I know Jean Harlow gets all the publicity, but for me, she does not hold a candle to Myrna Loy. Watching this film for the first time, just solidify's that for me. She was funny, beautiful, and did I say beautiful?
shareMyrna Loy was beautiful but i think Jean Harlow was more funnier and more Beautiful! she was super sexy actully :)
shareI don't think Jean Harlow can hold a candle to Myrna Loy either.
shareDid we watch the same movie? I am a fan of Myrna Loy's - she's definately in my top 20 or 25 list of actresses - but her role of Connie is one of the snottiest roles she ever played, it was hard to have any sympathy for her until the very end. Even William Powell's character got tired her at one point and told her off!!
shareI agree 100% with HarlowMGM. I like Loy very much, but this was one of her snootiest roles. Why Powell goes for her instead of the true and honest dame he had in Harlow, it's baffling. Loy was the refined ice queen in this film, while Jean was the firecracker.
Off the set, suffice to say that Low was in awe of Jean's beauty saying, "My God I have never seen such beautiful skin in my life." This from Myrna Loy who was breathtakingly beautiful in her own right.
"Any girl can look glamorous. Stand still and look stupid."
--Hedy Lamarr
Did we watch the same movie? I am a fan of Myrna Loy's - she's definately in my top 20 or 25 list of actresses - but her role of Connie is one of the snottiest roles she ever played, it was hard to have any sympathy for her until the very end.
Who cares? He's a cheeseburger.share
I realize this was posted 2 years ago, but how can you say that? The papers were hounding her and her father. She was suspicious of Powell from the start (and rightly so!) She was looking out for her dear old dad throughout most of the movie until she fell for Powell, and even when she found out he was married she didn't flip out and get all bitchy. The woman was pure class (as always) .Hey, you replied to me after two years the least I could do is wait two years to reply to you - actually, just saw your post for the first time today. I agree the newspapers were "hounding" her but it's also clear the character really was a judgemental, spoiled little rich girl who was not particularly a warm person. She's not the "b" word but she's not definitely not a gracious and friendly person either, that's what that whole confrontation scene with Powell was about - she finally realizes she herself has more than a few peccadillos and from that point she starts to change. share
I agree the newspapers were "hounding" her but it's also clear the character really was a judgemental, spoiled little rich girl who was not particularly a warm person. She's not the "b" word but she's not definitely not a gracious and friendly person either, that's what that whole confrontation scene with Powell was about - she finally realizes she herself has more than a few peccadillos and from that point she starts to change.
Don't try to cash in love, that check will always bounce.share
I would also like to add that not only was Connie Allenbury guarded because of the newspapers, but also she thought Bill Chandler was just "another fortune hunter."
She mentioned in the scene after she and Bill come back from swimming the "last young man" she and her father were involved with tried to "sell" them a silver mine. Feeling protective of her father, she tried anything to get ride of him, only she fell for him when she realized she met her match.
I think the reason she dropped the lawsuit is because Bill showed her that while she did have reasons to be guarded (publicity, fortune hunters), she shouldn't let them bring out the worst in her and lash back by trying to ruin the paper.
This is what I love about this movie- not only the great wit and comedy, but also because of the great characters moments and developments they managed to fit for all four characters along with the screwball plot.
Myrna Loy was remarkable. She started young and, unlike many female stars, was not afraid to age. She was an oriental siren in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), then the perfect wife in The Thin Man (1934), mother in Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) and grandmother in From the Terrace (1960).
shareThey were BOTH great. That's the thing about the Hollywood stars back then, no 2 were alike.
shareThat is so true and why I enjoy old movies so much. Everyone was unique in looks and personality back then. Male and female alike. Myrna Loy is a particular favorite of mine.
Today so many of the young actors all look and sound alike. They're interchangeable and mostly boring.
I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.
<i>They're interchangeable and mostly boring.</i>
I agree! It's like Hollywood drew up a template and told the studios "Get this one!"
They were both great in this movie. I was really impressed with the acting and personality of Jean Harlow. Now I see why she remains famous! Very sexy.
But Myrna Loy was absolutely gorgeous. I'm going to add her to my list of top five beautiful actresses. Hedy Lamarr is still number 1.
- henry
I was about to argue with you that the ones who become really successful are different from the others, but then I realized that the actresses I was thinking of (Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon) are NOT among the young crop. I don't think I could name a single movie actress under the age of 30, and they do, indeed, look so interchangeable that there really isn't any reason to remember them. The problem is often what Hollywood thinks people want to see, and what we really want to see.
shareA certain young actress from a vampire themed movies series is thought to be out of the "interchangable" circulation, however she is very bland, twitchy, has a bad attitude, and is more overrated for her limited talent than she is underrated for a complete lack of it.
I'll give this to her, she is different" but for all the reasons different from Loy, Harlow, and the like.
And classy, don't forget classy. Hollywood used to have a lot of classy stars but seems to be full of trash these days.
shareI've always loved Myrna Loy. Seems to be the type of woman you would love to live your life with: sexy, intelligent, funny, classy, clever, etc
I was never much of a Harlow fan although consider it quite the tragedy that she died so young.
I completely agree that Myrna's character was neither spoiled nor a bitch. She was protective of her father. William Powell's character WAS out to set up Myrna's character, and she got the best of him. THAT's why he told her off, because she evaded his trap, and he wanted to insult her, so he mentioned the lawsuit.
The script was clever though, because that scene delivered on a bunch of levels. It showed that Powell's character's pride was hurt because Myrna's character was smarter than his. BUT, he shows some of his cards when he lets her know he knows about the lawsuit. If he were still purely conning her, he wouldn't have said it. That part shows that she's getting under his skin because he likes her. Later, when they're out on the lake, she apologizes to him for her suspicions, but he feels guilty and tells her to keep being suspicious of every character who comes along.
All we have here in the first part of the movie is a very confident William Powell who believes he can get any woman he wants. He demands $50,000 from Spencer Tracy's character because he is confident he can set up Connie so the press will believe she's having an affair with a married man, and her lawsuit will be tossed out. Connie has done NOTHING wrong. All she's done is file a lawsuit against a press that maligns her, and it's also clear Spencer Tracy's newspaper was 100% guilty. They'd gotten the wrong girl.
I refuse to consider Myrna Loy's character a bitch simply because she was smarter and wittier than Powell's character after the beginning, after all of Powell's bragging. And simply because she didn't let herself be tricked by him.
Yes, and she looks drop dead beautiful in this movie.