The Shopworn Angel (1938)

Pretty Good

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Shy young soldier James Stewart is picked on by his fellow soldiers for not being a ladies man. Jaded showgirl Margaret Sullavan agrees to help him out by pretending to be his girlfriend. He quickly falls in love with her for real but things are complicated by his having to ship out for the war and her already having a boyfriend (Walter Pidgeon).The second of four movies pairing Stewart and Sullavan. Their chemistry is remarkable as always. This one doesn't turn out how you might think and I can easily see many viewers being disappointed. It builds up towards one thing but shifts gears 3/4 of the way through and becomes something else. I still enjoyed it, though.

This movie is definitely a blast from the past. The way people reacted to war in the time of WWI is so much different from the way things are today. It seems like people cared so much more about soldiers then. I don't know any body who would want to get married now, go to war in Iraq or Afghanistan and leave a beautiful wife behind to "keep the home fires burning". Maybe in age of WWI, Americans were more unselfish. This movie is worth seeing if only to serve as a documentary of how times change. The plot is definitely far-fetched by today's standards.The love story here is more about the love of country instead of love between people. This thought provoking film is expertly carried by James Stewart and Walter Pidgeon. Margaret Sullavan's performance is less impressive because her character is not as believable to me.

James Stewart is an appealing bumpkin whose homespun attitudes appeal to jaded Margaret Sullavan in "The Shopworn Angel," which also stars Walter Pidgeon and Hattie McDaniel.Sullavan is a successful performer who is forced to give Stewart a ride when a policeman catches him trying to cross the street. Yeah, he's a private in training for World War I battle, and he's used to cattle but not cars back in Texas. He tells his army buddies that she's his girl, since he's never had one, and he appeals to her at the stage door of her show to play along for a few minutes. It goes from there, as she mothers him and is impressed by his ability to still have dreams. Meanwhile, her sophisticated boyfriend (Pidgeon) becomes jealous.This is a sappy story but manages to be appealing because of the stars. The ending is telegraphed. It's not the best example of the work of Stewart, Sullavan (alone and together), or Mankiewicz but worth seeing as it's one of Stewart's early leads.

After seeing Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart hit it off so well in The Shop Around The Corner (A film that is the ultimate in charm), I looked forward to seeing their early film together, The Shopworn Angel. This film was sort of a disappointment for me, even with James Stewart in it (One of my all-time favorite actors).James Stewart plays a WWI soldier who is sent to New York for basic training. After being nearly run over by well-known actress Daisy Heath (Margaret Sullivan), he asks Daisy to pretend to be his girl just to impress his friends at the camp, but then a real romance forms.I have one question for this film and that is, what romance? There was little to no chemistry between Stewart and Sullivan that I could see.Stewart fans, take warning. Watch with caution.