Love Is News (1937)

So much average

Great Film overall

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

1937's "Love is News" marked the second film to pair Tyrone Power and Don Ameche ("Ladies in Love" came first), but it was the first to offer Power top billing, which reportedly infuriated leading lady Loretta Young. She definitely comes off worst of the three, as heiress Tony Gateson, tiring of the gossip printed about her, getting even with hot shot reporter Steve Leyton (Power) by offering up a scoop for all the other newspapers, that she and Leyton are engaged. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with her former fiancée (George Sanders), but her uncle (Dudley Digges) plays along so far as to buy an interest in Steve's ailing paper, Don Ameche as the harried editor. The stars are able to carry the thin screwball plot, while the supporting players prove even better, in particular Slim Summerville's judge and Walter Catlett's fellow reporter. Fans of Lon Chaney Jr. will be most disappointed, as what would have been his first film under a two year contract with Fox found his role as an unbilled newsman left on the cutting room floor, a fate repeated in "That I May Live," "Born Reckless," and "Walking Down Broadway."

While watching Love is News, what I wished for was that this film would have been cast and directed by a whole different team. Because I like screwball comedy, it's hard to do, and requires a finesse, a light touch, and a specific feather tone from both director and actors to handle delicate material - like a soufflé - a little bit too heavy- handed, and it falls flat. With the exception of Slim Summerville as the small-town judge, the performances were uniformly bad. None of the very young and green principals knew how to handle comedy - so they just went broad and big - Don Ameche bellowed, Loretta grinned and mugged, and Tyrone Power was over-animated. Of course it was the director's fault - pump it up, give me bigger, bigger. But he was dealing with actors who were not natural comedians, whose charms were more in smaller gestures. I kept dreaming of the usual stable who could handle the material - Jean Arthur, Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Melvyn Douglas - because the storyline was fun and sillilly amusing - an heiress turns the tables on a reporter, and decides to put him under the glare of publicity by planting a false story. I watched it all the way through, seeing potential in the script, and wishing it had been at another studio and cast differently, with a different director. I think it could have been a classic. There were priceless moments, from the fake car crash, to the jail scene, the airport scene - that with the right actors and a director like Mitchell Leisen or Greg LaCava or Howard Hawkes could have catapulted this film in a minor classic instead of an ersatz version of the classic screwballs by people who knew how to do it

LOVE IS NEWS is a great old style film that they just don't make any more. It's really a shame, as I had a lot of fun watching it and don't know why the film isn't better known. Sure, I'll admit that the plot is hard to believe, but this is like most screwball comedies of the era! You just need to suspend disbelief and enjoy.This is one of the earliest films of Tyrone Power and considering his short record in films, it was quite the coup to be starring in this film with Loretta Young. Power plays a guy much like many of Clark Gable's--glib, good looking and not afraid to stretch the truth...'a bit'. In fact, Gable played newspaper men like this on at least a couple occasions at rival MGM. Power, despite his lack of experience, was at the top of his game--delivering a professional and enjoyable performance. Young is equally likable, though considering she'd been in films for some time and her track record, it wasn't surprising at all that she was up to the task.The film begins with Power sneaking on to a plane to get an interview with a rich millionairess (Young). The problem, though, is that Young hates reporters, as they've made her life a circus for years and she gets no peace at all. So, on a lark, when she discovers that Power is yet another reporter, she decides to give him a piece of his own medicine and have him learn what it's like to be constantly hounded. She tells the other reporters that she and Power are engaged and soon Power is besieged with fortune hunters, reporters and people wanting to sell him practically everything! And, no matter how much he tries to convince everyone that his is NOT engaged, Young insists that they are! Knowing where this all will end isn't a total surprise but the journey there is exceptional--and fun! The supporting characters (I particularly liked Slim Summerville as the judge and he had a great little jail) were great, the writing (aside from a ridiculous plot) was great and the whole thing was directed very well--resulting in a funny as well as romantic old film. After seeing it, I could easily see why Power soon rose to fame--this was an excellent vehicle.By the way, this film and its remake (also starring Tyrone Power), THAT WONDERFUL URGE, are available bundled together on DVD. Of the two, LOVE IS NEWS is definitely the better film--not just because it's original but because it just works much better.

Three of 20th Century Fox's stars of the late '30s team up for "Love is News" - Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Don Ameche. Power plays a clever reporter, Steve Layton, who is after a big story on a $100 million heiress, Toni Gateson (Young). Sick of being hounded night and day by the press, Young turns the tables on him and announces to the world that she and Layton are engaged. It comes as a surprise to him, as it does to his editor, Ameche, and of course, they don't have the story and the rest of the papers do. Layton soon learns that being engaged to Gateson has some perks and also a few things that aren't so great, particularly when the two of them end up in adjacent jail cells.There is a very funny scene in the beginning where Power and Ameche become hysterical laughing as they reminisce about the horrible things they've done to one another. The actors worked together often and make a great team. Young is gorgeous as the heiress, and she and Power are a beautiful couple as usual. This is one of Power's very early films - he was about 23 at the time - and still in his pretty phase. You can't take your eyes off of him when he's on screen - he lights it up.This is a high-energy, pleasant comedy with a delightful cast, though there's nothing particularly unusual about the story. Madcap heiresses abounded in '30s films. Power actually remade this movie with Gene Tierney in 1948 as "That Wonderful Urge." By then, it was tired stuff, and Power was tired of these roles. But here, it's three young stars on top of the world, and you can't beat the spirit with which they imbue "Love is News."