Now Playing: "When Ladies Meet" (1941)

"I've discovered it doesn't pay to be capable.  Husbands don't approve."

 So says Greer Garson's character, a much put-upon wife (was there any other kind?) of a cheating husband who was having a fling with Joan Crawford's character.  While Joan had marvelously played the other woman in 1939's stellar The Women, in this 1941 MGM offering she's a more kind, sympathetic character - - although it beats me why she'd be pining over Herbert Marshall's publisher when Robert Taylor is just begging her to marry him.


When Ladies Meet was a successful 1932 stage play by Rachel Crowthers and an equally successful 1933 MGM Pre-Code, in which Myrna Loy, Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, and Frank Morgan  play the parts that Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Robert Taylor and Herbert Marshall helm in MGM's 1941 version.

Mary and Jimmy.  In an Adrian creation, this is what Mary wears to a book signing

"The only real unhappiness in life is losing a man."

Joan portrays Mary Howard, a novelist with then advanced and modern ideas about love and marriage -- maybe because she's in love with her married publisher, Rogers Woodruff (Herbert Marshall).  Mary's current work-in-progress is teeming with originality - - her heroine is in love with a married man.  In Mary's mind and world, the only logical thing to do in such a circumstance is to lure Rogers away from his wife, Claire (Greer Garson).  After all, all is fair in love and war, even if you are batting against Garson.    Or Crawford.

Mary only has eyes for Rogers

Mary has a longtime friend named Jimmy (Robert Taylor) who is madly in love with her.  Even with her cheaters, Mary is so blinded by Rogers that she simply cannot see Jimmy as anything other than a dear friend.  When he chances to meet Rogers' wife, he invites her along to a weekend party hosted by mutual friend Bridget Drake (Spring Byington), without telling Mary or their host exactly who Claire is.  That leads to the title of this film - - When Ladies Meet.  Mary finds that the wife of her amour is not exactly the woman she envisioned or hoped for.

You can't watch and review this film without comparing it to the 1933 version, which maybe isn't fair to either one.  Although the Production Code came into effect after the 1933 version, the remake was fairly similar, albeit a bit more meaty.  The biggest differences, at least in my opinion, is between the two Mrs. Woodruffs and the two Marys.  1933 Mary seems more matter-of-fact and cutthroat than the 1941 Mary, which is interesting, given that Myrna Loy (1933) is often thought of as more compassionate while Joan Crawford (1941) is more easily seen as a maneater, to put it frankly.  1933's Claire Woodruff is portrayed as a rather timid woman who has nothing other than her marriage, with Ann Harding perfectly cast in the part.  With Garson portraying Claire in this version, she's not only much (much) further away from being timid and rather dowdy but she's so self-assured and independent, there's no doubt she would kick Rogers around and over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Amazing star power and fashion - Crawford, Garson, and Byington

"Death isn't nature's greatest mistake; falling in love is."

Rogers, Mary and Bridget, who can't hide her laughter over either
Mary's hat or her choice in men

Joan is wonderful, as almost always, in the part of Mary, even if she is a bit dense over Jimmy.  While the earlier version leaves no doubt who the audience's sympathy should be with, in this version Joan's Mary is nowhere close to her Crystal Allen of The Women.  This Mary is clearly already having some rumblings of conscience before Jimmy shows up, with Claire in tow, for the weekend party.  She comes off as more warm and humane than Loy's version of Mary.  And as a Crawford fan, I must say that Joan looks absolutely radiant and gorgeous here.

Even gardening calls for high fashion! 

Robert Taylor, in a departure from his usually dramatic roles, is charming as the lovesick (and sometimes drunk) friend-zoned role in which Robert Montgomery specialized during the 1930s.  And like Montgomery, Taylor is dashing in a suit.  

Herbert Marshall was always a solid, dependable actor and he delivers here in what's basically a thankless part.  I mean, he's married to Greer Garson, who is charismatic and charming, and is a serial philanderer.  So yeah, we're not going to feel a whole lot of sympathy for him.

As we have to wonder why Joan/Mary would choose Herbert/Rogers over the far more loyal (and single) Robert/Jimmy, we also have to wonder why Greer's Claire would opt to stay with a husband who is a clear womanizer.  She's beautiful, charming, can speak French; surely she could have her pick of men.  It's a mystery.

The scene in which Joan and Greer, neither knowing who the other is, have a frank discussion about whether a husband can be in love with his wife and another woman, is brilliantly done, especially the part where Greer's Claire talks about how much work it takes for love and staying in love.

Claire and Mary talk shop -- and husbands

Spring Byington, as the wealthy see-no-evil, hear-no-evil drama queen Bridget, steals the show between her loose tongue, Freudian slips and hysterics over the thunderstorm.  Byington portrayed Bridget in the original stage version but MGM opted to recast the part in 1933, as Byington was not a "name."  By 1941, she had proven her mettle and she is an absolute gem here, reminding me very much of characters you seen in screwball comedies.  

