Born in Ukraine, Anatole Litvak was one of those malleable directors comfortable in whatever culture, language or country he found himself; professional ease in Germany or France, England or Hollywood, a sort of minor league Julien Duvivier. In this, his first English-language pic, he jumps in with technical assurance giving this silly romantic comedy visual flair & fluid movement to recall early René Clair (UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS/’30; À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ/’31). And if he’s unable to keep up the invention, it hardly matters since the story is such an unpleasant muddle. What were they thinking? Ivor Novello, in a dynamic mode that will surprise those who only know him from Hitchcock’s THE LODGER/’27, is a girl-in-every-port Sleeping-Car attendant on the Orient-Express (so girl-at-every-station?) who meets cute with Madeleine Carroll’s spoiled divorcée. But their on-again/off-again romance gets sidetracked when the film finally lands on a plot (of sorts) halfway thru with Carroll’s reckless driving having her tossed out of France unless she marries a Frenchman in 14 days. (Suddenly, it’s Buster Keaton’s SEVEN CHANCES with a gender switch.) Alas, our two leads have by now become too unpleasant to root for . . . separately or together. William Powell & Carole Lombard might have pulled it off. Not these two. Worth a peek for first act technical dazzle, but little else.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Litvak upped his game on tragic romance in MAYERLING/’36 (Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux); and romantic charm in TOVARICH/'37 (Boyer, Claudette Colbert)..
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: No posters seem to survive on this one, so a magazine cover of Ms. Carroll, probably in support of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA/’37.
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