MovieChat Forums > Double Wedding (1937) Discussion > The ending saved this movie!

The ending saved this movie!


I love Powell/Loy films. But this one was one of their weakest ones (The Great Ziegfeld is another). With that said, I loved how the last 10 minutes really livened the film up. It reminded me of a Preston Sturges film where everyone and everything goes berserk. It had me cracking up all the way till the end. Initially I was going to rate it a 6/10 but the ending made me give it an extra point. A 7/10!




"Let us be crooked, but never common."

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I agree somewhat. I was going to rate this a 6 out if 10 because I was in Powell/Loy overload (24 hours of William Powell movies). That would have been unfair too, because Powell was at his funniest in some scenes. So hopefully, I would change my rating to 7. But the ending was fabulous, and I gave it an 8.

If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world

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It's a weird little movie, but I enjoy watching the Powell Loy chemistry work around the script. For example, it just highlights how wonderfully Powell always treats Loy on camera. Even his body language when they're arguing, or when she's insulting him. It's EXTRA considerate and sweet. He even throws her out of the trailer with the utmost gentleness and care.

Otherwise it's also a strange little performance from him. In some scenes, such as when he's teaching Waldo how to be a conventionally alpha male, he's the familiar Bill Powell. In other scenes, such as when he's in the trailer with Margit, telling her the things he's pawned so he can pay his way to Hollywood, or when he's on the phone with his ex-wife "Remember? Remember?" he gets very arch, and his voice is very high, and his nervousness is sometimes exaggerated past what we're accustomed to from him. Those two personas don't fit together. The very confident, alpha artist male, and then there's this sort of weird, nervous, very high-pitched guy who is the furthest thing from an alpha male.

There are things I really dislike about the movie, such as the ending. And I HATE the recurring line about "Don't call me an ape!" and I can't stand that actor either. But Loy looks absolutely beautiful in it, and there are subtle things going on that are fun to catch because they happen between the lines.

Beal gets more attention on these boards, but I really enjoyed Florence Rice (Irene).

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That monologue on the phone with his ex-wife was one of the funniest parts of the movie, IMO. It is funny right off the bat when he says he was just thinking about her. Because he saw a picture of a tiger. Then the snake story. Then the punchline to the snake story - it was so perfect...

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