Love Crazy (1941)

How sad is this?

An Exercise In Nonsense

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Stephen Ireland (William Powell) has been deliriously happy with his wife, Susan (Myrna Loy), for four years, but a series of misunderstandings begin on their fourth anniversary, involving a stalled elevator, Steve's old flame (who has just moved in downstairs) and a forgotten taxi cab. They end with Susan leaving Steve and taking up with the neighboring apartment dweller (Jack Carson), an expert archer who works best in his undershirt. Susan's mother (Florence Bates) is thrilled with this new choice, but Steve is out to win back his wife despite all obstacles. He pretends to be mad in order to delay the divorce, but winds up in an insane asylum. He escapes but is forced to dress as a woman and pretend to be his own sister in order to evade the police and win back his wife.This delightful screwball comedy is solid and laugh-filled enough to please anyone, but hasn't got quite enough zest to rank with the best in the genre. Powell and Loy together guarantee good entertainment. And if they aren't enough this film is bursting at the seams with familiar character actors.By the way, you know that thing people do when they mimic insanity, the thing that provides a running gag in this film? It involves running one's index finger up and down over one's lips to make a noise that sounds like "beedeebeedeebeedeebee." A friend of mine has coined a term for this bit of business: the "lip flubby." We need a term for this thing, so please help spread it.

Employing sets, costumes and several players from THE THIN MAN series, LOVE CRAZY is a comic trifle that allows William Powell to get crazy and mug for the camera as a man about to lose his wife (Myrna Loy) through a misunderstanding involving an old flame (Gail Patrick). The movie is funny for the first half, then drags in the second as Powell goes on the run from the cops after pretending to be nuts. One of the problems with LOVE CRAZY is that stretches of the film involve Powell without Loy, and they just don't work. Without Loy, Powell just looks like a jackass. Jack Carson plays a clueless neighbor smitten with Loy, and does his best with this small role. Watch LOVE CRAZY for its historical value. It's no THIN MAN, however.

Myrna Loy and William Powell were truly one of the greatest film couples ever. Sensible chic Myrna and goofy elegant Bill--how they paired well in many of their comedies! "Love Crazy" is the vein of "Double Wedding," "I Love You Again," "Libeled Lady," and maybe a touch of the Thin Man series. One can rely on their on-screen chemistry together in this movie. You know they're bound to make up after he's made an utter fool of himself. In a dress, no less! There are, of course, slow and arguably overly silly scenes in the film (the elevator, perhaps?). But this movie is worth it. If you like it, make sure to watch the other movies I mentioned above.

Powell and Loy were a hugely popular romantic comedy team, most notably in the "The Thin Man" series of films. They complimented each other nicely and established a rapport and a synchronization in their timing which served them very well through many movies. This one has several funny moments and amusing set pieces, but, unfortunately, doesn't quite hang together well enough to be considered a classic. They play a married couple about to celebrate their fourth anniversary when a chain of seemingly minor events escalates into a trip to Divorce Court! Loy's domineering and intrusive mother causes some of the problems and Powell's ex-girlfriend Patrick adds fuel to the fire. Once separated, Powell will stop at nothing to prevent the divorce, even if it means having himself declared insane so that the marriage will have to last another five years! Plenty of slapstick and shenanigans follow as Powell tries to win back Loy while Carson pursues her all the while himself. Powell embarks on more than a few zany pratfalls here, getting his head stuck in elevator doors, slipping on rugs, falling naked into the middle of a cocktail party (off screen) and, most famously, dressing as a woman to evade the folks from "the home". He injects the role with his usual flair and enthusiasm. Loy is radiant. She is allowed to toss out a few understated zingers and wear several drop dead gowns (no costumer is credited, however), but mostly has to play it straight as she alternately wards off and protects Powell. Her inimitable looks and demeanor go a long way in helping this film stay interesting. Patrick plays a very secure man-eater (she's hardly fazed at all when an elevator breaks down and simply climbs out the roof without so much as a furrowed brow!) She has a harder look than Loy, but is attractive and appealing in her own right. Carson does a fine job as a brawny, but sometimes bumbling, neighbor who gets caught up in the action. He and Loy have an amusing scene involving mistaken identity. It would be hard to find a more agonizingly exasperating mother-in-law than the one Bates brings to the film. Hitchcock fans will recall her turn in "Rebecca" as Joan Fontaine's impossible employer. Here, she insinuates herself into things and stirs up trouble at nearly every opportunity. There's a lot going on, and much of it is charming and amusing, but it also becomes rather tedious and tiresome after a while to see people fretting and floundering over something that ought to have been cleared up with one or two sentences. Also, certain sequences play very lengthily today, their comic potential mined far beyond what is there. Still, it's a charming, at times sumptuous, time-killer with the wonderful pair that made much cinema magic together in Hollywood's golden age. Powell, famously, shaved off his trademark moustache for the cross-dressing sequence of this film, but never appears as a man without it.