellent (and rare) performance by Robert Williams and showcases Jean Harlow at her very best. Williams plays a newspaper journalist who is assigned to cover the rich Schuyler family when they are involved in a scandal; while there he becomes enamoured of their gilded blonde daughter (Harlow) and eventually marries her. Mixing in with her society is no breeze, though, and Williams soon finds himself spending more time with his fellow reporter and best friend (a very early performance by Loretta Young) and fighting with his wife. Zippy dialogue and the kind of feel-good filmmaking you’ve come to love from director Frank Capra are in full bloom here.
