 "Hilarious!" | 2008-03-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2JTPHCOV4IJFE |
| This is a great slapstick comedy! Spencer Tracy (before he teamed up with Katharine Hepburn)plays Warren Haggerty, a newspaperman who's company gets slapped with a $5 million dollar libel suit for printing a false story about a young socialite (Myrna Loy). He has to try and have her drop the lawsuit - and what better way to do that than have her get caught with a married (supposedly) man. He convinces an old co-worker of his (William Powell) to marry his fiancee (Jean Harlow). Just until he can get the story printed, of course. But when William Powell ends up falling in love with Connie, Spencer's plan starts to fall apart. But all ends well, and both women realize who there true love really is. This is a great movie from the 30's! |
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 "5 star comedy destroyed by 1 star print - disappointing" | 2008-03-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A19U5RYULZ0Z72 |
The availability of this classic marital farce with such star power is excellent but MGM/Warners have offered a really poor print covered in scratches and dirt. What a disappointment!
Still, we can enjoy Myrna Loy's sarcasm, Jean Harlow's hysteria, Spencer Tracy's animation and, above all, William Powell's trout fishing episode. All the leads are at their very best and play superbly off each other. Walter Connelly, that peerless character actor, is on hand too as Loy's father and is perfect.
The extras are minor, being the original trailer which looks better than the film and the radio equivalent of the theatrical trailer, of minor interest. |
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 "Outrageously Funny!" | 2007-11-19 |
| - Reviewed By rama_r |
This is another great screwball comedy (1936) set during the great depression, casting some of the best performers of that time. Having nominated by the Academy in the best picture category, the movie is riveting and you will be glued from beginning to end due to the offbeat nature of the comedy. The story is a pure farce comedy, when the daughter of an aristocratic family Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is falsely accused by the New York Evening Star newspaper of breaking up a marriage; she sues the newspaper for libel for five million dollars. This couldn't come at a worst time when the chief editor, Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) is in the midst of marrying his fiancée, Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow). In order to save his job and the newspaper, Haggerty postpones his wedding and get into the business of saving the newspaper from the law suit. He comes with a zany idea of hiring a former reporter Bill Chandler (William Powell) to convince Connie Allenbury to withdraw the law suit against the newspaper. The plot involves fictions wedding of Bill Chandler to his fiancée Gladys who is unwilling to go along with the idea but reluctantly accepts that, and then Chandler use "good opportunities" to meet Connie Allenbury, romance her without telling that he is already married. When the friendship blossoms into full romance then at appropriate moment Gladys to appear on the scene and charge Connie for breaking her marriage to Chandler. The plan goes awry and it is hilarious that Connie almost comes to know the scheme but with the ingenuity of Bill Chandler the disaster is averted. Finally Connie will agree to withdraw the lawsuit but only after several mishaps. Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy and William Powell have offered great performances, and it is during this movie Jean Harlow and William Powell developed romantic interest. This movie was directed by Jack Conway who went on to make his next movie Saratoga casting Jean Harlow and Clark Gable. Jean Harlow is known to have collapsed on the sets of Saratoga, and later died at the age of 26. This is an excellent movie and I recommend it very highly.
1. Saratoga |
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| "Classic Powell/Loy Comedy" | 2007-08-12 |
| - Reviewed By kjpc12 |
| William Powell and Myrna Loy made many movies together during the 1930's and 1940's- both Thin Man movies and comedies. They probably never had better support than this movie with Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow in key roles. Audiences never tired of seeing Powell and Loy's characters fall in love but this movie presents a complicated plot around the love story. Very well done with many laughs and of course, great chemistry. 70 plus years later, still a classic! |
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| "better ending next time" | 2007-07-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A29PEWK3KBQ69Y |
| I'm a lover of William Powell and Myrna Loy movies. As usual, they are great onscreen together but the ending wasn't a very satisfying one. |
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| "Spencer Tracy vs. William Powell" | 2007-05-14 |
| - Reviewed By joseseis |
| This is a so-so screwball comedy with an all-star lineup... The dialog has some snappy moments, although it's not on a par with "Bringing Up Baby," "Dinner At Eight," et. al... The fun comes in watching male leads Spencer Tracy and William Powell spar with each other (as actors, not their characters...) Their styles are SO different! Tracy typically sledghammers his way though each scene, while Powell hangs back and plays it cool... Both the female leads are fabulous: the ever-luscious Jean Harlow gets a great dramatic monologue at the end, while Myrna Loy rules each scene she's in, with tart dialog and razor-sharp, intelligent delivery. A fine chance to watch some of the finest stars of the 1930s practice their craft. (DJ Joe Sixpack) |
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| "A pure joy to watch" | 2007-01-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2YAJMV0ERMJMC |
| I am not a movie expert or spend my time analyzing -- but I have to tgell you that I love the classics and this movie has to be one of the better entertainement efforts through the generations. It's hard to beat the performances of Myrna Loy. This should be in the collection of any movie collector. |
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| "Yes!! This is my favorite screwball comedy" | 2006-06-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2HVL790PBWYTU |
This is one of the best (if not THE best) pure screwball comedies of the 1930's. Next to the original Thin Man movie, Libeled Lady is my favorite Powell/Loy effort. This time, the magic chemistry of that oft-paired duo is enhanced by the box office-drawing talents of fellow mega-stars Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow. The first shot of the movie celebrates this happy collaboration as the four top-drawer actors merrily, confidently stride arm-in-arm toward the camera.
