TCM Watch: Libeled Lady (1936)

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21 @ 10:00 AM (ET)

Spencer_Tracy_in_Libeled_Lady_trailer250.00_00_00_00.Still001

Put William Powell on screen with Myrna Loy and you’ve got chemistry. Add Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow, and you’ve got Libeled Lady-depression-era screwball comedy at it’s best. Tracy is Warren Haggerty, a newspaper editor with two loves: his long-suffering fiance Gladys (Harlow) and his job. To save one, (possibly at the expense of the other), he contrives a plot to avoid a libel suit by millionairess Connie Allenbury (Loy). This master plan involves ladies’ man Bill Chandler (Powell) seducing Loy, and then being discovered by his wife. Unfortunately, Powell isn’t married. Despite her considerable squawking, Gladys is coerced into the role.

Poster_-_Libeled_Lady_03 Identities and relationships are invented and swapped. Affections at first feigned become real, and the confusion between the two creates some great comedic situations. Each of the principles has points of conflict with the other three, creating a comedic matrix that makes the film crackle Until you’ve witnessed the free-for-all which is about to ensue, you can’t appreciate the irony of the opening four-shot that appears before the title: the principles walking arm in arm, dressed formal wear and laughing jovially.

One thing that always interests me in the screwball comedy is the archetypal character of the screwball comedy daughter. From Claudette Colbert in It happened One Night to Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey to Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby, it is frequently the daughter who puts the screwball in screwball comedy. In Libeled Lady, Myrna Loy’s heiress is at first assumed to be the ditzy dame, but turns out to be closer to the Hepburn of The Philadelphia Story than Bringing Up Baby.

And here’s a bizarre little piece of trivia: at one point, the bellhop comes to the door and announces “telegram for Mr. Chandler,” Powells character. In fact, the actor delivering the telegram to Mr. Chandler is named George Chandler. It’s the same George Chandler who, as the bartender in the 1947 noir Dead Reckoning, speaks so highly of Lizabeth Scott’s character, Coral Chandler. If anybody knows of another case of an actor speaking his/her own name in two different movies, let me know!

TCM Watch: Libeled Lady (1935)

MONDAY NIGHT, DECEMBER 10 @ 4:15 AM (ET)

Spencer_Tracy_in_Libeled_Lady_trailer250

And here’s a bizarre little piece of trivia: at one point, the bellhop comes to the door and announces “telegram for one thing that always interests me in the screwball comedy is the archetypal character Poster_-_Libeled_Lady_01-2 of the screwball comedy daughter. From Claudette Colbert in It happened One Night to Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey to Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby, it’s frequently the daughter who puts the screwball in screw

Mr. Chandler,” Powells character. In fact, the actor delivering the telegram to Mr. Chandler is named George Chandler. It’s the same George Chandler who, as the bartender in the 1947 noir Dead Reckoning, speaks so highly of Lizabeth Scott’s character, Coral Chandler. If anybody knows of another case of an actor speaking his/her own name in two different movies, let me know!

The 1946 remake Easy to Wed follows at 6:00 AM (ET) Watch at your own risk.

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TCM Watch: State of the Union (1948)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 @ 8:45 PM (ET)

State_Of_The_Union_Frank_Capra — Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy

State of the Union (1948) is Frank Capra’s adaptation of the pulitzer prize-winning Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay play. Spencer Tracy is Grant Matthews, a highly successful business man who is recruited to run for President of the United States. The force behind this effort is Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury), a newspaper magnate and Matthews’

State of the Union - Trailer_Tracy:Lansbury — Angela Lansbury whispers in Spencer Tracy’s ear.

paramour. The possible obstacle is Mary Matthews (Katharine Hepburn), Grant’s estranged wife. Will she stand by him for the sake of appearances? The election isn’t the only competition that unfolds.

The protagonist in Capra’s American populist dramas is generally characterized by varying degrees of naïveté laced with a basic moral sense and a certain incorruptibility. They’re faced with a variety of malign forces and temptations: Longfellow Deeds seems the complete naïf, but is imbued with the common sense to resist the various attempts to separate him from his fortune; You Can’t Take It With You’s Grampa Vanderhof resists the alternating intimidation and blandishments of the corporate interests, in order to protect his home; Jefferson Smith would rather defeat a corrupt political machine than accept the offer of a senate seat for life. Meet John Doe’s John Willoughby begins to be seduced but instinctively rebels. George Bailey needs only to grasp Potter’s limp, slimy hand to know he could never accept the seductive offer of employment.

State of the Union - Trailer_4 shot — Adolphe Menjou, Van Johnson, Spencer Tracy, Angela Lansbury

These are all external conflicts. With State of the Union, we’ve got a different story: Grant Matthews’ battle is within himself. As he comes increasingly under the sway of the femme fatale Kay, and as his appetite for the big prize increases, he begins making deals with various special interests, and in the process compromising his own integrity. He must confront all this as he prepares for a national radio address from his own home.

State of the Union - Trailer.00_02_24_05.Still004 — Hepburn tells Lansbury where it’s at, as Tracy looks on.

In addition to Tracy, Hepburn and Lansbury, this first-rate cast also features Van Johnson as a wise-cracking newspaper man and Adolphe Menjou as a political operative who, twenty-five years later, is still trying to lose the “stink of Harding.” The supporting cast includes Lewis Stone, Raymond Walburn, Howard Smith, and the always wonderful Margaret Hamilton.