Libeled Lady 1936

     The chief editor of the New York Evening Star Newspaper is Warren Haggerty.  He has been delaying his marriage to Gladys Benton because of problems his newspapers are facing.  Connie Allenbury is a very wealthy woman but she files a $5 million lawsuit.  She is angry because the newspaper printed that she is a marriage-breaker and the accusations are false.  Warren arranges for Bill Chandler to marry Gladys and Bill will arrange for Connie to unknowingly break up their marriage.  This will cause her to drop the lawsuit.

     Every time there are romantic schemes like this one, they seem to get into a muddle for everyone, they fail or there is a different outcome??  There are a LOT of funny moments and especially when William Powell is trying to fish with Myrna Loy and her father played by Walter Connolly.  Powell has a how to book with him and he has to grab it before it floats down the river where Myrna and Walter are fishing.  I liked the hairstyles and makeup of the women and the clothing of this period.  I also liked the cars.    3 ½* (I liked this movie)

98 min, Comedy directed by Jack Conway with Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Walter Connolly, Charley Grapewin, Cora Witherspoon, E.E. Clive, Bunny Beatty, Otto Yamaoka, Charles Trowbridge, Spencer Charters, George Chandler, William ‘Billy’ Benedict.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, 82% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 84 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* of 4* average user rating 4.55*, Slant Magazine 2* of 4*, Three Movie Buffs 4*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Sonora and MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  After the passing of Jean Harlow in 1937, she was dressed in the gown she wore in this film.  She was buried in Glendale’s Forest Lawn Cemetery.  This film and the 1932 film Grand Hotel were the few pictures to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture without receiving any other nominations?  The four stars in this film become close friends. William Powell gave up his usual habit of hiding out in his dressing room between scenes.  Spencer Tracey had a running gag he played on Myrna Loy.  He claimed that she had broken his heart when she recently married producer Arthur Hornblow Jr.  He set up a “I Hate Hornblow” table in the commissary reserved for men who claimed to have been spurned by Loy.  In a 1987 autobiography, Myrna Loy wrote that Libeled Lady was one of the best of the so-called screwball comedies.  This film earned $2.7 million at the box office with a net profit of $1,189,000.  There is another film with the same titled filmed in 2003.