Don't Bet on Women (1931)

Thanks for the memories!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

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

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I saw this film on TCM as "Don't Bet on Women". In the early part of the film, the viewer might feel--based upon the viewpoints expressed by the male characters--that this film is positively prehistoric regarding its opinion of women. But no--those are just the views of the characters, not the playwright who originally penned the story.This is a pre-Code film and its departures with convention pertain mostly to its examination of the (changing) roles of women, particularly as they pertain to romance and marriage.Herbert Drake (Roland Young) prattles on about his parental views of women to Roger Fallon (Edmund Lowe). This amuses Fallon, perhaps because Drake's opinions are even more patronizing than his own. Drake is also very arrogant in general and refuses to ever admit he is wrong--as if it's a matter of principle.At one point, Drake--eager to prove his superior knowledge of women--bets Lowe $10,000 that he cannot kiss the next woman who enters the veranda. A very Shakespearian device to be sure. And of course Mrs. Drake (Jeanette MacDonald in a non-singing role) obliges.Mrs. Drake aka Jean immediately learns of the wager and is insulted, but she insists that the bet remain--allegedly to test her faithfulness as a wife.The film also features Una Merkel as Tallulah Hope, Jean's friend who spouts non sequiturs as fast as Gracie Allen ("I think scenery adds so much to a view!").Though its roots in the theater are rather obvious, the story has charm and the acting is fun to watch, even if it's not the best. What Loy and Powell could have done with this!

What a missed opportunity.Saw it today at MoMA, just before Howard's "Trial of Vivienne Ware", and it's almost impossible to believe that these two films were made by the same director and just a year apart. "Trial" is a lightning-fast melodrama, fast even by pre-code standards, and very entertaining. This, on the other hand, has that awful early talkie pacing that you always hear about but rarely see so vividly. It also has uninspired direction and clueless casting of two of the three leading male roles. J.M. Kerrigan is the hero's 'comic sidekick', the let's-go-out-and-party guy that Edmund Lowe picks up chicks with. Ahh... J.M. KERRIGAN?!! Are they kidding? They couldn't get Lupino Lane, or Roscoe Karns, or... ANYBODY ELSE?!!! Kerrigan seems twenty years too old, and looks for all the world like he wants to sit in a Morris chair sipping port while his dog lies at his feet, dying.Edmund Lowe is the lead, and he's even worse. He's sincere and naturalistic, but BORING as all get-out. There are no stakes, no 'pep', no color, no comic liveliness. He's just not a comedy guy. If it had had somebody like Frank Fay, say (whose comedies of this period are not bad at all), or Lowell Sherman, or Melvyn Douglas, or...The rest of the cast is fine -- McDonald, Young, Merkel, all are people who know their way around a comic scene -- but Lowe, Kerrigan, and the pace and direction sink it. A pity, because the basic idea, dated as it is, is still funny, and this could have been a lot of fun... if only it had been directed and acted by people with a feeling for comedy.Anyhow, this is what it is. Don't go out of your way for it.

An obvious former playboy (Edmund Lowe) is disgusted with the species known as female, yet can't seem to escape them, whether it is his ex- wife (Helene Millard) asking for financial help for a broke new husband or his sudden encounter with the married Jeanette MacDonald after rescuing her drowning friend (Una Merkel). Lowe decides to test the sanctity of womanhood by making a wager with MacDonald's stuffy husband (Roland Young) at a party that he can get the next woman entering the room to kiss him, and low and behold, it ends up being the tempted MaDonald.This chatty drawing room comedy (set mostly on a yacht) has amusing pre-code dialog, but suffers from an unbelievable and tacky situation. In addition, Merkel's character (named Tallulah, no less!) is an obnoxious, shrill-voiced chatterbox who barely breathes beyond sentences, little of which makes any sense. MacDonald, in her only non-singing screen role, retains her lady like presence and comes off unscathed while Lowe and Young's competition over her adds to her amusement. A definite rarely seen curiosity, this will be of interest mainly to the Jeanette MacDonald cult which seems to increase as time goes by.

This is a delightful Lubitsch-like comedy of manners, very well written - the ensemble acting from all concerned (MacDonald, Loewe, Merkel, Young) is exemplary under William K. Howard's direction. It does have a low concept of women, as being children needing a man's guidance, which Merkel and MacDonald soon disprove.It is elegant and sophisticated and very highly recommended. Unfortunately, the only DVD print available, through Loving The Classics, is washed out, fuzzy, dark at times and the entire last 30 minutes of it involves a shaking screen. It's taken from a VHS copy with horizontal blips in a few scenes. There are no songs for anyone in the cast.MacDonald doesn't make her entry until 21:45 into the action.Risqué gay innuendo from MacDonald: "What are you two men doing on a yacht? Cruising? "Caesar Romero is seen for one second taking over Merkel as dancer, when Kerrigan exits.