William Powell plays a swindler who fell in love in "Man of the World." His role was virtually the same as the one in "Ladies' Man." In both he plays a suave, high society, ladies' man who leeches off of other people.
In "Man of the World" he played Michael Trevor, a disgraced newspaperman from America who relocated to Paris in order to start anew. In Paris he earned his living conning unfaithful businessmen who were abroad without their wives.
When he conned Harry Taylor (Guy Kibbee) out of $2000 that gave him the opportunity to meet Mary Kendall (Carole Lombard), Harry's niece. It was clear that Michael was instantly attracted to Mary. He would have the chance to spend quality time with Mary when her significant other, Frank Reynolds (Lawrence Gray), went out of town on business. Frank was thrilled to leave Mary in capable hands, which I don't get.
Sidebar.
I've noticed in a few movies now that high society men are totally fine with other men entertaining their wives and girlfriends. I've seen it in "Ladies' Man" and other movies where wealthy aristocratic men, too busy to entertain their wives, allow another man to do it for them like it's a great relief. I don't know what school of thought that's from, but I'm certainly not a student of it.
When Frank left town and Michael took Mary out to show her a good time, the predictable happened: they fell in love. I remember thinking, when Frank remarked he'd only be gone ten days, "It only takes one day for you to lose your girlfriend." And sure enough he lost her on day one.
Michael had a problem though: his current occupation. His grifting partner, Irene Harper (Wynne Gibson), wasn't going to let Michael walk off the job because he was in love. For starters, he was supposed to be using Mary for a big payday. Added to that is the fact Irene still had feelings for Michael.
None of that mattered to Michael. He was going to discontinue his con, admit his past, and tell Mary he loved her.
He did just that and she reciprocated. Not only did she reciprocate, she asserted that his past didn't matter to her at all. At this point I had all kinds of NSFW names for Mary intimating just how foolish she was.
You mean to tell me that the past of a man you've known for one full day doesn't matter because you love him? Woman, you don't even know how deep or dark his past is! You don't even know if Michael is his real name!
This happens so often in older movies especially. Women quickly fall in love (which makes me believe that they don't know what love is or I don't know what love is) and don't bother to vet the guy at all. And if he reveals something disparaging about himself, then it's a wrap. He must be the one. Only a good man would open up and reveal the skeletons in his closet. Apparently, men didn't begin seriously lying until the latter part of the 20th century.
So Mary proclaimed her love for Michael while also stating how she didn't love Frank. In addition, whatever past crimes Michael may have committed, they're over now. His past was his past, even if it was as recent as yesterday. SMH.
The relationship fell through anyway after Irene bent Michael's ear. She laid it down plainly how his past is a lot more sordid and impossible to run from than he could've explained to Mary in a five minute conversation. As Michael pondered on Irene's words he came to the same conclusion and broke it off with Mary in a rather cold manner. For Irene's part she got to be Michael's sorry second choice. She didn't seem to mind.
As for me, I minded. I minded how little everyone seemed to mind. How little Frank minded Mary being entertained by Michael. How little Mary minded what Michael was. How little Irene minded being an afterthought. If you can't respect the characters, it's hard to respect or like the movie, and I didn't like this movie.
In "Man of the World" he played Michael Trevor, a disgraced newspaperman from America who relocated to Paris in order to start anew. In Paris he earned his living conning unfaithful businessmen who were abroad without their wives.
When he conned Harry Taylor (Guy Kibbee) out of $2000 that gave him the opportunity to meet Mary Kendall (Carole Lombard), Harry's niece. It was clear that Michael was instantly attracted to Mary. He would have the chance to spend quality time with Mary when her significant other, Frank Reynolds (Lawrence Gray), went out of town on business. Frank was thrilled to leave Mary in capable hands, which I don't get.
Sidebar.
I've noticed in a few movies now that high society men are totally fine with other men entertaining their wives and girlfriends. I've seen it in "Ladies' Man" and other movies where wealthy aristocratic men, too busy to entertain their wives, allow another man to do it for them like it's a great relief. I don't know what school of thought that's from, but I'm certainly not a student of it.
When Frank left town and Michael took Mary out to show her a good time, the predictable happened: they fell in love. I remember thinking, when Frank remarked he'd only be gone ten days, "It only takes one day for you to lose your girlfriend." And sure enough he lost her on day one.
Michael had a problem though: his current occupation. His grifting partner, Irene Harper (Wynne Gibson), wasn't going to let Michael walk off the job because he was in love. For starters, he was supposed to be using Mary for a big payday. Added to that is the fact Irene still had feelings for Michael.
None of that mattered to Michael. He was going to discontinue his con, admit his past, and tell Mary he loved her.
He did just that and she reciprocated. Not only did she reciprocate, she asserted that his past didn't matter to her at all. At this point I had all kinds of NSFW names for Mary intimating just how foolish she was.
You mean to tell me that the past of a man you've known for one full day doesn't matter because you love him? Woman, you don't even know how deep or dark his past is! You don't even know if Michael is his real name!
This happens so often in older movies especially. Women quickly fall in love (which makes me believe that they don't know what love is or I don't know what love is) and don't bother to vet the guy at all. And if he reveals something disparaging about himself, then it's a wrap. He must be the one. Only a good man would open up and reveal the skeletons in his closet. Apparently, men didn't begin seriously lying until the latter part of the 20th century.
So Mary proclaimed her love for Michael while also stating how she didn't love Frank. In addition, whatever past crimes Michael may have committed, they're over now. His past was his past, even if it was as recent as yesterday. SMH.
The relationship fell through anyway after Irene bent Michael's ear. She laid it down plainly how his past is a lot more sordid and impossible to run from than he could've explained to Mary in a five minute conversation. As Michael pondered on Irene's words he came to the same conclusion and broke it off with Mary in a rather cold manner. For Irene's part she got to be Michael's sorry second choice. She didn't seem to mind.
As for me, I minded. I minded how little everyone seemed to mind. How little Frank minded Mary being entertained by Michael. How little Mary minded what Michael was. How little Irene minded being an afterthought. If you can't respect the characters, it's hard to respect or like the movie, and I didn't like this movie.