Rosalind Russell must have been tired of these films where she plays a career woman who doesn't need men, yet there is some slightly creepy guy who forces his way into her life, then she falls for him, or she marries someone out of convenience and ends up falling in love with him, or something like that. The Feminine Touch, Hired Wife, Take A Letter, Darling...the list goes on.
By this point, I'm guessing no one had quite noticed that they had bled poor Roz's typecasting dry...ah, well, better things (read: Auntie Mame) were around the corner.
Here, she's psychiatrist named Susan Lane, and *suprise* she doesn't need men. She meets Lee Bowman's character, a cartoonist and army man named Michael Kent, after he smashes a door in her face and knocks her down. He keeps following her, pretending they're married to get her a seat, sneaking into her office when she's working, getting chummy with her father and butler Albert, and eventually going so far as to marry her to him without her consent. Nice guy.
Of course, this being Hollywood, Roz does a complete 180 with twenty minutes left in the film and suddenly loves Lee Bowman, only for him to run away with one of her patients who has a hatred of men after a few unhappy coincidences(Adele Jergens), but don't worry, they get back together. On a train. How lovely (read: clichéd).
Rosalind Russell and Lee Bowman could have had great chemistry, as a couple of kisses in the film show, but unfortunately the script is so badly written that they're two hunks of oak. Roz does her usual, Bowman is written to be a creepy misogynistic stalker, Roz's father is written to be also very misogynistic. The butler should have been played by someone like Felix Bressart. Roz's secretary should have been played by someone like Zasu Pitts.
Griping aside, the set design and production values are very admirable, especially since this ain't an M-G-M production. LOVED the set for Roz's house, and the office. So much Art Deco 😻. Roz also gets a lot of nice gowns to wear, and for once she's given a flattering hairstyle and NO stupid hats. But I do like to watch for Roz's stupid hats, so that was slightly disappointing for me that there were no stupid hats. Ah, well, I'll just watch The Women again. 🙂
It's not the worst film you'll ever see from this era, but it's films like this that give the classics a bad name. There's more misogyny here than Woman Of The Year ever had, and that one's been catching flack recently. 😬
It's far from Roz's worst film, however. That would be Mourning Becomes Electra. Hands down.
Nor recommended, but I didn't hate it.
By this point, I'm guessing no one had quite noticed that they had bled poor Roz's typecasting dry...ah, well, better things (read: Auntie Mame) were around the corner.
Here, she's psychiatrist named Susan Lane, and *suprise* she doesn't need men. She meets Lee Bowman's character, a cartoonist and army man named Michael Kent, after he smashes a door in her face and knocks her down. He keeps following her, pretending they're married to get her a seat, sneaking into her office when she's working, getting chummy with her father and butler Albert, and eventually going so far as to marry her to him without her consent. Nice guy.
Of course, this being Hollywood, Roz does a complete 180 with twenty minutes left in the film and suddenly loves Lee Bowman, only for him to run away with one of her patients who has a hatred of men after a few unhappy coincidences(Adele Jergens), but don't worry, they get back together. On a train. How lovely (read: clichéd).
Rosalind Russell and Lee Bowman could have had great chemistry, as a couple of kisses in the film show, but unfortunately the script is so badly written that they're two hunks of oak. Roz does her usual, Bowman is written to be a creepy misogynistic stalker, Roz's father is written to be also very misogynistic. The butler should have been played by someone like Felix Bressart. Roz's secretary should have been played by someone like Zasu Pitts.
Griping aside, the set design and production values are very admirable, especially since this ain't an M-G-M production. LOVED the set for Roz's house, and the office. So much Art Deco 😻. Roz also gets a lot of nice gowns to wear, and for once she's given a flattering hairstyle and NO stupid hats. But I do like to watch for Roz's stupid hats, so that was slightly disappointing for me that there were no stupid hats. Ah, well, I'll just watch The Women again. 🙂
It's not the worst film you'll ever see from this era, but it's films like this that give the classics a bad name. There's more misogyny here than Woman Of The Year ever had, and that one's been catching flack recently. 😬
It's far from Roz's worst film, however. That would be Mourning Becomes Electra. Hands down.
Nor recommended, but I didn't hate it.