A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941)

The Age of Commercialism

Thanks for the memories!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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

When working class secretary Lucille Ball encounters wealthy Edmund O'Brien at the opera, sparks fly, and so does a purse. Ball's family have somehow ended up with O'Brien's usual opera box tickets and both parties create a huge disturbance that ends with Ball's purse flying out of her hands and onto O'Brien's head when he's (heaven forbid!) seated in the orchestra. The next thing Ball knows, she's been recruited to become O'Brien's secretary and initial hatred turns into an unlikely friendship. O'Brien has an obnoxious socialite fiancée (Marguerite Chapman) who keeps on walking in on Ball and O'Brien at awkward times and creates all sorts of misunderstandings. Ball is engaged to a sailor (George Murphy) who befriends O'Brien and takes him under his wing. O'Brien finds he likes Ball's rowdy family more than his social circle, and Ball finds that while she adores Murphy, her feelings for O'Brien cannot be denied.There are some really funny moments in this film, including an incident with a naval pal of Murphy's who literally can grow four inches at will simply by stretching his neck, back and leg muscles (and apparently shrink back to his normal height). This creates a scene in front of sniffy Franklin Pangborn's pet supply store and brings on typical comic havoc. O'Brien, later a dependable tough guy, is different here than anything he did later on, so that makes for an interesting twist. However, great comic moments don't make a great film, and this ultimately is missing the flour that makes the cake rise. None of Ball's later wackiness is apparent in this one. I must also point out that eccentrically obnoxious isn't always amusing to watch, and that describes Ball's family here to the tea.

I can't believe I missed this flick after taping about 350 TCM movies for my bedridden aunt last year. Read previous posts for plot line. George Murphy as "Coffee-cup" shines in this role.He is surprisingly tender towards Lucille Ball in many scenes:(the scene where they share ice cream, the pre-wedding scene). The trait I admire the most in the characters in movies of the 30's and 40's is their nobility, self sacrifice, and humility. Coffee-cup recognizes that his betrothed (Lucille Ball) is slowly falling in love with Edmund Obrien's character and nobly steps down.Then Obrien acts similarly by doing everything he can in a chase scene identical to earlier Harold Loyd films.I laughed throughout the entire movie at Skittles parents, the sailors, and the discomfort of Obrien each time he was caught "cheating" on his betrothed.

A couple of years ago one of our video rental stores went out of business. They sold off their stock. I knew that they had a good selection of movies from the 30's and 40's so I invested in about 20 of them. I just realized last week that I had overlooked viewing some of them. One of these was a 1941 flick called "A Girl, A Guy and a Gob" which I watched this evening. It starred Lucille Ball, George Murphy and Edmund O'Brien and was released in 1941.Much to my surprise it was very entertaining. The Producer was none other than Harold Lloyd of silent film fame. Evidently he produced 2 movies for RKO and they were both successful...don't know why the collaboration did not continue. "A Girl, A Guy and A Gob" has touches of silent film comedy and is also reminiscent in places of "You Can't Take It With You" since it deals with a similar "crazy" family. The principal stars look unbelievably young, especially O'Brien who later in his career became rather heavy. In this movie he looked somewhat like Franchot Tone. George Murphy also looks youthful and even does a bit of dancing although this is not a musical. Lucille Ball restrains herself in her comedy bits and mostly leaves the horseplay to Murphy (the Gob) and a fine cast of supporting players. So if you only like Lucy at her most outrageous you might be a little disappointed, but forget your disappointment because this is really a funny movie. The writing is good and the simple story line makes sense and the characters come through as believable. I attribute this to the involvement of Harold Lloyd who was really a comedy genius. I actually laughed out loud several times, something I don't often do for a Hollywood comedy. Try it, you might like it too.

If you're a Lucille Ball fan, you would definitely want to see this movie. As a Lucille Ball fan, I have seen many of her movies, but this one would probably stand as one of the tops. In this movie, Lucille Ball plays as an average girl rather than a self-absorbed lady like in her other films. This movie also features her more than her other works, being seen in most of the scenes. I thought that the movie was great throughout except for the ending. The ending could have been better. Overall, it's a good movie to watch, especially with Lucile Ball in it.