Now here is a pairing that defies the logic of all Hollywood's romantic twosomes!! Bickford, was the typical blue collar, kick your ass kind of actor and usually played to that type. Irene Dunne, an elegant, no-nonsense actress was cast in parts befitting her appearance and persona. So whose idea was it to put her in a steel mill town (Pittsburgh or the surrounding area) running a boarding house and married to the "best steel worker in the mill"? It boggles the mind!!
The story line is equally incredible. A character who seems to come from another world, played by Eric Linden, invents a marvelous dye in his attic laboratory, sells it to somebody and everybody gets as rich as Croesus. Then things begin to go horribly wrong. Bickford gets involved with a woman of indeterminate ethnicity played by Gwili Andre. (Andre is a footnote to Hollywood history. Bizarrely beautiful in profile, and a dog in full face, she never made the grade in Tinsletown and ended up a tragic figure who committed suicide by self-immolation.) The denouement of the film is the bitter court room divorce proceeding that takes an unexpected twist when the self-sacrificing Dunne pulls a fast one on her straying husband. He sees the error of his ways. He has lost his fortune so its back to the steel mill for him where Dunne is waiting with open arms. It's just too good to be true and all this sweetness may cause you to develop an immediate case of diabetes.
Dunne finally broke away from these types of roles with "Theodora Goes Wild" and other screwball comedies,finding the character type that she is remembered for with delight. Thank heavens.
The story line is equally incredible. A character who seems to come from another world, played by Eric Linden, invents a marvelous dye in his attic laboratory, sells it to somebody and everybody gets as rich as Croesus. Then things begin to go horribly wrong. Bickford gets involved with a woman of indeterminate ethnicity played by Gwili Andre. (Andre is a footnote to Hollywood history. Bizarrely beautiful in profile, and a dog in full face, she never made the grade in Tinsletown and ended up a tragic figure who committed suicide by self-immolation.) The denouement of the film is the bitter court room divorce proceeding that takes an unexpected twist when the self-sacrificing Dunne pulls a fast one on her straying husband. He sees the error of his ways. He has lost his fortune so its back to the steel mill for him where Dunne is waiting with open arms. It's just too good to be true and all this sweetness may cause you to develop an immediate case of diabetes.
Dunne finally broke away from these types of roles with "Theodora Goes Wild" and other screwball comedies,finding the character type that she is remembered for with delight. Thank heavens.