Libeled Lady

The opening scene, with the four main characters strolling arm in arm down the skreet, is Just Plain Bizarre...WIlliam Powell has the sardonic grin of a Psychopath leading his latest victims to the horror he has prepared for them...saw this, changed the channel, ain't looked back since then...Hee Haw reruns are better than this

WILLIAM POWELL, an angler who has to prove his finesse with fishing by joining MYRNA LOY and WALTER CATLETT for a fishing trip, is hilarious as he flounders around the stream running after a trout he has accidentally "hooked". It's this fishing scene that is the highlight of LIBELED LADY and provides some of the funniest sight gags as he belly flops several times in an effort to prove himself a fisherman. The rest of the comedy is strictly screwball material, with SPENCER TRACY as a newspaperman angling to rid his newspaper of a libel suit by MYRNA LOY by putting her in a compromising position with Powell. JEAN HARLOW is the desperate gal who wants a wedding ring on her finger from Tracy, but has to go along with a scheme that includes a fake marriage to Powell. She gets on the nerves after awhile. If this sounds familiar, it should. It was remade by MGM as EASY TO WED starring Esther Williams in the Myrna Loy role, with Van Johnson, Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn, given splashier looking Technicolored sets and some swimming routines from Esther. What hurts this version of the story is JEAN HARLOW, much too strident as Gladys and with those pencil thin brows that always gave her a cheap look in close-ups, and SPENCER TRACY, not ideal for a role that should have been played as light comedy. Apparently he refined his comedic technique several years after this film when he co-starred with Kate Hepburn. WALTER CATLETT is perfect as Loy's father and MYRNA LOY has never looked more fetching than she does here. Too bad her role is a bit underwritten, but her chemistry with Loy shines through despite this handicap. They play off each other beautifully. Well worth watching and hugely enjoyable just to watch WILLIAM POWELL go through his paces. His fine comic style has never been more evident.

We all have our biases concerning favorite actors and actresses. The more of I see of Myrna Loy and William Powell, the more they impress me, and Libeled Lady doesn't disappoint. However, I feel Spencer Tracy was miscast; I didn't find him very funny in this movie. And as for Jean Harlow, she was at times amusing, but after awhile her overacting got under my skin. I agree with one reviewer that at times she was behaving like a gangster's moll. However, her evolving relationship with Powell was a nice twist. The middle section where William Powell goes fishing was a refreshing change of pace, especially with the outdoor setting, though his ineptness was a bit over the top. I wonder if they derived some inspiration for the fishing sequences from Buster Keaton's 1923 short, The Balloonatic. For me, the scenes with Loy and Powell were by far the most satisfying. I doubt he has an equal in delivering witty lines oozing with biting sarcasm. I strongly disagree with many of the reviews rating this one of the greatest romantic comedies ever, even comparing it to My Man Godfrey. While that movie had one of the most satisfying endings I've ever seen (with Powell delivering a surprising, brutally honest, assessment of the family he's been working for), the ending to Libeled Lady is a dreadful contrived mess that attempts to dismiss rather difficult complications in noisy, albeit trivial, fashion (as if they had no idea how to end it). Nevertheless, it's well worth the watch to see William Powell in top form.

Excellent film that is hard to categorize accurately. It has elements of screwball comedy, but is not as furiously paced and/or dependent upon ridiculous set-ups as most screwball comedies. It is sophisticated comedy, yet doesn't have the "drawing room" feel that many sophisticated comedies of the 1930s have. This is partly due to several well-staged "outdoor" scenes, and the fact that the characters played by William Powell, Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow are lower middle-class rather than upper crust or cocktail-shaking types. In addition to his usual excellent delivery of witty lines, William Powell gives an agile physical performance that is a delight. He plops himself, attired in a suit, cross-legged onto a table, he stands on a chair in the hotel living room and practices fly casting, and he ends up belly flopping in a trout stream in one of the funniest scenes I have ever watched on film. Myrna Loy is enjoyable as the libeled lady of the title, although I wish she had been given more to do. My only quibbles with this film are the performances of Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy. Harlow has several good lines, but seems too rough and tough for the part she's playing. It's as if she's playing a gangster's moll, but this is not a gangster film. Tracy is heavy-footed and seems out of place in a comedy. Fortunately, Powell's performance is strong enough to carry the film, and he manages to lighten Harlow and Tracy's performances whenever they share a scene with him. Libeled Lady is enjoyable, funny and another success for William Powell.

