Robert Armstrong does a fine job heading up this familiar portrait of an old-time newspaper office, with all the cliches, stereotypes and corny wise cracks preserved intact, for a Talkie now nearly a century old. Carole Lombard has a relatively uninteresting role as his fellow reporter wife (threatening him with divorce due to his drunkenness), and a talented but obscure supporting cast fill out the canvas for a fun hour.
Based on a George Brooks stage play, and not opened out even a little bit for the big screen, the show has colorful if hokey characters, ranging from the old skinflint of an editor, the meddling advertising chief, an overweight advice columnist lady giving Armstrong a hard time, a poetic colleague who is always inebriated and a smoothie gangster who Robert is out to expose to get the story of a lifetime.
The set-up footage of lighthearted jokes and jibes lets director Leo McCarey pile up the laughs for what seems like a long time, before the show gets serious with murder, framing of Armstrong and some snappy (if improbable) plot twists to wrap up the entire story in a neat little package. For a modern audience, the early talkie seems stilted, with its master-shot photography (no closeups allowed) and static quality, but its earthiness is still a treat.
Based on a George Brooks stage play, and not opened out even a little bit for the big screen, the show has colorful if hokey characters, ranging from the old skinflint of an editor, the meddling advertising chief, an overweight advice columnist lady giving Armstrong a hard time, a poetic colleague who is always inebriated and a smoothie gangster who Robert is out to expose to get the story of a lifetime.
The set-up footage of lighthearted jokes and jibes lets director Leo McCarey pile up the laughs for what seems like a long time, before the show gets serious with murder, framing of Armstrong and some snappy (if improbable) plot twists to wrap up the entire story in a neat little package. For a modern audience, the early talkie seems stilted, with its master-shot photography (no closeups allowed) and static quality, but its earthiness is still a treat.