Vacation from Love

Saxophone player Dennis O'Keefe spots Florence Rice at the nightclub and falls instantly in love. He breaks up her wedding, and soon they are married. But after a while, they have doubts.

This is a prime example of screwball comedy gone wrong, as if the screenwriters, headed by Patterson McNutt -- clearly chosen on the basis of his name -- were told "Screwball is about people in evening clothes behaving bizarrely" and leaving it at that. A good comic cast, including Reginald Owen and Herman Bing try hard under the direction of George Fitzmaurice, but to no avail. Screwball, at its core, is about the battle between the sexes and class warfare. Here, the principal problem seems to be with Miss Rice's character. Who seems to think that marriage needs to be amusing if you're a nitwit.

The newlyweds refuse the help of their families as they fight for it themselves, ladies and gentlemen, from here it degenerated into a very predictable marital comedy. Andrew Tombes 'short role is ridiculous: no other actor has expressed frustrated frustration better than the bald Tombes. (Edgar Kennedy's 'slow motion' conveyed a slightly different emotion.) After Tombes comes off the screen, this film quickly goes downhill. Herman Bing and the great Edward Brophy are welcome, but neither is to the usual high standard. I will rate this film only 10 out of 10.

Florence Rice was the daughter of Grantland Rice, an extremely popular and influential sportswriter of the 1920s and '30s who also starred in the 'Sportlight' series of sport-related movie shorts. He used his influence to help his daughter get a movie contract. Florence Rice proved to be a blonde of above-average looks but no great acting ability. She's pleasant to watch on-screen, but leaves no lasting impression.

SLIGHT SPOILERS. 'Vacation from Love' is mere froth, and it's not even especially good froth. Florence Rice plays Patricia Lawson, a society daughter who's about to marry a man named T. Ames Pierpont the Third (you mean there's two more of him?). He wears hornrimmed glasses, and his name is T. Ames Pierpont the Third, so you just know he's going to be left at the altar. Veteran character actor Andrew Tombes gives a brief but hilarious performance as the judge presiding over the civil ceremony. When he asks if anyone objects, somebody does: a handsome saxophone player, portrayed by Dennis O'Keefe. Apparently he objects because lovely blonde Patricia is about to marry a rich nerd named T. Ames Pierpont instead of a handsome but penniless sax player.

Yes, friends, this is the 1,398,427th movie in which the heroine dumps a dull responsible guy in favour of a reckless yahoo with too much testosterone ... and also the 1,398,427th movie in which we're meant to approve her choice. On a whim of the moment, Patricia ditches Pierpont and runs off with Bill Blair, the saxophonist. From the way he honks that sax, he should change his name to Blare.

From here, it degenerates into very predictable marital comedy. Andrew Tombes's brief role is funny: no other character actor conveyed flustered frustration better than bald-domed Tombes. (Edgar Kennedy's 'slow burn' conveyed a slightly different emotion.) Once Tombes is off the screen, this movie goes downhill fast. Herman Bing and the great Edward Brophy are welcome presences, but neither is up to his usual high standard. I'll rate this movie just 4 out of 10.

Since at this time there's only one previous review of this movie, I thought I'd write one myself (my first btw).

First of all, I wasn't aware of the leading lady until, TCM spotlighted several of her movies recently. She may not be Barbara Stanwyk or Myrna Loy, but I don't see where she's much below their level in ability, esp. In these types of late 30's rom-coms.

As far as the movie goes, it's funny enough and the plot moves along briskly without being too silly or maudlin. I've seen a lot of comedies from this era where the characters act so stupid that I couldn't bear to watch or just got plain bored with the story, e.g., "Married Before Breakfast", another Florence Rice movie that TCM included in their Spotlight series. That movie had approximately the same runtime but seemed twice as long.

The previous reviewer is right that it doesn't contain any big laughs -just some chuckles here and there, but I think it was meant to be more romance than comedy anyway.

In short, this is a fun, well-paced movie that I found surprisingly enjoyable.