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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Libeled Lady" (1936) is a
sparkling romantic comedy of errors: When
commitment shy newspaper editor Warren Haggerty
(Spencer Tracy) finds that his newspaper is being
sued for alleging that a socialite, Connie
Allenbury (Myrna Loy), is a home-wrecker he delays
plans to marry his fiancée Gladys (Jean Harlow)
yet again, by placing her in the circle of elegant
playboy Bill Chandler (William Powell). The idea
is to have Gladys and Bill marry so that Connie
will then be fooling around with a married man --
hence Warren's paper will be off the hook for
printing the initial story. But the plot goes
hopelessly and predictably awry when Gladys starts
to have genuine feelings for Bill and he
reciprocates. So what's a struggling foursome to
do?
Director, Jack Conway fleshes out this thimble of
a plot with a series of hilarious vignettes, and
some really stellar acting from the cheap seats,
including cameos by Charles Grapewin, Arthur
Connelly and Cora Witherspoon -- all instantly
recognizable war horses from MGM's ever expanding
stable of second string talent. "Libeled Lady" may
be light and fluffy, but it certainly packed a
wallop at the box office.
Warner's DVD treatment is just a tad above middle
of the road. The black and white image has been
mastered from reasonably clean film elements, and
contrast levels are adequate, though at times
weak. There's a hint of edge enhancement and some
fine detail shimmering, but nothing that will
distract. Fine details are sometimes nicely
realized and film grain is kept to a bare minimum.
But age-related artifacts are present throughout.
And an audio only radio broadcast is the only
extra included. |
