Easy to Love

Oh, the glories of a pre-Hays Code sex comedy. In this hilarious take on infidelity, Genevieve Tobin and Adolphe Menjou have an unusual marriage. Adolphe is having an affair with Genevieve's best friend, Mary Astor, and Genevieve is relentlessly pursued by Adolphe's best friend, Edward Everett Horton. Their teenaged daughter, Patricia Ellis, is under the impression her parents have the perfect marriage, and when the lid gets lifted off, she's shocked.

With fantastic comic timing from the actors, and beautiful costumes worn by the leading ladies, it's a wonder why Easy to Love isn't one of the most famous comedies to come out of the early '30s. Genevieve reminded me of a combination between Joan Blondell and Ruth Chatterton, and since she spent equal time dressed as undressed, it's a wonder why she didn't rocket to stardom-especially after her nude bathtub scene that flustered both her on-screen husband and I'm sure off-screen audiences.

Check this comic romp out if you like similar movies, like Design for Living and The Palm Beach Story. It's very entertaining, and Mary Astor is absolutely adorable, prancing around in halter tops and cold-shoulder dresses decades before they were popular.