Cain and Mabel (1936)
Clark Gable is great in most of his movies and this is almost no exception—and I couldn't wait for him to appear. The corny style and silly humor that gets the film going is so dated and painful I almost gave up. But I stuck to it, and I tried to get used to Marion Davies. In short, this is an "old-fashioned" kind of musical compared to the "new" style propelled by Astaire and Rogers at the same time.
The plot is great in the outline: a woman loses her waitressing job and a boxer is trying to get the attention of the world. They meet, and the sparks don't fly. But the pressures around them keep trying to get the two to ignite. Davies is "promoted" by a PR hack played by character actor Roscoe Karns, who is somewhere between funny and annoying. His exaggerated humor leaves nothing to the imagination, nowhere for the viewer to escape if it doesn't click.
Gable's PR handlers are more generic, but equally formulaic.
What makes things sometimes work is the interaction between the leads. While not billed as a screwball comedy, the elements are lined up here, especially the two leads at unbelievable odds and yet, somehow, you know they'll hook up. And there is the two- pronged plot element of wanting these two nice enough people to succeed—Davies as a dancer and Gable as a fighter.
The premise is that the careers of both will soar if they fall in love in the public eye. Well, they do, and then what?
Frankly, the singing styles and even the basic choreography is so simple and based in 1920s musicals (which I can't tolerate) and on Busby Berkely films from earlier in the decade, this movie was no fun to watch. If you like other musicals as much as I do (I'll watch Astaire and Rogers any day of the week), you might still have trouble with the acting styles, and the pushy jokes. Further, the basic premise of the two falling in love is stretched beyond the limit. The chemistry is just missing.
The man behind all these style decisions is the director, Lloyd Bacon, whose movies (in my experience) tend toward caricature and a handling of stories that seems almost like it's taken from teen novels. ("Oklahoma Kid" is the poster child for this.) He was often surrounded by great talent, and of course he has Gable here, as well as the great cinematographer, George Barnes.
So be warned. The high rating is a complete mystery. It's not that kind of classic.
Clark Gable is great in most of his movies and this is almost no exception—and I couldn't wait for him to appear. The corny style and silly humor that gets the film going is so dated and painful I almost gave up. But I stuck to it, and I tried to get used to Marion Davies. In short, this is an "old-fashioned" kind of musical compared to the "new" style propelled by Astaire and Rogers at the same time.
The plot is great in the outline: a woman loses her waitressing job and a boxer is trying to get the attention of the world. They meet, and the sparks don't fly. But the pressures around them keep trying to get the two to ignite. Davies is "promoted" by a PR hack played by character actor Roscoe Karns, who is somewhere between funny and annoying. His exaggerated humor leaves nothing to the imagination, nowhere for the viewer to escape if it doesn't click.
Gable's PR handlers are more generic, but equally formulaic.
What makes things sometimes work is the interaction between the leads. While not billed as a screwball comedy, the elements are lined up here, especially the two leads at unbelievable odds and yet, somehow, you know they'll hook up. And there is the two- pronged plot element of wanting these two nice enough people to succeed—Davies as a dancer and Gable as a fighter.
The premise is that the careers of both will soar if they fall in love in the public eye. Well, they do, and then what?
Frankly, the singing styles and even the basic choreography is so simple and based in 1920s musicals (which I can't tolerate) and on Busby Berkely films from earlier in the decade, this movie was no fun to watch. If you like other musicals as much as I do (I'll watch Astaire and Rogers any day of the week), you might still have trouble with the acting styles, and the pushy jokes. Further, the basic premise of the two falling in love is stretched beyond the limit. The chemistry is just missing.
The man behind all these style decisions is the director, Lloyd Bacon, whose movies (in my experience) tend toward caricature and a handling of stories that seems almost like it's taken from teen novels. ("Oklahoma Kid" is the poster child for this.) He was often surrounded by great talent, and of course he has Gable here, as well as the great cinematographer, George Barnes.
So be warned. The high rating is a complete mystery. It's not that kind of classic.