Lady in a Jam

Lady in a Jam is a fun and surprisingly enjoyable little film. The great discovery for me was the male lead, Patric Knowles. I've never heard of him before but think he did a swell job in his development of his character, a reserved, unflappable counterpoint to the high strung and moody character so well played by Irene Dunne. The story is simple but effectively conveyed by the two outstanding leads. Some of the supporting characters are colorful and only add to the overall quirkiness of the film. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the very ending of the film, but I guess I can appreciate that they avoided sentimentality and kept it light and humorous till the very end.

Irene Dunne has spent all the money left in trust for her, but refuses to change her ways. Her trustee, Eugene Pallette, seeks help from the medical foundation established by her grandfather, and they send him to psychiatrist Patrick Knowles, who tries to change her outlook on life with a trip to Arizona to visit her grandmother. Granny won't give her any money, but will let her try to revive the big gold mine. Meanwhile, childhood sweetheart Ralph Bellamy sings her dirges about dead loves.

Miss Dunne was a star of several excellent screwball comedies, but this is not one. Even with Gregory LaCava directing and co-writing, it never gels, even though the engaging cast of eccentrics played by comic actors keeps it interesting and reminds the audience that he did, after all, begin as a cartoonist.

Gregory LaCava was one of the greatest directors of madcap comedy film in the Thirties. W. C. Fields, a good friend and drinking companion, not a man known to waste compliments, once said of LaCava: "I hate his guts, but he's the greatest director that ever lived." Fields often asked LaCava, uncredited, to direct him in scenes in other director's films. LaCava has left us two well-made,original films under his own name: MY MAN GODFREY (1936) and STAGE DOOR (1937), as well as many lesser films, LADY IN A JAM (made at Universal in 1942) being one of them. The film has some wonderful actors--among them, the enchanting Irene Dunne as the ditzy heiress reminiscent of Kate Hepburn in BRINGING UP BABY; Ralph Bellamy as the bumbling songwriting cowpoke; Eugene Pallette as the growly trustee of Irene's failed estate; and little Queenie Vassar as the owner of the abandoned gold mine. The major fault in the film, however, is the choice of Irene's co-star, the handsome and likeable Englishman actor Patric Knowles. Cast here as a confused innocent, a psychiatrist who abandons his profession to be chauffeur and nursemaid to the heiress. The script by LaCava's longtime collaborator Eugene Thackery doesn't give him much to do other than to act frustrated or befuddled. Consequently, the romantic moments don't come off. Perhaps Henry Fonda or Cary Grant might have made something more of the underwritten role, but sadly Knowles, competent and likeable as he was, had none of the others sexual allure. We wonder why a dynamo like Dunne would have found someone so passive attractive. Despite the silly and often improbable story, there are many delightful moments, perfectly staged and cast by the great La Cava. His career came to an end in 1948 with another miss, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS with Robert Walker and Ava Gardner, but his best work lives on.

In "Bringing Up Baby", the leading lady is a ditzy, scatterbrained woman. However, no matter how bad she was, Katharine Hepburn's character was, down deep, a very sweet and lovable scatterbrain! This is what helped to make that movie a classic.

In "Lady in a Jam", however, the leading lady is ditzy and scatterbrained...but also is thoroughly self-absorbed and feels zero sense of responsibility for her actions because she has no conscience. As a result, I thoroughly hated Irene Dunne's character and strongly considered turning off the movie early into the story...she was that awful and easy to hate. Was I right in continuing to watch the movie?

When the story begins, the executor of an estate (Eugene Pallette) approaches the psychiatrist, Dr. Enright (Patric Knowles), about the woman he's been assigned to oversee. He's frustrated because the woman, though once rich, has spent herself into oblivion and nothing he says or does has any impact on her. Obviously he's concerned about the lady's mental competence.

Instead of investigating Jane Palmer directly, he indirectly watches her and then introduces himself after her chauffeur quits. After all, she hasn't paid him in months and she treats him like dirt. When Dr. Enright offers to drive her home, she insists she'll drive herself...even though she hasn't a license. However, she not only doesn't know how to drive, she simply doesn't care about the other drivers...and soon plows into two vehicles. She then refuses to show a license or insurance information and tells both drivers that it was their fault...and tries to drive off. The cop stops her, temporarily, but soon she leaves...with Enright driving her. He then announces he wants to be her new chauffeur...which doesn't make much sense since her actions behind the wheel and insanely extravagant spending clearly demonstrate she is incompetent*.

Once home, her executor announces she's broke and men are there to itemize her possessions for an auction. Despite the deputies showing their badges and agreeing with the man, Jane insists she's rich and demands everyone leave. Well, this amounts to nothing and soon she's living in an empty house...and blaming the executor for everything. Then, Enright announces who she is and she blathers on and on about how he and everyone else is unfair to her. Despite this, and after telling her off, he insists that he's going to stay and help her...and accompany her to some piece of land out west that she STILL owns.

This all is still relatively early in the film...and my hatred for Jane has only increased. Again, I had to resist the desire to turn it off and cut my losses. Apparently, I am a masochist so I kept watching. What follows doesn't get a lot better. She continues to treat everyone like dirt and is a thoroughly hateful character...so much so that I longed for the movie to end! What happens next? Who cares!

Rarely have I seen a movie that combines excellent actors with such a thoroughly awful script. You wonder why Dunne, in particular, agreed to do the picture, as her character was NOT likable despite everything and must have elicited a lot of dislike in the movie patrons. Overall, I'd rate this as one of the worst films Dunne ever made...perhaps THE worst. And, as such, I recommend you don't waste your time with it...like I did! And to imagine, this fine actress also made such classics as "Love Affair", "The Awful Truth" and "My Favorite Wife"!





* I am a trained psychotherapist...her actions CLEARLY demonstrate she is not competent and poses a serious danger to others in this one scene alone. No therapist would need to keep observing her in order to prove her incompetence...thus making the rest of the story irrelevant.

I was long awaiting this film as I love all things Irene Dunne but I must say I was disappointed. "Lady in a Jam" is a strange amalgam of screwball comedy and classic romance. It never seems to gel as either. I kept waiting for the film to pick up pace but it continues on at a slow, lackluster pace. There are the talents of character actors Eugene Pallette and Samuel S. Hinds to boost the film and leading man Patric Knowles is certainly handsome. But the movie just never really interests me. The only thing I can imagine is that Miss Dunne and her cast mates had an overriding interest in roughing it in Arizona, the site of its on location scenes. La Dunne is just as if not more beautiful when she goes "au naturel" as a gold prospector. She just glows. Jane Crawford, the little girl who plays "Strawberry" has the best role in the movie. The wisdom that she spouts to Irene Dunne's character is priceless. Ralph Bellamy as Dunne's hapless corn seed suitor is largely repeating the part he played opposite Miss Dunne in the much superior "The Awful Truth" five years earlier in 1937. I guess this movie would be okay if you're stuck inside on a rainy day or sick in bed with a bad cold.