Fans of Grant and Lombard might consider this a missed opportunity of pairing two of the best comic actors of the era in some outlandish screwball comedy, but I doubt they would be upset for too long as they combine more than satisfactorily in straight roles in this emotional melodrama directed by John Cromwell.
Lombard is the recently widowed magazine illustrator with an infant daughter who Grant bumps into at the holiday home she's renting for the season but which he used to own. He's the minted son of rich parents but as we soon learn is trapped in a loveless marriage with society hostess Kay Francis. The two fall hard for each other before he eventually tells her his situation. Now he has the excuse he's wanted to finally attempt to divorce the scheming Francis who we learn only married rich kid Cary for his money and status, heartlessly ditching her true love who we discover committed suicide immediately afterwards.
Francis is clever, as without any kids in the marriage, she cosies up warmly to her in-laws, blinding them as to her real motivations and intentions and keeping them onside while she plans to milk Grant for all he's worth. She's also skilled in the dark arts as she manoeuvres events to try to sideline Lombard but when Grant falls seriously ill and ends up in a cheap hotel on Christmas Eve, the responses of the two women will determine pretty much how the movie ends.
I enjoyed the interplay between Grant and Lombard, especially the latter who I've not always appreciated in some of her other movies. She often has to act here without words, which must have been a rarity for her and shows considerable depth in her performance as the down-but-never-quite-out other woman. Kay Francis, a huge star in the early part of the decade, makes the most of her return to prominence with a strong portrayal of the scheming gold-digger wife.
There are a few missed beats in the story, like the habitual re-appearances of Francis's best friend, who, married as she is, wantonly throws herself at Grant, a weak attempt at comedy when Grant bumps into a like-minded drinking companion on his own unhappy Christmas Eve and Lombard's strange encounter with a leery hotel manager at the seedy hotel Grant collapses in but the rest of it is believable and I thought an interesting insight into marital conventions of the day.
Grant and Lombard never did make that comedy together but at least they made this and there's plenty of compensation in that.
Lombard is the recently widowed magazine illustrator with an infant daughter who Grant bumps into at the holiday home she's renting for the season but which he used to own. He's the minted son of rich parents but as we soon learn is trapped in a loveless marriage with society hostess Kay Francis. The two fall hard for each other before he eventually tells her his situation. Now he has the excuse he's wanted to finally attempt to divorce the scheming Francis who we learn only married rich kid Cary for his money and status, heartlessly ditching her true love who we discover committed suicide immediately afterwards.
Francis is clever, as without any kids in the marriage, she cosies up warmly to her in-laws, blinding them as to her real motivations and intentions and keeping them onside while she plans to milk Grant for all he's worth. She's also skilled in the dark arts as she manoeuvres events to try to sideline Lombard but when Grant falls seriously ill and ends up in a cheap hotel on Christmas Eve, the responses of the two women will determine pretty much how the movie ends.
I enjoyed the interplay between Grant and Lombard, especially the latter who I've not always appreciated in some of her other movies. She often has to act here without words, which must have been a rarity for her and shows considerable depth in her performance as the down-but-never-quite-out other woman. Kay Francis, a huge star in the early part of the decade, makes the most of her return to prominence with a strong portrayal of the scheming gold-digger wife.
There are a few missed beats in the story, like the habitual re-appearances of Francis's best friend, who, married as she is, wantonly throws herself at Grant, a weak attempt at comedy when Grant bumps into a like-minded drinking companion on his own unhappy Christmas Eve and Lombard's strange encounter with a leery hotel manager at the seedy hotel Grant collapses in but the rest of it is believable and I thought an interesting insight into marital conventions of the day.
Grant and Lombard never did make that comedy together but at least they made this and there's plenty of compensation in that.