MovieChat Forums > You Can't Take It with You (1938) Discussion > Jean Arthur the epitome of 'wife materia...

Jean Arthur the epitome of 'wife material' in this movie

posted 16 years ago by orian
10 replies | jump to latest

Great actress. Beautiful. Intelligent. Great sense of humor. They just don't make them like her any more. These are sure to be the sentiments you'll get from watching Jean in this film.

[–] tmf_scipio 16 years ago

I most definitely agree with you there! Jean Arthur is the perfect woman. Love her voice.

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

[–] novastar_6 16 years ago

Amen to that. Why can't we get a woman of that character in movies today?

[–] maixiu 16 years ago

Hell, I'm more concerned why we can't get women of that character in the real world. How often do I watch a movie from the old days only to wonder who decided it would be a good idea for women to dress and talk the way they do today. I know it's a movie and so perhaps Jean Arthur's character is a little unrealistically perfect, but I doubt that her charm was as rare in the fair sex as it is today.

[–] rc1206 15 years ago

There's not many Jean Arthur movies where she isn't the epitome of wife material to be honest.

[–] justaudrey 14 years ago

Agreed. Sometimes it seems like we've lost that sort of charm and wit forever.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] RubyHypatia 12 years ago

What's wrong with the way we women talk and dress today? Women back then were stuck in rigid gender roles. Thank goodness for social progress.

[–] Errington_92 13 years ago

I concur , She certainly was a good looking woman along with being a great actress.

"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 13 years ago

One of the amazing things about Jean Arthur is that, although she plays a very young (early 20's...21,22?), and she looks the part, she was THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS OLD when this movie was released! I know today it's more common for people to hold up better as they get older (think of all the rock stars in their 60s), but it seems to me it wasn't so common back then. Also, we all know women are judged on a much harsher (more harsh?) scale than men. She's a marvel of nature. As Grandpa Vanderhof might have said, she should have been written up in all the medical journals as the wonder of the times! When I saw my first Jean Arthur film (A Foreign Affair - she was FORTY-EIGHT in that!) I was smitten, and started watching other of her films (Only Angels Have Wings, etc.), eventually finding You Can't Take It With You. I saw it not that long ago, and I really should be watching things I haven't seen yet in order to clear my TiVo, but it's on right now, and I can't stop watching. Love Jean Arthur and You Can't Take It With You to pieces!

"How do you feel?"
"Like the Kling-Klang King of the Rim-Ram Room!"

[–] trinity-destler 12 years ago

38?! Wow! I had no idea. She absolutely passed for the same age as Jimmy Stewart who was only thirty and looked younger himself!

"It's that kind of idiocy that I empathize with." ~David Bowie