Nothing Sacred (1937)

People are voting emotionally.

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

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

NOTHING SACRED (Selznick International/United Artists, 1937), directed by William A. Wellman, stars Carole Lombard in one of her finer comedies. Unlike any of her other screen efforts, this movie is notable for being her only one done entirely in Technicolor. Produced under David O. Selznick, whose earlier works of THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1936) and A STAR IS BORN (1937) were also lenced in Technicolor, it's a wonder why his swashbuckling adventure of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937), wasn't produced in the same manner while products as NOTHING SACRED could have gone just as well in black and white format. Regardless, NOTHING SACRED provided Lombard her only opportunity in a Technicolor feature, which benefits this production all the more. Cast opposite Fredric March for the second and final time, following their initial pairing in the war aviation drama, THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK (Paramount, 1933), NOTHING SACRED also shows how much better they work together in comedy as opposed to melodrama.Opening title (over the visual of Rockefeller Center and other New York City landmarks): "This is New York, skyscraper champion of the world ... where the slickers and Know-It-All peddle gold bricks to each other ... and where truth crushed together rises again are more phony than a glass eye." Wally Cook (Fredric March), star reporter for the Morning Star newspaper, along with Oliver Stone (Walter Connolly), his publisher, are holding a banquet for an important guest of honor, Prince Surta (Troy Brown), who is immediately exposed by his wife (Hattie McDaniel) as Ernest Walker, a shoeshine man in Harlem. Because of the humiliation, and unable to fire Wally due to his five year contract, Oliver reduces his star reporter to obituary editor with his desk placed inside a small filing room. Not wanting to spend those remaining years at his present position, Wally talks Oliver into sending him on an assignment in Warsaw, Vermont, to interview a young girl named Hazel Flagg, a victim of radium poisoning with only six months to live. Believing this would boost circulation, Wally is given that assignment. Before his arrival to Warsaw, Hazel (Carole Lombard, appearing 16 minutes into the start of the story), learns from her physician, Doctor Enoch Downer (Charles Winninger) that her medical report regarding her poisoning was a mistake and that she will live after all. Initially planning to enjoy life to the fullest before she dies, she chooses New York City as her destination. It so happens that Wally, after meeting with Hazel invites her to a holiday in New York as guest of the Morning Star with all expenses paid, and a day-by-day exclusive up to the time she dies. Hazel accepts the offer, taking the doctor with her. Seeing the sites as Madison Square Garden and other landmarks, she also becomes a guest of honor at the Casino Moderne. Gathering all this attention from media and public alike, Hazel begins to feel guilty being a fraud, and wants to release herself from this situation without being exposed nor hurting Wally's reputation with the newspaper.Other members of the cast include such fine reliable character actors as Sig Rumann (Doctor Emile Egglehoffer); Margaret Hamilton (The Drug Store Lady); John Qualen (The Fireman); Maxie Rosembloom (The Prizefighter), with Hedda Hopper, Olin Howland, and George Chandler in smaller but notable parts. Comedian Frank Fay plays a master of ceremonies for the Casino Moderne sequence. Monty Woolley can be spotted as one of the doctors out to examine Haze; while Billy Barty gets a cameo bit as a child who bites Wally's leg.An amusing story with notable scenes such as the opening banquet that sets the tone of the story, along with the introduction to the residents of Vermont where they all respond with one word answers, as well as Lombard contemplating a staged suicide. Walter Connolly is typical and very amusing as the harassed publisher while Charles Winninger shows he could play something other than aging performer who believes vaudeville will never die. Great scenes of New York City in Technicolor process are also an added plus. The screenplay by Ben Hecht with story by James H, Street was later revamped by Paramount titled LIVING IT UP (1954) with the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the March and Lombard roles.Falling into public domain, NOTHING SACRED was not only distributed to video cassette by numerous distribution companies in the early 1980s, but was overplayed on various television and public TV channels for several years. Currently on DVD, NOTHING SACRED also had exposure on cable channels over the years, notably American Movie Classics(prior to 2001) and Turner Classic Movies. While there are better Carole Lombard comedies worth noting, NOTHING SACRED is one that has become better known, and surprisingly short (75 minutes) for a major production. (***1/2)

This one of the earlier color films, and the way it shows color is simply fantastic. At one point, there is a bouquet in the middle of a table with flowers on it, and the flowers look so vibrant. Color now does not have the same effect on film as color did then. The light always shines evenly on everyone's face, which is not common in this age, when light was focused mostly on the faces of the female characters. The characters lines are witty and silly, making it truly fitting as a screwball comedy. Although screwball comedies are not really my thing as far as genres go, there isn't anything I would have changed in this movie.

Nothing Sacred isn't just boring, its aggravating to watch. None of the characters are endearing. I don't mean likable because there can be unlikable yet endearing characters. Characters the movie makes you hate but still want to root for them. Nothing Sacred does not do that. Fredric March is supposedly the best reporter in the city who makes one career ruining mistake. Then in an attempt to redeem himself he then immediately makes the exact same mistake. He rushes into another feel good story without doing any research. Hazel Flagg is meant to be seen as a pitiable girl in over her head but acts like a spoiled child. Dr. Enoch Downer can't make up his mind between being a reluctant participant or complete imbecile. And the movie's message is that newspapers always lie to get a story and readers are foolish and selfish to latch onto sob stories. The worst part of it all is that this screwball comedy just isn't funny. Site gags and clever wit are very rarely seen and even more rarely successful. The final joke of the movie is the doctor waking up and thinking the hotel he is in has sunk underwater because he hasn't realized he's on a boat. That joke belongs in a Looney tunes cartoon. Although hats off to Nothing Sacred for being the first color comedy.

Nothing Sacred is another screwball comedy that fits the bill with the rest of the films during that time. Carole Lombard, after playing Irene Bullock in the ultra successful My Man Godfrey film a year earlier, once again is brilliant as she plays Hazel Flaggs. The film is able to present comedy through excellent execution of the dialogue and creative script writing from the filmmakers. the movie is very well directed by William Wellman and is truly successful in getting humor out of the eccentric characters and the overall feel in the film. The acting in the movie is superb with each joke or line being delivered perfectly in order to make the film funny and light-hearted. Nothing Sacred combined terrific script writing with tremendous acting to become a classic movie from a time when movies were forced to follow the strict guidelines of the 1934 censorship code.