SimonJack

"Café Society" is a very good comedy that stars Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll. This was one of several hit comedy romances during Hollywood's golden era, and it mixes two common themes, The newspaper reporter and the spoiled rich heiresses and society snob are the basis of much humor. A supporting cast does contributes as well. MacMurray was a master of comedy, one of the half dozen or so actors of the early to mid-20th century who made many great comedies. Madeleine Carroll was a British actress who did well in some top dramas and comedies. But she was one of the top actors before World War II who left their career to help and work in the war effort; and whose popularity didn't resume aft the war> In the last 1940s she made just three films and then worked in television in the early 1950s, retiring after 1955.

My heading here is from a line in this film by Christopher West's (Carroll) grandfather, the patriarch of the West family. Old Christopher West apologizes to Chick O'Bannon (MacMurray), when he learns that Chick had "smacked" his spoiled rich granddaughter. They had married on a whim, and his "smack" was a slap in the face which he returned after Christopher first slapped him. So after their breakup, old grandpa West visited Chick and tells him that if he, grandpa, had "smacked" her when she was growing up, it wouldn't have been necessary for her husband to do so. Of course, Grandpa might have been thinking of smacking her someplace else as a spoiled child.

Old Christopher West's visit to O'Bannon and apology is just one very funny scene in this hilarious comedy romance. It's a film with pearls of wisdom stuffed here and there in the comedy. MacMurray and Carroll carry off their spite and love relationship superbly. The back and forth creates the froth that holds most of the laughter in this film. Carroll was in several comedy films, but this is her best film and role. Claude Gillingwater is very good as Old Christopher West. But thinking about what he said to Chick, it's apparent that had he influenced a change in his granddaughter from her spoiled, café society snobbery and hedonism, O'Bannon and Chris probably would never have met.

Chick is a boat reporter - a reporter who covers ship arrivals for any hint or news of celebrities on board. Chrsitopher West was returning from a European trip of partying, with someone of foreign nobility in pursuit. And, her own hosted welcome-home party for herself is the occasion for their second meeting. That's what leads to a quick marriage -- under false pretenses on her part, but also leads to much more comedy. And, a gradual conversion of Chirs from the spoiled rich girl to a human being who thinks about other people instead of herself.

Allyn Joslyn is a gossip columnist who rivals Chris West for self-centeredness and hedonism. His despicable character is worth a few chuckles. And his mother, played by Jesie Ralph, provides some good laughs. Paul Hurst gives a sterling performance as the Bartender. Chris confides her problem and opens herself to some sound advice and wisdom that people of his profession - male bartenders, in particular, have acquired in years of plying their trade. Shirley Ross plays Chick's childhood friend who lives in an apartment upstairs from him. Her role fits nicely in the plot. And, Lillian Yarbo has a nice small role as a sort of Mata Hari for Sunny DeWitt. The rest of the cast are mostly society some idle-rich of society who hang around Chirs, are all forgetful.

"The Fifth Element" could be considered a sci-fi of sci-fi. By that I mean that it packs just about everything imaginable of fantasy, science fiction, and futuristic projection into one film. Having just watched it again, after first seeing it in the theater in 1997, I'll stick with my 8 ranking that I had given it in the past.

This film has more to it than a straight sci-fi or a horror sci-fi with ugly monsters. It has its creatures, admittedly pretty tame by sci-fi standards. But this film has some romance and more than a little light comedy in Bruce Willis' leading character. And, some also in one or two others, although the Ruby Rhod character comes close to irritating until near the end.

And, there is the normal overtone of good and evil, the good guys and the bad. Some critics and published reviewers said they saw other social or moral aspects of the film. But writer and director Luc Besson didn't give credence to those. When it comes to certain types of film - sci-fi, adventure, action and Westerns especially, writers and producers often don't have morals or deep lessons or messages in their films. Indeed, according to articles about Besson, he began writing the story to make this sci-fi film as a young teenager.

I hadn't read much about the film when it first came out. I was one of the many people who just went to see it and to be entertained by the science fiction of the plot. It was interesting for me now to have read some of the background and see a video about the making of the film, with all its complexities.. And learnng that the art work came primarily from two French artists who had been famous since the mid-20th century in France for their comic books. Jean Claude Mezieres and Jean Moebius Girard were artists who had studied together and been friends and collaborators on art projects, as well as creators of various cartoon characters for comics.

This is a film that has everything imaginable about futuristic life and existence. Most people should enjoy it for that and the action, comical scenes, and slight mystery and intrigue in places. And if people want to imagine more in the film, beyond the good guys and bad guys, that's okay too.