The plotline is hardly original, maybe less so since it's a remake, but the star power in this flick, along with Cedric Gibbons' set designs (he also did the designs in the 1933 offering) and Adrian's amazing costuming that flatters Crawford and Garson make When Ladies Meet worth watching.   When Ladies Meet is generally not a deep thinker but it's a rewarding way to spend a rainy afternoon.


When Ladies Meet is shown on TCM and is available on DVD for purchase.

Bridget's entry into the sunken living room of her country home

Doesn't everyone have a backyard like Bridget's?  That's a pool, by the way. 

Now Playing: "Double Harness" (1933)

As fair warning, spoilers lay ahead!

"Love?  Marriage has got nothing to do with love.  Marriage is a business.  At least, it's a woman's business. And love is an emotion. A man doesn't let emotion interfere with his business. And if more women would learn not to let emotion interfere with theirs, fewer of them would end up in the divorce court."

When the following lines are uttered by our heroine in the first ten minutes of the movie, you know it's going to be good.

Double Harness isn't particularly well known today and that's a damn shame because it's a wonderful insight into the modern woman's thinking in 1933 and an honest look at marriage without the convenience (or inconvenience) of love. It's got some darn good performances to boot.

Ann Harding receives top billing as Joan Colby, a very practical woman who, given her father's financial losses, believes she needs to let her head and not her heart rule any matrimonial decisions.  She has her cap set on John Fletcher (William Powell), a shipping magnate who is debonair, dashing and a playboy.  He has the financial wherewithal to make Joan's life comfortable; unfortunately he also has a regular Saturday night kind of thing named Monica Page.

Joan and her elaborate nightie

Joan, whom it seems has not only been hitting the town with John but also possibly the sheets, comes up with a surefire scheme to nab her prince.  She arranges to have her father show up at John's apartment and catch Joan in her very frilly nightie.  Qué scandal!  The proper thing to do at the time and in their social circle was to marry.  John agrees and he and Joan make an arrangement to remain married, for appearances, for six months.  He then promptly takes up where he left off with Monica Page.

Joan, however, has been lying to herself for months.  She is in love with John and was hoping for a "real" marriage.  Because of that, and because she's a genuinely nice and caring person, she's been working at increasing his business.  Like most magnates and "gentlemen" of the time, movie-wise, he never seems to work.

John needs a drink after the Colonel catches him

Joan's younger sister, Valerie, throws a major wrench in the works.  Valerie is Joan's polar opposite - - we see it from the very beginning when, while shopping for a wedding trousseau, she throws all caution to the wind, despite her father's precarious financial standing.  Marriage does not cure her and she comes to Joan to bail her out of financial dilemmas.  When Joan finally realizes that Valerie will only learn when she has to stand on her own two feet, Valerie blabs to John that their father walking in he and Joan, leading to their marriage, was a set up.  All planned and delivered by Joan.  Uh oh.

John is rightfully pissed and more than a little disappointed in Joan, who he felt was above this kind of deception. He had realized earlier that same day that he was in love with his wife; instead of talking it out, he returns to Monica Page, leaving Joan to host a dinner she has organized for his benefit, one to get him a contract with the postal service.  The dinner goes all kinds of wrong, in the way that only 1930s screwball can deliver, but the ending is just right, with John realizing that Joan is a swell girl and he does love her.

Sure, the film is trite on paper and purely formula but the stars make it so endearing and imminently watchable. 

William Powell is a year out from his super stardom role in The Thin Man; he plays against the Nick Charles type, somewhere in between the bad guys and heavies he smoothly turned in for Warner Brothers and the aboveboard gentlemen MGM preferred. His John Fletcher is at his core a good guy bit takes a particularly good girl to scratch the surface and find it.

Ann Harding is wonderful as Joan Colby, a part that could have been too saintly and too sweet had Harding not nailed it.  But nailed it she did, expressing Joan's character without alienating the audience and making us root for her, even if she had to resort to deceptive tactics to get her man.  When caught, she doesn't deny; she confesses the entire thing, including her love for John, in front of him and Monica.

Double Harness is a perfect example of why Ms. Harding was such a well respected and critically acclaimed actress in the early 1930s and it's tragic that she's not one of the better remembered and considered actresses of yesteryear today.  This film is but one of a handful of Pre-Codes in which she masterfully appears and is very much worth your time.

Joan, Valerie and the Colonel are all smiles

after Valerie has spent too much money

Lucile Browne, Henry Stephenson and Lilian Bond are all excellently cast in their supportive roles as Valerie Colby, Colonel Colby and Monica Page, respectively.  Watch for the prolific character actor Reginald Owen as John's butler Freeman.  Owen would go on to his most famous role as Scrooge in the 1938 production of A Christmas Carol so it's lots of fun to see him here, adding some levity to the film. 

Double Harness is chock full of style, sophistication, suaveness and sex and is just delightful to watch.  It's 70 minutes of well spent time and a wonderful showcase for Ms. Harding and Mr. Powell.

Double Harness can be difficult to find on DVD (although you can locate reasonable copies if you're persistent) and is shown now and again on TCM.