The Awful Truth - 1937 ****

Notably Cary Grant's first 'screwball' film, it's certainly a funny one and is now in the annuals of the top hundred comedies. Grant and Dunne play a soon to be divorced couple. Despite not wanting to stay together, they each go out their way to sabotage the other's new relationships leading to some hilarious moments that only Leo McCarey could envisage. Ralph Bellamy is rather good as Dunne's new love interest, but it is Grant who fills the screen with wit and charm, the only way he knows how.

My Favourite Wife - 1940 ****

An extremely funny but tender rom-com from Leo McCarey where Cary Grant marries a new wife before finding out that his old one isn't as dead as he thought. Irene Dunne has been shipwrecked on an island for seven years and finally comes home. Her happiness is blighted however when she finds out that Cary Grant has just married someone else after declaring her legally dead! Mix ups ensue for a veritable banquet of screwball comedy.

Adam's Rib - 1949 *****

I'm ashamed to say I've never seen 'Adam's Rib' the whole way through, something kept putting me off. Probably Katherine Hepburn who grows more annoying with each film that I see her in. Sometimes I've even had to turn a film off because she is taking up too much screen time. Never fear, she was hilarious in this and complimented Spencer Tracey so very well. 'Adam's Rib' is one of a number of films Tracey and Hepburn did together and you can tell by now how comfortable they are together. Their screen chemistry is perfect, rivaling another of my favourite couples - William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Both act as rival lawyers, defending and prosecuting Judy Holliday who tried to shoot her husband after discovering him with another woman. Tracey believes her guilty of attempted murder full stop, whereas Hepburn takes the sympathetic side of a hen-pecked wife who discovers her husband is an adulterer.
Initially able to separate work from home, the two start off well, but as time goes on, they both become frustrated with each other at court, each believing the other will jeopardize their chances of winning the case which then spills into their home life. The film is fast-paced, intelligent screwball at it's strongest.

Twentieth Century - 1934 ***

I think Howard Hawks is an amazing director, but I can't say that this was one of the better comedies of the 1930s. Carole Lombard is ravishing with a quick wit (very like Jean Harlow) and John Barrymore has always been one of my favourite old - school actors, but I just felt there was something lacking in this film. It was a bit over the top and it didn't cause me to laugh nearly as much as 'Bringing Up Baby' or 'My Man Godfrey.' I guess the story was quite amusing and you get a snapshot of what it's like to be behind the scenes of the theatre but other than that it wouldn't be one I would rush to watch again.

Hold Your Man - 1933 ****

A great film. Jean Harlow can never be in a bad film and I think she knew this by the time she starred in 'Hold Your Man.' By this time her social life was constantly in the tabloids and she was one of the most talked about stars of the early 1930s. So basically we know for sure that if Harlow is in something then it's going to be great.

In this snappy picture she plays Ruby, a wisecracking and smarmy girl who bumps into con Clark Gable whilst he is running away from his latest scheme (well to be precise he runs in on her in the bath!) and she hides him when the police come looking. Gable is also smooth talking and the pair hit it off immediately, bouncing off jokes and insults at each other as fast as Grant and Russell in 'His Girl Friday'. However after a plan of his goes wrong, Ruby gets blamed and taken down and placed in a penitentiary for 'fallen women.'

Harlow looks absolutely stunning in every scene, and her presence lights up the whole shot. She has this amazing quality whilst acting that means you can't take your eyes off her. A bit like Monroe. She also has some lovely costumes. Harlow was a national treasure.

This is one of a number of films that Gable and Harlow did together and I can't wait to see the first one they did (Red Headed Woman).

PS What I love about films like this is how much they incapsulate the time period they were filmed in. You really get to see what the city and the restaurants/bars, vehicles etc looked like and so from that aspect it's good to have as a keepsake of how the world has changed.