Woman Chases Man

Woman Chases Man (1937)

** (out of 4)

Screwball comedy has a father (Charles Winninger) trying to get $100,000 from his son (Joel McCrea) but when the son refuses the father hires a young woman (Miriam Hopkins) to try and lure it from him. This is a rather strange film because it doesn't work as a comedy at all. In fact, I don't recall laughing a single time but the two leads keep things moving along and makes for a great couple but it's a shame the screenplay doesn't do them justice. McCrea comes off a tad bit too straight-forward but this works well against the more free-spirited Hopkins who is incredibly charming in her role. The supporting cast doesn't add too much and the ending is very predictable but fans of the two stars might be interested.

Woman (Miriam Hopkins as Virginia) chases Man (Joel McCrea as Kenneth) for father (Charles Winninger as B.J.). Woman wants to get Man to invest some of deceased mother's money in father's business venture; but, father is notorious for losing money on hair-brained schemes. Little does anyone know, but real evil schemers are posing as Man's best friends in order to steal his fortune...

The production looks engaging, but the story fails to engage. The players don't play drunk well. Notable as Broderick Crawford's first appearance - as gopher "Hunk"; other than running errands, Mr. Crawford gets pinned to the floor by Mr. McCrea.

*** Woman Chases Man (4/28/37) John G. Blystone ~ Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, Charles Winninger, Broderick Crawford

It's a minor screwball comedy and lacks big moments for sure, but Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea are cute, the dialogue is playful, and it zips along well enough in its 71 minutes.

Not sure why the previous reviewers here didn't like this charming Joel McCrae / Miriam Hopikins comedy. The dialog was tight, witty and clever. I usually don't like slapstick comedies, but the 'slapstick' parts in this were just the right amount to make it work perfectly. Miriam Hopkins was excellent in this - very Carole Lombard-like - with rapid-fire wit, yes, a little over-the-top, but it worked! Joel McCrae was superb and the chemistry between the two really worked. The story may not have been the most original, even for 1937, but it held my attention from start to finish. Very satisfying and highly recommended. Definitely worth seeing, especially if you're fans of either star.

Miriam Hopkins is Virginia Travis, the starving, ambitious, headstrong architect trying to get an assignment from broke millionaire BJ Nolan (Charles Winninger). Joel McCrea is Nolan's sensible, conservative son, who must be convinced to help Virginia on a scheme. Note Erik Rhodes as "Henri Saffron".. .he does the same, silly foreign accent that he did as the interloper in all those Fred Astaire films. There are some clever lines in the script, but a lot of it is just over- the- top sight gags and three stooges-type pratfall humor. Much of the time, it feels like the timing is off, or something. Some bad editing in several places, where scenes are held out too long, right before or after a film cut. This was one of the last films directed by John Blystone - he died the next year. According to IMDb, there were numerous writers working on this (fixing it?), including Dorothy Parker and Ben Hecht. It's watchable, but can't give it very high marks.