The More the Merrier
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Movie Reviews of The More the Merrier
Movie Review: The more the merrier
Summary: 4 Stars
Made in 1943 by the great George Stevens, it is highly entertaining with Jean Arthur at her best. Charles Coburn won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the crafty old guy who put the young couple into position to fall in love.Movie Review: DVD is same movie as the VHS, same comments
Summary: 3 Stars
Too bad there's no way to post half-star ratings here, or mine would be 3-1/2 instead of 4. The DVD, bought for me thru Amazon by relatives, appears overly sharpened compared to the tape; having seen this film on the big screen at MOMA, I'd say the VHS is visually more faithful to the original. But I give a very, very skilled cast and good direction the benefit. Set along the lines of 30's screwball comedies, this film has the formula right but lacks inspiration after the first 30 minutes, mainly because the writers abandoned earlier plot premises along with any semblance of character consistency. Still, the first third is crackling good fun. It soon fizzles and many of the plot devices just don't work, starting with Coburn's out-of-character dirty trick (which was not at all amusing). Near the end look for a classic flirting and kissing sequence that stands out all the more brilliantly amid the other comedy routines that not only don't work but don't make any sense. Its flaws are mostly due to poor plotting and writing, not to mention weird turnarounds in character development -- but this remains a keeper because of a truly wonderful cast and skilled direction. It's also a great look at wartime living in Washington DC, which was pretty much the same zoo it is today. Jean Arthur is almost breathlessly cute; she and the cast do as well as could be expected with some flawed writing. The movie was remade as "Walk, Don't Run" (Cary Grant's last film), a disastrously lame effort at "improving" the imperfect original. The actor who comes off best here is McCrae, who managed to keep his character consistent and whose talent for comedic underplaying is pure genius.
Movie Review: Look for funnier Jean Arthur movies...
Summary: 3 Stars
I wanted to love this movie... I really did. I love Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea, so I figured this should be really good. But somehow, the movie was just trying way to hard to be funny, and I found the most enjoyable moments to be the ones that weren't necessarily meant to be funny at all. I am used to the contrived plots of screwball comedy, but this one was too convoluted even for me. I wish the writers and director had gone for the more natural comedy that can come from strangers trying to share an apartment instead of the forced sight gags and totally implausible matchmaking angle.
I will say that Joel McCrea's low-key and endearingly honest acting style went a long way towards making this movie "watchable" for me. Unfortunately, Jean Arthur was given some of the more ridiculous dialogue, so her normal comedic timing and talents were buried under a lot of unnecessary window-dressing. Too bad... this movie could have been a really charming screen gem. As it is, I now know why I never heard of it.
Movie Review: Definitely Scandalous.
Summary: 2 Stars
On the cover of the DVD this movie is described as a scandalous romantic comedy. And I have to say, scandalous is the appropriate term. Due to the time period there isn't any nudity nor any love scenes. But that's about all it lacked. The plot centers around a girl in Washington D.C. who rents out half of her apartment to help ease the housing shortage in D.C. Well an eccentric millionaire moves in and decides to play match maker. What we end up with then is a very long and prolonged movie focusing on scenes where Connie and Joe almost get together, but then don't. The overtones of intimacy are rather strong throughout the film. And it seems like the writers were fascinated with their ability to get in a swear word by using Admiral Farragut's quote of "D--- the torpedoes full steam ahead." over and over and over again. In short, the movie comes across as a test for Hollywood to see how far they could go given the sensibilities of the time period. And go far they did.Movie Review: Not a Family Friendly Movie!!
Summary: 1 Stars
We LOVE Jean Arthur in roles we have seen her previously play in. However, this is definitely NOT a movie you would watch with your children and grandma. Personally I have no desire to watch someone else being sexually aroused, and the continual inferences and innuendos do not compare to Veggie Tales! Hot and heavy.