This was the last of the pictures written by, directed by and produced by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which they made at Paramount's old Astoria Studio in New York. Doing everything themselves - without any criticism or input from anyone else, they could become absurdly self/indulgent like in their THE SCOUNDREL or sometimes brilliant like the wonderful CRIMES WITHOUT PASSION. This one is surprisingly ordinary, it's a straight, almost formulaic typical mid-1930s comedy. The writing is as you'd expect, top notch but there are no particular artistic traits which stand out. There's nothing which distinguishes this, it's reasonably entertaining but feels just like B movie anyone could have made.
You couldn't imagine this story being filmed ten years later. Senator McCarthy would have been frothing at the mouth! It's about a bored heiress becoming fascinated with a group of student communists (particularly one of them.) The young communists are presented as innocent naive idealists, pompous but well-meaning. There's some long altruistic speeches, some emotional polemics against corruption and a peculiarly gushing amount of praise for Stalin's utopian paradise. Clearly the horrors of Stalin's regime were still unknown back in 1936. Knowing what we know now however, the students' unopposed sympathetic views, even though they're clearly meant to be seen as childishly naive, feels a little uncomfortable.
Hecht and MacArthur didn't generally use established Hollywood A listers to star in their films. Being based in New York gave actors from the theatre scene there the opportunity to become movie stars. Because Hecht + MacArthur were not experienced directors, the ingrained theatrically trained style of acting of some of these young actors creeps in. Naturalism and authentic characterisation are not plaudits this picture can claim.
There's got to have been a story to explain how Mary 'Mimsy' Taylor got a lead role in this. She was both a very famous socialite from a very high society background and also a very famous model. One thing she evidently was not was an actress. Although Mindy plays a character which is essentially herself, called Bindy, a fabulously rich heiress looking for a purpose in life, she just can't make herself seem natural. Her awkward performance isn't plagued with over-theatricalism, it's just not very good. Her style of acting isn't too dissimilar to those who play dead bodies in medical dramas. No, I am being over critical, she's not that bad - she's just a bit 'daytime soap' grade.
This picture is quite fun but overall it's a mediocre movie. These guys were amongst the top writers Hollywood has ever seen but from watching this "just ok" film, you'd never know. Maybe running a studio, producing, directing and writing over-stretched them? After this they went back to 'just' writing.