LIBELLED LADY is a comedy about the world of newspapers and libel suits. Spencer Tracy is the editor of a leading New York newspaper, and he is about to marry his long-suffering girlfriend Jean Harlow (they have put off marriage several times in the past due to scoops Tracy had to pursue personally). This time it's not a scoop, but a serious blunder. The foreign gossip correspondent has submitted an item that got printed concerning Myrna Loy's antics in England, suggesting that she disgraced herself when drunk. This is bad enough, but the newspaper owner (Charles Goodwin) is horrified by this error. It seems Loy's father is multi-millionaire mover and shaker Walter Connolly, who had political ambitions that Goodwin and his newspaper thwarted twenty years earlier. Goodwin realizes that an angry, vindictive Connolly will very likely sue the newspaper for libeling his daughter, and win disastrously large damages. While Harlow shows up in her wedding gown, fuming at this new delay, Tracy figures he will have to bury his own feelings and approach one time rival and foe William Powell to help him here. Powell is very clever at manipulating situations to get rid of troublesome problems (i.e.: he can possibly figure out a way of neutralizing the advantage Connolly and Loy have in the original libel article). Powell does come up with a scheme. If he can ingratiate himself with Connolly and Loy, he might be able to create a compromising situation regarding Loy that if revealed will make the libel story appear to be true. Tracy agrees to this plan, even though it requires Powell to marry Harlow, so that Loy (when she falls for Powell) can be made to appear a home wrecker. Harlow (at first) is not too thrilled about this, as she and Powell don't get along. What follows is a series of delays that prevent the rapid evolution of the plot and it's proper springing on the unsuspecting Connolly and Loy. First it is harder to get Connolly away from his regular business interests to take an interest in Loy's new acquaintance Powell. But Powell finds the key when he learns that Connolly is one of the best trout fisherman in the United States. However, Powell himself has never bothered about fishing - we see him cramming from various books to learn the difference between fly fishing and other types. Then we see him practicing casting a fishing line with the assistance of E.E. Clive in the hotel rooms he shares with Harlow. He manages to snare Harlow while doing so (again much to her anger). Invited to go to Connolly's favorite fishing spot, to try to catch the elusive "old wall eye", Powell manages to just miss drowning himself in the river, and does catch the fish the hard way - with his clothing. But it impresses Connolly and Loy. The scheme is seemingly working, but three new wrinkles develop. Powell finds he is falling for Loy. Harlow is slowly finding the gentleman Powell is a nicer role model for a husband than the belligerent Tracy, and is now falling for Powell. Tracy (who barely tolerates Powell) is discovering that Harlow is less interested in him than she was before, and more interested in Powell - so Tracy is now jealous of Powell. I will only add that the comedy ends with four people arguing it out in a hotel suite. Very fine comedy.

A newspaper publishes a false and damaging story about heiress Myrna Loy. She sues for 5 million. Editor Spencer Tracy leaves bride Jean Harlow at the alter to handle the situation. Tracy hires William Powell to handle it--they decide to marry him to Harlow, have him romance and seduce Loy and bust in when they're in a compromising position. Naturally, everything goes wrong. Classic comedy--and rightfully so. It's very funny with some hysterical lines, BUT it falls just a bit short of being a true classic for me for a few reasons. I found Loy's character very annoying and she herself seemed uneasy in the role. I love Harlow but her constant screaming here got on my nerves--she's more than a bit shrill. And I found Powell's trying to fish very unfunny and the movie got too clever (and complicated) at the end. But these are minor complaints and easily overlooked. Powell and Tracy are both in peak form and the film moves like quicksilver. If one line doesn't work, don't worry--they'll be another one in a few seconds. This and "Bringing Up Baby" are two true screwball classics. Worth catching. One of the many great lines: "She may be his wife but she's engaged to me!"

