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Friday, December 22, 2017

WITHOUT LOVE (1945)

Like the substitute nylons, coffee & tires of WWII, this Philip Barry romantic comedy from the period, a stage vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, is entirely synthetic. Coy to the point of nausea, even by the chaste standards of the times, it’s one of those labored marriage-of-convenience farces, structured around D.C.’s infamous wartime housing shortage. Spencer Tracy (reluctantly taking over from Elliot Nugent who suffered thru this on B’way), is a once-burned/ marriage-phobic research scientist who moves his lab to the basement of Hepburn’s family manse. For her part, Kate’s pleased to help the war effort, and even while holding tight to her late husband’s memory, agrees to tie the knot for appearance sake. You can guess the rest. Keenan Wynn labors under the delusion he’s a scream as a dipsomaniac cousin, while Lucille Ball adds a bit of pace in a nothing role. Oh, did we mention Spencer sleepwalks when the plot needs a nudge? Really! With a cute doggie nipping at his heels. Oh, the pajamas! Oh, the hilarity! Oh, my God.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Hard to believe Barry, with the same assist from scripter Donald Ogden Stewart, did HOLIDAY/’38 and PHILADELPHIA STORY/’40 with Hepburn. Those films had George Cukor directing rather than Harold S. Bucquet. This one is very oddly cut (post-production second thoughts?). Check out a long get-to-know-you sequence with Tracy playing ‘Clair de Lune’ on the piano as Hepburn steals in to listen to see just how bad the set-ups & editing get.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: To make amends, the DVD comes with a real ‘out there’ Tex Avery cartoon, SWING SHIFT CINDERELLA, a politically incorrect masterpiece from the great animator. Note the Bette Davis vocal for Cinderella’s speaking voice; standard practice @ M-G-M. Over @ Warners, the animated shorts made fun of Katharine Hepburn. ‘Really they did, really.’

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