Enter Madame ** (1935, Elissa Landi, Cary Grant, Lynne Overman) – Classic Movie Review 7338

‘They say there are great, pitch black spaces between the stars. I think they are between people too.’ – Lisa Della Robbia.

Director Elliott Nugent’s 1935 Paramount black and white romantic comedy Enter Madame stars a miscast Elissa Landi as Lisa Della Robbia, a stereotypically tetchy opera singer diva, who is annoyed at having to sing (dubbed by Nina Koshetz) while her new husband, opera fan Gerald Fitzgerald (Cary Grant), is cross at taking a backseat to her career and chums.

Enter Madame is a speedy (it is a compact 83 minutes), entertaining romp though a Broadway hit play by Gilda Varesi Archibald (who starred on stage in the theatre), with funny moments throughout and the young Grant relishing some witty lines.

Charles Brackett and Gladys Lehman provide the laughs, though maybe an insufficient supply of them, in their modest screenplay. Grant – still battling his way to stardom – and the other support performers certainly labour hard to make it work.

Also in the cast are Lynne Overman, Sharon [Lynn] Lynne, Paul Porcasi, Frank Albertson, Adrian Rosley, Cecilia Parker, Wilfred Hari, Torben Meyer, Michelette Burani, Harold Berquist, Diana Lewis, Richard Bonelli and Ann Sheridan (billed as Clara Lou Sheridan).

Enter Madame is directed by Elliott Nugent, runs 83 minutes, is made and released by Paramount, is written by Charles Brackett and Gladys Lehman, based on a play by Gilda Varesi Archibald, is shot in black and white by Theodor Sparkuhl and William Mellor and is produced by Benjamin Glaser.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7338

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