The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

A William Powell/Jean Arthur murder caper from 1936. Think of it as a companion piece to Powell's more popular Thin Man films but w/o the booze, Asta (their lovable pooch) or Myrna Loy. Powell plays a well-to-do pathologist who's tasked to find out who knocked off a horse jockey. When the bodies begin piling up & at one point he's implicated in the murders, Powell, w/ample comedic assistance by the peerless Arthur, must find the culprit before another big race is upon them. Not really much different than Powell's signature crime series, one wonders why this outing wasn't rewritten & released as a Thin Man movie. Oh well, if you can't get enough of this pair, then this film'll do it for ya.

I've seen the Thin Man series -- Powell and Loy are definitely great, but there is something awfully sweet about Powell and Arthur's chemistry in this flick. Jean Arthur SHINES when she looks at Powell. There is an unmistakable undercurrent buzzing between them. This film may not have the wit of the Thin Man series, but undeniably makes up for it in charm. While I watched it, I thought for sure Powell was carrying on an off-screen affair with Arthur. My friends thought the same. This is one film where I wish I could step back in time (to schmooze and lock lips with Powell!) There seems to be no end to his lovable playful smirks! Powell's character, Lawrence Bradford, is probably the closest thing to the "perfect man." Okay, this is sounding way too gushy, but I can't help myself.

RKO studios decided to borrow both William Powell from MGM and Jean Arthur from Columbia, for one of their more big budget efforts to cash in on the popularity of The Thin Man. They succeeded to some degree.

A lot of folks forget that in addition to and earlier than Nick Charles, Bill Powell also played in a few Philo Vance films in the title role. So by this time he was pretty well set in the role. Doctor Bradford is not doing as many liquid lunches as Nick Charles, but the basic blasé Nick is still there. One difference is that while Nick Charles married an heiress, Doctor Bradford works for a living as a physician. That helps in his avocation of detective and in fact it does in this film.

He's got two murders to solve. A jockey falls off a horse coming into the homestretch of a big race and dies for no apparent reason. The trainer suspects something afoot, but he's bumped off by the more conventional method of a bullet. This is after he comes to Bill Powell for help.

Myrna Loy was a more steadying influence on Bill Powell than Jean Arthur was. Arthur plays it as more of a dizzy dame than Loy did. But it works here and she and Powell have good chemistry.

The ever dependable James Gleason is the police inspector in the Sam Levene/Nat Pendleton role. All they needed here was Asta and possibly Eric Blore as Powell's butler was essaying that part.

If Powell and Arthur were signed at this studio we might have seen a whole slew of Bradford films.

... and yet it still came out pretty entertaining. It is obvious that RKO is trying to imitate the Thin Man series over at MGM, and they did pony up the money to borrow William Powell from MGM as the sleuth/surgeon in this one - yes I said surgeon. The thing is, this one has almost exactly the same skeleton of a plot outline as RKO's "The Star of Midnight" from the year before where Powell is the sleuth and Ginger Rogers is the girl that from the beginning claims she is going to marry him. This film even borrows the music from "Star of Midnight".

This time it is Jean Arthur as the ex-wife who is awfully chummy with Powell's character, Dr. Bradford, considering they are divorced. What caused the break-up? Another man/woman? Money problems? Bored with each other? Nope. Just that the ex-wife involved the doctor in all of her murder mysteries to the point he was more her co-writer than doctor. Slim reasons for a divorce, thus the chumminess and the easy camaraderie.

Paula Bradford comes to town on a visit just after a jockey has dropped dead as he was about to win his race. Paula uses a visit from the horse's trainer, Mike North, who believes the jockey was murdered, to get Dr. Bradford involved in a murder case AGAIN. Now overall this film is great fun. One of the problems is that the great Jean Arthur is really miscast as the ex-wife. All the best qualities of Miss Arthur, earthiness and toughness, aren't allowed to do more than peak through with this stilted rather goofy character.

Also, the story gets quite confusing to the point that it does hold your interest if you can keep pace with it. Also, casting James Gleason, usually the smartest guy in the room, as a cop that can't see that Dr. Bradford has been obviously set up for a second murder for which he had no motive and no weapon just seems outrageous. Even as Dr. Bradford worries about being arrested for this murder, it is impossible to join him in his fears because the set up is just so apparent. Oh, and how do you further confuse an otherwise confusing story? Cast five actors with pencil-thin mustaches that all look the same!

And yet it's worth a look, because of the stars, because of the pace, and because of the rather outrageous ending. I'd recommend it.

William Powell is a doctor dealing with a murder and an ex-wife in "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford," also starring Jean Arthur, Eric Blore, and James Gleason.

It seems that Powell had chemistry going with just about any woman with whom he was teamed. Though he and Myrna Loy were the perfect screen couple, the actor made a couple of other "Thin Man" type movies, one with Ginger Rogers and this one with Arthur, both to very good effect.

Somehow one never gets tired of seeing Powell as a witty, debonair professional and "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford" is no exception. The ex-Mrs. B has Mr. B served with a subpoena for back alimony and then moves back in to help him solve a mystery that she's dragged him into. And this isn't the first time she's done that!

It almost seems as though there was a "Bradford" film before this one or that this was intended to be the first of a series of films - Mr. B complains that his mystery-writer ex is constantly bringing him into cases.

This time, a jockey riding the favorite horse in a raise mysteriously falls off the horse and dies right before the finish line.

The solution of the case is kind of outlandish but it's beside the point. The point is the banter between the couple and the interference of the ex-Mrs. B. Jean Arthur is quite glamorous in her role and very funny.

However, with an actress who comes off as brainy as Arthur does, the humor seems intentional rather than featherbrained.

I suspect the writer had something else in mind - say, the wacky side of Carole Lombard. When Arthur hears that the police have arrived, she says, "Ah, it's probably about my alimony. I've been waiting for the police to take a hand in it," it's more of a rib to Powell rather than a serious statement. It still works well, and it shows how a good actress can make a part her own.

Definitely worth watching, as William Powell and Jean Arthur always were.