Double Harness

"He always has a drink," said my wife. She was speaking, of course, of William Powell's various characters, and I observed that he was always wealthy. Was he typecast? That is a question for seventy-years-ago; today, we just enjoy his work.

And it starred William Powell. (Isn't that enough?) In DOUBLE HARNESS, Powell plays John Fletcher, a playboy millionaire who is targeted for marriage by Joan Colby (Ann Harding). She gets her man, and this turns out to be to his immediate benefit. She gets him interested in running the company he inherited, and with her help, he's quite successful at it. He's a savvy guy, but she's clearly the woman behind the successful man. (Yes, such a thing still exists, some seventy years after.) Joan's sister Valerie (Lucille Browne) is something of a ditz with spending proclivities beyond her means. This leads to a disaster of a sort, but it's nothing Joan cannot handle.

The ending, which I shan't divulge, left me with a few questions, but the answers were not necessary and I was pleased with the film. William Powell fans, you don't want to miss the master at work.