Robert Riskin was Columbia Pictures Prexy Harry Cohn’s ironman writer in the ‘30s. Eight Frank Capra pics that put the studio in contention with ‘the majors,’ and about a dozen with other directors. Best of the non-Capras probably THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING (John Ford/Jean Arthur & Edward G. Robinson) made directly after this surprisingly weak effort with a good cast & situation. Starring three ‘mutts’ on the outs at their former studio, now taking Columbia B-pic leftovers: Sally Eilers, lately of Fox, now fallen out of fashion; Jimmy Durante, lately of M-G-M, now out of favor; Lee Tracy, also lately of M-G-M, just plain out! The trio making a fine team of puppeteers doing voices & pulling strings on a Carny marionette show. The gimmick in Riskin’s original screenplay has Tracy lose his wife in childbirth then trying to keep his kid as a single dad always on the road. If only he had a steadying wife to back him up. Blind to Eilers’ charms, Tracy searches for an upscale mate only to wind up on the lam with kid in tow when the authorities come a’calling. Riskin, who wrote some of the best supporting characters of the ‘30s, makes them the leads in this sentimental comedy. But plotting and structure are too formulaic, too obvious. The weirdest moment comes on a group tour of a ‘preemie’ baby ward where Tracy meets a prospective bride. But the fat, healthy babies behind the windows of their germ-free baby-boxes stop the narrative cold. (Presumably real preemies couldn’t’ be filmed.) Journeyman director Walter Lang, shortly @ 20th/Fox for a 25 yr run, megs like he’s looking for the exit. Even Dickie Walters, the painfully adorable fat-cheeked son-o’-mine, a dud.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Still determined to see a CARNIVAL film from 1935? Heigh thee to 17th Century Flanders for classic French cinema in CARNIVAL IN FLANDERS. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/03/carnival-in-flanders-la-kermesse.html OR: As mentioned, Riskin back on form in his next script THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-whole-towns-talking-1935.html
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