Nothing Sacred

Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie....pretty medicore transfer
Review: This is one of the 15 all-time greatest screwball comedies of the 1930's...and the only one that was in Technicolor. Problem is that Selnick sold the rights to it (it's in the public domain) sometime in the 1940's and it's very hard to find a decent of print of this (despite the fact that The Museum Of Modern Art completely resotred the movie to it's original Technicolor splendor...but they stupidly won't release it on VHS or DVD to the public...) Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Walter Connolly, and Charles Winninger have never been better. Absolutely first rate film directed by William Wellman and screenplay by Ben Hecht. Worth buying, despite the medicore quality (and occasional blurriness).

Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: This tightly directed screwball masterpiece is a joy. Fredric March's gloomy manner is perfectly offset by Carole Lombard's wackyness. The color is lush, lending a bright quality to the film. This is a very short movie, but it packs in a lot, from fake suicides to newspaper hoaxes. Enjoy this fast, funny film.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing Sacred (1937)
Review: Title: Nothing Sacred
Released: 1937
Running Time: 77 minutes
Directed by: William Wellman
Starring: Carole Lombard as Hazel Flagg
Fredric March as Wallace Cook
Walter Connolly as Oliver Stone
Charles Winninger as Dr. Enoch Downer

Lombard shines in early technicolor comedy about young woman from small town of Warsaw, Vermont who is diagnosed with fatal radium poisoning by lush, Winninger. Meanwhile "New York Morning Star" reporter March, who has been relegated to editing the paper's obituaries after leading the paper into an embarassing scandal, hits upon the idea of bringing Lombard to New York city and reporting on her final days in order to increase paper sales and get back into the good graces of his boss, Connolly.
Unbeknownst to March, Lombard has been misdiagnosed and is in no danger of an imminent death. However, she is yearning to get away from Warsaw and see New York city, therefore when approached by March she accepts his invitation without letting him in on the fact that she is no longer "sick". She also insists that Winninger be allowed to accompany her. The doctor accepts (he has held a long grudge against March's paper and sees an opportunity to get bach at the publication) and together the trio fly to the Big Apple where Lombard is wined and dined to the delight of a sickenly aroused public.
Eventually March falls for Lombard, who struggles with her concience to tell the truth about her health.
This movie is a Selznick production which was helmed by Wellman, who was best known for his war films. The quality of the DVD transfer that I viewed (from Alpha Video) was good. The color was somewhat faded in parts, but overall it was very watchable (alas there are no extras). This movie has been called one of the greatest "screwball" comedies. I thought it was more of a "black" comedy than screwball. There were some funny moments (March being attacked by the little boy being the highlight), but overall most of the comedy was cynical, and thus more restrained. There is little comparison between this film and Lombard's screwball gem "Twentieth Century", but this is still an entertaining movie. It is very politically incorrect by today's standards and thus has a slightly dated feel to it. The roles of the African Americans in the movie (including a cameo appearance by Hattie McDaniel) are particularly dated, as is the bedroom "fight" scene between Lombard and March.
The pluses to this film are the strong supporting cast (including Margaret Hamilton as a drug store owner) and the New York locales, especially the contemporary aerial views of the skyline as the trio fly into the city. The caricatures of the cast during the opening credits are also a neat touch. This good priced DVD is definitely worth a look by those who enjoy movies from this era, as well as those who wish to see Lombard in her prime before her untimely death in a 1942 plane crash during a war bond tour.