• William Wellman may have directed but it is also a David O. Selznick picture (the reason it is in color) and a Ben Hecht screenplay (wrote Notorious and about 100 other titles either credited or uncredited that are all well written) and one of his finest
  • Again- very rare for a film to be in Technicolor in 1937- this is the year of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Becky Sharp is 1935—even rarer for a comedy.
  • Being in color- we get Carole Lombard’s great red hair (and the camera dotes on her legs in every scene, too)
  • The opening credits with the little figurines is inspired

  • A newspaper comedy like Hectht’s The Front Page (and later remade into His Girl Friday)- cynical. Predicts Preston Sturges’ biting false worship satire in Hail the Conquering Hero
  • A standout laugh out loud moment at the 13 minute mark. Frederic March is a New York newspaperman visiting an unfriendly small town and everyone is giving him the cold shoulder. To add injury to insult as he’s walking down the street a little person runs out and bites his leg and then just as quickly, scurries away.
  • The talented cast gathered here is inspiring. March and Lombard (she wins the film) are sublime—but John Qualen with his “jumping jiminy” Swedish routine has a scene. Sig Ruman is here as well.
  • As they tour the NYC spots and she gets a hero’s welcome—it get a little repetitive- which shouldn’t happen in a 77 minute film
  • One of Lombard’s finest—she’s a comedic virtuoso here—she’s in total command- tragically died in 1942
  • There is one very nice tracking shot moving the camera on a dock obstructed by wood plank
  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 1937