One might wonder about casting 4 heavyweights in the same film-- any one of the leads could carry a film by themselves-- but all together you're afraid that they might either weigh down the film or, ala the "Dream Team" 1990, fail to live up to expectations. But this is one time you time you will not be disappointed-- with hysterical antics by Jean Harlowe, the always dependable repartee between classy Myrna Lowe and suave William Powell, and Spencer Tracy proving for the first time that he can handle snappy dialogue like the best of 'em-- the chemistry between the cast makes every scene in this film a delight. The banter flies so fast you'll miss it-- this is the height of screwball comedy. When people say they don't write them like this anymore, alas, they really don't.

After I got my head around the slightly complicated plot of classic romantic comedy Libeled Lady (which stars some of the most famous and talented actors of all time), I found myself very much enjoying this tremendous screwball comedy – perhaps the best of all time. It is surprisingly up-beat, witty and funny… however, it is not-so-surprisingly classy, sophisticated, charming and glamorous (what else could you expect with Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy!?). Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) is chief editor of the New York Evening Star, which has a notorious past of making celebrities very, very angry! One of those celebrities – one they have picked on for a long time – is heiress Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy, cute as a button!), and she is seriously not happy. The New York Evening Star accidentally published a fake story about her, claiming her to be a marriage-breaker. She's hitting back hard with a $5 million dollar lawsuit. However, the canny Haggerty has a plan up his sleeve… he will get his fiancé Gladys (Jean Harlow, who has been waiting for years to get married, but Haggerty is always needed at work on the Big Day!) to marry Bill Chandler (William Powell) – a smart, suave chap with a Lady Killer past. After the unconsummated nuptials, Bill has to meet Connie Allenbury, work his charms on her and get someone to find them in a compromising position! The claims will be proved, the lawsuit would be dropped and Haggerty would have a load off his mind… but things don't happen so easy! Yes, it's slightly complex, but it's oh so rewarding! There's lots of couple-matching, switching so you have to be on the ball! Watching Powell, Loy, Tracy and Harlow is pure cinematic magic – they bring such energy to the screen! As this is the 1930s, expect lots of classic, glorious, glamorous dresses from the gals, and lots of sophisticated suits from the guys! I could watch it for the fashion alone. This exceptional screwball comedy is not to be missed – it's a very witty picture that certainly keeps you on your toes – you don't know how it's going to work out!

This MGM goodie has Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy, both strong characters who know exactly what they want to get from Spencer Tracy and William Powell ... all four principals in the cast are excellent, especially Harlow and Powell (any scene connected with fishing is funny, especially Powell's attempt to land the great trout). Walter Connolly is also good value as Loy's father. 'Libeled Lady' is fast-paced, with lots of good moments concerning the plot around a newspaper - a would-be marriage - an heiress - a boat - and some great over-the-top scenes. Highly recommended!

This movie wasn't as entertaining as I expected it to be, considering it's been touted as one of the 30s best examples of screwball comedy. The problem is not with the direction, which is competent enough, and certainly not with the performers. William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow. How could they go wrong? They fit perfectly into their diverse niches. No, it's the screenplay that is lacking. It prances along, accompanied by chipper music, but the dialog does not scintillate, neither do the awkward situations provoke laughs. William Powell is trying to seduce high-maintenance Myrna Loy and to succeed he must get close to her father by pretending to be an expert fisherman, and fishing is a topic he knows nothing about. Howard Hawks did it at least as well in "Man's Favorite Sport," one of Hawks' lesser efforts. Well, "Libeled Lady" has its reputation, and maybe at the time I was suffering from another attack of agenbite of inwit, a diagnosis my psychiatrist has foisted on me, along with those curious pills that do nothing for the disease except make you not mind having it. Maybe you'll get more out of it.