The Goose and the Gander (1935)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Best movie ever!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

A charming cast is laden with a stink bomb of a screwball comedy that rolls around for 65 minutes like a non- stop roller-coaster, one where the twists and turns have no thrills and the ride ultimately no point. It's as lavish to look at as a Dick Powell/Ruby Keeler musical, and even with the often paired team of Kay Francis and George Brent ends up falling flat. Marital mix-ups and post divorce games follow Francis and ex- husband John Eldredge, with Francis declaring revenge when she discovers her ex is planning to marry the woman he left her for. Confusion erupts at the home of Francis's aunt (Helen Lowell) when a bunch of unwanted guests end up there, including Brent, Eldredge, Claire Dodd, Genevieve Tobin and alleged car thieves. I needed a character map within the first five minutes of this, ironically the third time I've tried to watch this and make sense of any of it.As the first screwball comedy that Kay Francis would do, it seemed like a nice change of pace from all those soapy women's films. She had proved herself capable of being funny in films like "Girls About Town", "Trouble in Paradise" and "Jewel Robbery", and is certainly gay here (as in happy go lucky) and completely charming, but a bit of a shrew in her plot for revenge against her ex. A scene where she attempts to explain all to a private detective reveals that even the writer knew that this was perplexing and overly complex, making me wonder how this got out of the writer's building at Warners.Interestingly enough, Brent appeared in a very similar screwball comedy the following year ("Snowed In") that had a similar set-up and is equally perplexing. Other than Francis, Brent and Lowell, the cast is rather unremarkable, and even with the lighthearted atmosphere, the direction is dizzying and even headache inducing. I thought maybe the third time would be the charm on liking this, but I guess when I run out of Kay's mother love sagas, I can return to this and see if the fourth time does the trick.

Kay Francis is Ralph Forbes' ex-wife, because Genevieve Tobin stole him away from her. But, when Kay meets Ralph after two years apart and sees his wife with another man, she gets it in her mind to trap her and force the wife out of the marriage, so Kay can get Ralph back. But the other man just so happens to be George Brent, who sees Kay at a fancy party and appears to like what he sees. She, too, but maybe just to be playing with him. The plan is to get him and the wife at her country place, where she asked her ex to show up for lunch, thereby putting them all in an awkward situation. But, what she doesn't count on is John Eldridge and Claire Dodd, a married couple who are jewel thieves and who must make a quick getaway. Because they stole Genevieve's car, they are brought to Kay's place. (Watch it to understand.) When they're all together, things happen. The film's quick one-liners and the chemistry of Kay and George make this feel like a guilty pleasure, especially since Kay is great at being enticing. How can such a funny and fulfilling picture be so unknown? If you've never heard of The Goose and the Gander, then you need to discover Ms. Kay Francis at her sizzling best.

I happened across this film as it aired on TCM, and I found myself unable to stop watching. I've never been a great fan of Kay Francis, but this is delightfully entertaining. It fits in with those zany, intricate plots of 1930s comedies with mistaken identities, multiple couples, and all a "to-do" with the wealthy upper classes...fitting right in with the usual Depression Era escapist fare - which I admit I usually enjoy!Others' reviews give one enough of an idea of the plot and the context behind the making of the film. All I want to add is that for those that may want to acquire this film, TCM is now providing it from their TCM Vaults (Warners Archive). Visit WWW.TCM.COM for more...

Starting in 1934, when the new Production Code was enacted, 'inappropriate' adult themes were generally forbidden in films. That's because in the fast and loose 20s and especially early 30s, all sorts of very adult themes crept into films. Cursing, talks of abortions, extreme violence, adultery and even nudity were in films for general consumption---including in a Tarzan film (which appealed mostly to kids). So, a backlash took place and most of these topics were out or else if a sanitized version were allowed, by the end of the film the wrong-doers had to be punished.THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER is about as racy as they come in the Post-Code era. My assumption is that because the movie came out in 1935, it had been designed as a Pre-Code style film but had been re-written for the new sensibilities. So, on one hand, the film has themes of adultery BUT because it's Post-Code, the people never actually get a chance to consummate their illicit affairs. And, by the end of the film, people had learned their lesson and went back to their spouses or, in the case of the criminals, were arrested.The film begins with married Genevieve Tobin trying to arrange a tryst with George Brent. But, this tryst is interrupted by Kay Francis and her friends. It seems that some time back, Tobin had stolen HER husband and now using a rather intricate plot, she diverts Tobin and Brent to her home--planning on keeping them there while secretly contacting Tobin's husband so he could come there and find his wife with another man. However, when two thieves get caught up in the plot, the entire plan falls apart and where this all leads is anyone's guess.Overall, this film is very entertaining and funny--with typically good acting from Brent and Francis. Despite the Code, the film makers managed to work around it and make a nice little movie. The only negative, and I was able to look past it, was that the ending seemed a bit hard to believe.