Queen of MGM: Fighting Revolutionaries, Nazis, and Joan Crawford, charles coburn 51/51 36_218-1_7=35_211 {3SRN_1SRW}, burgess meredith 27/27 30_159-2_8=28_151 {2SRN}, Favorite Comedy Performance of the 1930s by a Star Actress. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. In 1939, the talk of war was growing in Europe and also Asia. I will admit, the Russian accent that Shearer’s character has to use in the second half of the film gets pretty tiresome. Cast:  Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn, Joseph Schildkraut, Burgess Meredith, Laura Hope Crews, Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher, Peter Willes, Pat Paterson, Hobart Cavanaugh (uncredited), Mitchell Lewis (uncredited), Frank Faylen (uncredited) Video Plot Summary; Characters. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.

Odd picture about Europe on the brink of war, which on the one hand it really was, on the other hand with a release date in January 1939, thus likely production in 1938 it's also speculative. Collect bonus rewards from our many partners, including AMC, Stubs, Cinemark Connections, Regal Crown Club when you link accounts. Early in the movie the local soldiers arrest him for his speech, or perhaps because they found him as tiresome as I did.As for the rest of the travelers, there is an owner of munitions plants played by Edward Arnold, his female companion played by Norma Shearer, a perpetually failed vaudeville entertainer (Clark Gable) who has finally got a niche with a half a dozen blonde singers and dancers, and a honeymooning British couple. So while it's a strange movie, this has a special appeal. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Gable & Shearer singing at the piano as planes are bombing their surroundings!

Twenty years later while Harry is on tour in Europe with a troupe of leggy blonde dancers, his train is stopped at the Swiss border and he finds himself stranded in the Alps in anticipation of World War II hostilities. At the Hotel Monte Gabriele, in the Italian Alps, the owner, Pittaluga, has hired an American, Donald Navadel, to coordinate and head winter sports activities for the guests. Unusual MGM film satirizing a Europe on the brink of WW2. The possibility of war is even more threatening because the resort hotel is in close proximity to an Italian air base.

In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. Gable and Norma Shearer seem to be in a romantic comedy....while everybody (Edward Arnold, Burgess Meredith, Charles Coburn) else in the cast seems to be…. Many actors who aren’t traditionally musical stars were required to sing and dance on film, and Clark Gable did not escape these job duties. ( Log Out /  Quotes. Find trailers, reviews, synopsis, awards and cast information for Idiot's Delight (1939) - Clarence Brown on AllMovie - Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play…

A wealthy woman, trying to discourage a former boyfriend from pursuing her, hires a young songwriter who needs money to pay off his gambling debts to pretend to be her boyfriend. As at the beginning of The Lady Vanishes, a disparate international group are stranded in an Alpine hotel as Europe teeters on the edge of war - and in this case too, the script (from a Pulitzer Prize-winning play) doesn't have the courage to call a spade a Nazi. Feels so random at every turn, but there is a lovely feel of anarchy about it. Scorsese has….

If ‘The End’ credits had rolled after 28 minutes this would have been one of the most entertaining short films ever made. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Theatre/IdiotsDelight. Sherwood adapted the play into a 1939 film of the same name, starring Norma Shearer and Clark Gable. The book celebrates and chronicles over one…, Compiled by Sam DiSalle at Mubi.com as of 1.19.19, all titles are gleaned from various sources, lists, interviews, etc. Park Avenue party-girl Mary (Norma Shearer) and staid English nobleman, Lord Phillip Rexford (Herbert Marshall) are married on a lark, they live happily in London. People are stranded at an art deco hotel in the Alps as tensions flare between countries which are preparing for war. Strong cast with Norma Shearer in particularly good form. He was reportedly nervous and had the set closed down (except for Carole Lombard) when the dance was filmed. The ... See full summary ». No real specifics as to who is involved in the conflict are mentioned, certainly no one utters "Nazi" at any point, but the seemingly Italian soldiers in the hotel are portrayed as mostly reluctant authoritarians, which makes me wonder if this film was advocating a "hands-off" approach in terms of America getting involved in the European conflict. • Joan Crawford lobbied for the role, according to the book “Norma Shearer” by Gavin Lambert ( Log Out /  when you purchase 3 participating Suave products 9/1-10/31 at Walmart or Walmart.com. He must travel to America... See full summary ». This is probably thanks to Norma Shearer. Show All… Get your swag on with discounted movies to stream at home, exclusive movie gear, access to advanced screenings and discounts galore. Still, it's nice to see Gable sing and dance and I love Shearer (haven't seen that many Shearer films yet) and there are enjoyable moments, even after the first thirty minutes, but it is a strange film and the finale is ludicrous. • American ending: Amidst the air raid, Gable and Shearer begin planning the vaudeville show they will have together.

A drama?

Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. As much as Iove Norma Shearer, I’ve never made it all the way through — although, oddly enough, I have seen the end, but it was the international version! Edward Arnold’s character is a munitions manufacturer dealing with the unfavorable side but they are also not identified.

A farce? The early scenes were added to establish the leads' love affair during a US vaudeville tour many years before the main…, "She occupies a unique shrine in the temple of my memory.". My thoughts on this one? This was the 20th Gable movie that I have now seen.

Idiot's Delight One a American showbiz movie, the other a European war film. Weird.

However, the message of the story is still pacifism. 1939 Directed by Clarence Brown. However, in the film, no location is disclosed and the aggressors are not identified. With Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn. The setting is a small resort hotel in the Italian Alps, right on the border with Switzerland. Les Blondes: Virginia Grey, Virginia Dale, Paula Stone, Bernadene Hayes, Joan Marsh, Lorraine Krueger. This scene warms my romantic heart and it would have been a wonderful ending, but the film goes on, unfortunately downhill. Brief Synopsis: A disparate group of characters are trapped in a mountain hotel in an unnamed European country just before the outbreak of World War II. Idiot's Delight full plot summary including detailed synopsis and summaries for each scene. Stagy but a very good looking production. View production, box office, & company info. His greatest success comes as straight man in a phony vaudeville mind-reading act with the tipsy Madame Zulieka. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. • Based on Robert E. Sherwood’s from his 1936 Pulitzer-Prize-winning play. But then I also have a love non-traditional musical numbers. Clark Gable, Norma Shearer, Josef Schildkraut and Edward Arnold star in "Idiot's Delight," a 1939 film based on the play by Robert Sherwood. Title: Both registers are enjoyable though, and Gable's Putting on the Ritz routine is a goofy delight. I watched the international version which I hear has the better ending. While on tour in Omaha he meets acrobat Irene Fellara, and they have a brief romance. Unusual material for a big-studio film of the classic era. Why I watched this one? He even sings and dances in the highlight of the picture, ’Putting on the Ritz’. The dance was shot in one take. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Biography, Certificate: Passed As someone who currently takes tap dancing classes, I would say he does a darn good job in this dance number – particularly for someone who is out of his element. Rack up 500 points and you'll score a $5 reward for more movies. Idiot's Delight. [1] The play was presented by the Theatre Guild. Idiot's Delight is a 1936 play written by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood. They begin to sing and play the hymn “Abide with Me” on the piano during the air raid, and embrace when the firing stops and they are safe.