Man-Proof

I am a big fan of Myrna's and what is thought would be a nice frothy comedy turned into the perverbial pumpkin this movie could have been funny the components were there but what happened was a train wreck first myrna getting thrown over for rosaline russell's character...what i thought..myrna dreaming of walter pidgeon...what...the obvious choice in franchot tone but he was what...the only good points where laughing at rosaline's wedding headpiece and the banter when myrna and franchot picking up the hitchhiker...myrna looked radiant as usual and that gives the movie a 10 for me but the rest was a -7 for poor direction poor rationale and just wasting talent.

This is a typical love triangle movie with Myrna Loy, Rosalind Russell and Walter Pidgeon, with Franchot Tone at the odd man out. It's hard to know which is worse, the acting, the plot or the dialog. The outcome is fairly predictable, given the time period when this movie was made. As far as the acting goes, Ms. Loy is thoroughly unlikeable, Mr. Pidgeon stiff and Mr. Tone an insipid hanger-on. Ms. Russell comes off the best of the lot, thought her final scene when she is magnanimously prepared to give up her husband is unconvincing and without the necessary character motivation. Motivation is also lacking in the apparent coupling of Myrna Loy and Franchot Tone, when the prior attraction seemed to be all one-sided. The best acting by far is by the little known Nana Bryant, who plays Loy's mother.

This MGM film features the talents of four of their stars, Myrna Loy, Franchot Tone, Rosalind Russell and Walter Pidgeon. Man-Proof is a rather silly story of a girl in love with love and a guy whom there's a lot less to than meets the eye. Loy is the daughter of mystery writer Nana Bryant who is engaged to Walter Pidgeon. At the4 last moment Pidgeon jilts Loy and runs off and marries rich Rosalind Russell. Fortunately Loy has newspaper reporter Franchot Tone with a good shoulder to cry on as a friend. If you can't tell where this one is going you haven't seen too many 30s movies. The stars spend a lot of time mouthing a lot of claptrap. Highlight of the film is a scene with Pidgeon in a state of inebriation. But believe me it isn't enough. A waste of four fine talents. Well at least Tone stayed out of formal wear.

This movie with Myrna Loy, Franchot Tone, Walter Pidgeon and Rosalind Russell is one of my VERY Favorite movies of all time! I watch it whenever I get a chance! This is a movie you have to watch more than once to get the gist of what is really going on! I love Myrna Loy in this role! I also love her Mom, not to mention Franchot Tone! I think some of the people who reviewed this movie, did not get it! Thanks for the chance to give my view! I rate it 10+ !! So many of us on here just want to know exactly when is this movie going to be added to DVD so we can purchase it? I will be the first one in line!

Okay, so maybe it's really uneven, but there are wonderful moments -- like Myrna Loy's drunk scene, and many of the scenes between Loy and Franchot Tone, especially the "Why didn't we name them Nip and Tuck?" scene in the car. The premise could be promising, but a lot of the dialogue is stilted and silly. However, Myrna insisting that they had oars all the time is great.

I should confess up front that Myrna Loy buys the first 6 points just for showing up. That said, I think this movie has been underrated. It's a bit uneven and has some weak moments - self conscious and over wrought, or at least over written. But all in all, there's a lot to like. Myrna Loy, for one. Wait. I said that already. There are two really interesting characters - Loy's and Pigeon's. Russell and Tone are fine, but one dimensional. Meg, Loy's mother, is quite good, if expected. And despite Tone's obvious love for Loy throughout, there's no compelling chemistry between them even at the end when they're supposed to be obviously in love. But the overall package is well worth it.

Mimi (Myrna Loy) is not taking the marriage of ex, Allen Wythe (Walter Pidgeon), lying down. Even with a Mrs. Wythe (Rosalind Russell) in the picture she is determined to get him back. When she makes her move on Allen it turns out easier than she expected but much more difficult in other ways. Aside from Mimi's husband stealing focus the cast of Man Proof remains on good behavior most of the time as they restrain themselves and the picture from going comically screwball. Loy who wonderfully underplays a drunk scene sobers up long enough to maturely assess her actions while Russell shows similar restraint at Loy's audacity. Meanwhile cad Pidgeon sees no problem with doing Mimi on the side. With adults behaving like adults Man-Proof is void of zaniness most of the way. Loy, Russell, Pidgeon and Franchot Tone as a graphic artist enamored with Mimi give sound performances but the overall production seems void of a rich sense of humor and Man-Proof is laugh proof more than it should be.

It starts out as a bubbly comedy and quickly sinks into "women's picture" banality, with Loy inexplicably pining over stolid Walter P., who is marrying Rosalind Russell (her la-di-dah accent is intolerable), while Franchot Tone is making drunken quips on the sidelines. The tone is all over the place, now breezy, now soap-opera, and poor Myrna Loy looks miserable throughout -- she must have known how negligible this script is. The characters' alliances shift scene by scene, without explanation, and the happy-ending fadeout wouldn't convince a five-year-old. The four leads are pros and almost always interesting to watch, but this one is so MGM-fake and dramatically underpowered that it plays like a prehistoric episode of "One Life to Live."

Based on the casting that included Myra Loy and Rosalind Russell, I decided to watch this movie. Some reviews are unkind so I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it as much as I did. And I watch a lot of the thirties and forties movies. My impressions... It evolved from a comedy into a more serious theme of troubled relationships. Uneven but still interesting. I had to check out the date of the movie to verify that it was not pre-code film because the storyline became more 'adult' as it moved along, until the ending. I enjoyed Franchot Tone, who I was not that familiar with. Definitely want to see him in some other films. Some call the dialog stilted but I found myself listening closely to it because there was a lot of thought in the words spoken. Bottom line - there are mixed reviews but I found this film to be well worth the time spent.