What looks like it could have been a sequel to a movie that was never made, this delightfully funny screwball comedy was Preston Sturges' follow-up to "The Lady Eve" and every bit as memorable. The credits show the comical rush rush for Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert to get to the alter and several questions are left unanswered concerning a frantic maid and a woman locked in a closet.
This fast-forwards five years and they are practically broke, on the verge of losing their apartment. Thanks to the sudden presence of weenie king Robert Dudley, Colbert is able to pay the rent and other bills then leaves for Palm Beach to get a divorce, simply because she thinks that if she were to separate, she could find a wealthy man she could marry and give him the money he needs to find his invention.
McCrea chases her out and then to Penn station (in a very frenetic sequence that is noisy but very funny), and that leads to an even noisier sequence involving a group of elderly hunters along with their howling dogs. When Colbert encounters Rudy Vallee in the sleeper car, her luck seems to change, and the seemingly lowkey Vallee ends up being one of the wealthiest men in the world, taking her on a delightful shopping spree, hysterically shown by the log book he keeps of his expenses.
The story gets wackier with the introduction of his much married sister, Mary Astor, and her current squeeze "Toto" (Sig Arno), and McCrea showing up out of nowhere messes up her plans but there's a lot of twists and turns and a delightful twist at the end that not only resolves those pesky little questions from the beginning but adds on the possibility of a follow-up that I wouldn't have minded.
While some viewers might find the premise absurd and the film far too loud for their tastes, there's so much here to get laughs that it could easily have been called "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Character actors like Franklin Pangborn, Jack Norton, Roscoe Area, William Demarest, Jimmy Conlin and Chester Conklin show up to aide in the wackiness, making this one of the most fresh and original comedies ever made which should never be remade because it would be a disaster.
This fast-forwards five years and they are practically broke, on the verge of losing their apartment. Thanks to the sudden presence of weenie king Robert Dudley, Colbert is able to pay the rent and other bills then leaves for Palm Beach to get a divorce, simply because she thinks that if she were to separate, she could find a wealthy man she could marry and give him the money he needs to find his invention.
McCrea chases her out and then to Penn station (in a very frenetic sequence that is noisy but very funny), and that leads to an even noisier sequence involving a group of elderly hunters along with their howling dogs. When Colbert encounters Rudy Vallee in the sleeper car, her luck seems to change, and the seemingly lowkey Vallee ends up being one of the wealthiest men in the world, taking her on a delightful shopping spree, hysterically shown by the log book he keeps of his expenses.
The story gets wackier with the introduction of his much married sister, Mary Astor, and her current squeeze "Toto" (Sig Arno), and McCrea showing up out of nowhere messes up her plans but there's a lot of twists and turns and a delightful twist at the end that not only resolves those pesky little questions from the beginning but adds on the possibility of a follow-up that I wouldn't have minded.
While some viewers might find the premise absurd and the film far too loud for their tastes, there's so much here to get laughs that it could easily have been called "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Character actors like Franklin Pangborn, Jack Norton, Roscoe Area, William Demarest, Jimmy Conlin and Chester Conklin show up to aide in the wackiness, making this one of the most fresh and original comedies ever made which should never be remade because it would be a disaster.