The Gay Bride (1934)

Thanks for the memories!

Don't Believe the Hype

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Gold-digging chorus girl (Carole Lombard) marries a dim-witted gangster (Nat Pendleton) for his money. His gangster cronies are jealous and scheme against him for a shot at Lombard. Kind of gross, right? Meanwhile, bodyguard Chester Morris has been protecting Carole and she starts to fall for him. Unbelievably, Chester is supposed to be honest and decent, despite working for gangsters. Weird.Carole's gorgeous and has fun banter with Chester Morris. Nice supporting cast including Zasu Pitts, Sam Hardy, and Leo Carrillo. Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson has an uncredited bit part. Funny gangster screwball comedy. Lombard's only movie for MGM and reportedly the movie she considered to be her worst. I can't see why. It wasn't her best but I thought it was fun.

Chester Morris is "Office Boy," a sort of assistant to Nat Pendleton's head gangster. Pendleton has the hots for chorus girl Carole Lombard and is eventually persuaded (not easily!) to marry her.The relationship between Office Boy and Lombard's Mary hovers between unfriendly and hostile for the majority of the picture, and is well summed up by the wedding gift with which Office Boy presents her: a chisel! Yes, Mary is strictly out for the money, and poor boy Morris—a loyal employee but nobody's fool—lets her know that he sees through her phony hysterics and overblown romantic antics. –Well, it's pretty obvious from this point that the situation, shall we say, is bound to develop.The plot isn't much. Lombard's character is unsympathetic, at times downright annoying. The supporting cast frustrates, too: Leo Carillo's Greek gangster butchers English pronunciation but is more irritating than funny or sinister, and Zasu Pitts is only given one good scene in what could have been an ideal role for her as Lombard's friend and confidante. Pendleton is energetic but dumber than you'd think a mob boss could possibly be.So when things really do start to pop, it's difficult to throw your sympathies, much less belief, behind what's happening. However, Carole Lombard successfully pulls it off: her early hamming is only a setup for her excellent late scenes in which her character's genuine warmth pushes aside the cold-hearted faker previously on display. We can almost believe that Morris's character would actually fall for her. Morris, by the way, is excellent throughout—a straight man among caricatures, he holds his own and is never overshadowed. It's kind of a silly movie, certainly uneven and not close to entirely successful in the way it veers back and forth between comedy and melodrama. But as a fan of both Lombard and Morris, I wouldn't want to miss it. Ultimately, neither star disappoints.

The movie was preposterous, but some fun. Lombard was her typical luminous self in a role that i could have seen Harlow and/or Monroe play in later years. To me, the most satisfying part of this mish mash was Chester Morris. He was so natural an actor and wondered why he never reach super stardom at that time. I seem to recall in his later years as "Boston Blackie", in a "B" series...what a wasted. BTW, Lombard made more than one movie with MGM...she made one with Clark Gable, her future husband. I guess she was a free lancer in those days..didn't get stuck with 7 year contracts as most actors did in those days, and regretted it.

Easy to see why Lombard was the highest paid actress in Hollywood at one time. Breathtakingly beautiful and with a wonderful sense of humor. That said, The Gay Bride is a fun movie but very much on the modest side. An amusing trifle about a heartless, gold-digging chorus girl bent on marrying one gangster after another, only to see them wiped out before she can get her hands on the cash. Chester Morris, a gangster's book-keeper, the one true love interest - whom of course she despises because he has no money. Amusing sparks struck between the two that provides the main thrust of the comedy. The great Zasu Pitts in a wisecracking supporting role. Not a great movie but a few good laughs - and a chance to see Lombard at her most luminous. Worth the time.