The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)

Sadly Over-hyped

Fresh and Exciting

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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.

Jean Arthur imbues her movies with so much grace and inner-sparkle that her performances usually save the day, no matter what the picture. Curiously, both she and William Powell are stuck here in a second-string screwball outing, one with a flimsy plot about the investigation into the death of a jockey. Arthur (photographed in gauzy, movie-magazine fashion) either wants alimony from ex-husband Powell or another shot at marriage, but one never feels for her because the character isn't conceived as person--she's just a string of wisecracks. This is the type of 1930s heroine prone to comical inquisitiveness, yet once inside a morgue she does what all women are supposed to do--she faints. Powell reportedly had a high time working with Miss Arthur, but you'd never know it from these results. The two stars look awkward next to each other, hesitant over their banter. The actor playing Powell's valet is excruciating, and the pauses for the expected laughs are pregnant with unease. *1/2 from ****

I've pretty much enjoyed William Powell in all his films, and I can say the same for Jean Arthur (well, except for "A Foreign Affair"). So I sat down to enjoy this film. And it wasn't bad, but I kept thinking how much better it would have been with Myrna Loy as another in the Thin Man series. Powell was very good here. So was Arthur. But together they were not what Powell and Loy were.But that isn't even my biggest complaint about this film. This is one of those films where a coincidence with clues happens just a little too often, and, that always bothers me with a mystery.Nevertheless, if you wade through the first two-thirds of the film, the last third -- when the pieces of the murder puzzle began to fall into place -- it gets more interesting. However, the very final scene is dopey.If you're a fan of old movies, you'll recognize quite a few of the faces here, though you probably won't remember their names...except for James Gleason, who always seems best as a plain clothes policeman.This not a bad movie, but also not one you're likely to obtain for your DVD shelf. But, it's worth watching...once.

An OK mystery, but I don't get some of the rave reviews here. Were we all watching the same film? Anyone who was paying attention had the murder method figured 15 minutes before Powell catches on. Gathering all the suspects in one room is another weak ploy by writers not nearly as clever as The Thin Man crew (after all, Powell has already seen the film of the killer, already has the evidence, and already knows whodunnit, so what's the point?). You can see most of the laughs coming long before they happen, very few are actually funny, and the rest don't make any sense. Give it a 6 for effort, especially since there are so many good performances from most, though not all, of the crew. Powell is much better than the material. Arthur just seems unable to work with lame jokes and comic devices that keep falling flat (can you blame her?). The problem is a weak, contrived script. Did the writers really think we wouldn't guess who walked off with the gelatin on Powell's scalpel? Gimme a break. Ignore the humor and you have at least a decent mystery. As for the laughs alone, I give it a 2. I understand this was one of RKO's biggest hits in 1936. Must have been the big names that brought the crowds in. Frankly, I would have asked for a refund.

William Powell and Jean Arthur star in this mystery caper/screwball comedy that is very much in the vein of star Powell's 'Thin Man' series.The interesting, if convoluted, plot involves a jockey who has died mid-race. Bickering husband-and-wife team Powell, a doctor, and Arthur, a mystery writer, do some investigative work to find what killed the jockey, and who is the killer. Powell and Arthur look good together and play off each other quite well, yet do not quite generate that indescribable electricity that made Powell and Myrna Loy such a great team in the 'Thin Man' series. I am sure that if this combination had been a success, more 'Bradford' movies would have been produced by RKO or perhaps snapped up by another studio. However, this film is a failure, yet a good failure regardless.The script has some sharp lines, yet ultimately lacks Dashiell Hammett's creative wit and sardonic humor. Powell, ever the consummate performer, holds the film together. Arthur seems a little bit off her best form in this one.Overall, an entertaining film that is not quite the classic it could have been.