The plot is convoluted. The Star has erroneously printed a story about heiress Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy), portraying her as a marriage wrecker. Connie immediately files a 5 million dollar libel suit. Star newspaper editor Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) counteracts by hiring on suave fellow newspaperman Bill Chandler (William Powell) to romance Connie and place her in a compromising position, thus negating the lawsuit. Haggerty convinces his harried, long-suffering fiancee Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow) to instead marry the bachelor Chandler as part of the scheme. Things get really tricky when Gladys falls for Chandler and Chandler falls for Connie, who eventually falls for Chandler. And Haggerty? He pretty much spends the movie just seething. Yet everything ends fairly well, even if there's still lingering confusion as to who is exactly married to whom.
Libeled Lady boasts mix-ups and complications galore and couples matching, cross-matching and mismatching. Sophisticated wit blends with full blown physical comedy. Delicious acting is laid in by four stars who, throughout their film careers, never ever lost their prime. Powell proves again his mastery of the confused double-take and, along with the wry, understated Myrna Loy, dominates the refined repartees. And representing the more lowbrow couple, Tracy supplies the blue collar bluster and Harlow the affronted looks. Walter Connolly as Connie's angling-loving father is simply wonderful. The intricate storyline is easy to follow, thanks to the clear helmsmanship of Jack Conway. With this cinematic venture, Hollywood certainly offered up to the viewing audience its most glamorous and most urbane of stars. I think it's brilliant stuff. |
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| "The favorite couple are here again!" | 2006-01-22 |
| - Reviewed By dsorgea |
William Powell, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, and Spencer Tracy star in Libeled Lady!
Libeled Lady is one of my favorite movies! Although you must admit any movie with Bill and Myrna is going to be pretty darn funny, right?
Loy plays a rich, hard to get play girl, while Powell plays his typical roll. Spencer Tracy works on the Star which is a newswpaper. And when they accidently print a false story about Connie(Loy) she decides to sue the paper for 5 million dollars! Everyone on the paper is shocked. Tracy decides to get even and frame Connie.
Hilarity ensues when he hires Powell to marry his quite unwilling fiance (Harlow, who has been standing at the alter many a time witing for Tracy to show up. But a story always seems to interfear) for a time being and then go after Connie. Then they can cook up a REAL scandal with Connie when she suddenly finds out he's married to another woman! But what happend when Bill really starts to fall in love with Connie?
Find out in this hilarious story of Libeled Lady! |
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| "Screwball with Four Great Stars!" | 2005-08-28 |
| - Reviewed By veganow2 |
This was Jean Harlow's last truly great film and she shares the complicated but hilarious plot with people she adored in real life: Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy and her real-life romantic interest, William Powell. That Jean and William were involved in an on-again off-again romance doesn't affect the superb comedic performance of Jean Harlow. "Libeled Lady" is a gem of a comedy and it is not just a William Powell/Myrna Loy film. Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy put in great performances. One highlight is seeing Jean look quite unglamorous at the beauty salon with her hair being permed and a mud pack on her face! She deserves top billing in this film in a role that suits her comic skills. Her one scene with Myrna Loy is very touching and they balance one another out perfectly. I hope that their other film together, "Wife vs. Secretary" will be released on DVD soon. Jean is portrays a lady-like character with perfection!
"Libeled Lady" is a must-have for any fan of screwball comedies. Had Jean Harlow lived, she would have starred with such stars of this genre like Cary Grant and that pairing would have been marvelous. But "Libeled Lady" gives Jean Harlow (sans the platinum blonde hair she never needed) a golden opportunity to show that comedy was her forte and she is with three great stars and a director who made a complicated story into a delightful screwball comedy. Enjoy "Libeled Lady"!!! |
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