Lucky Night ** (1939, Myrna Loy, Robert Taylor, Joseph Allen, Henry O’Neill, Douglas Fowley, Marjorie Main) – Classic Movie Review 7,742

Myrna Loy made just one film with Robert Taylor: MGM’s fly-away bit of fluff, the 1939 comedy film Lucky Night.

‘THEY’RE IN LOVE! YOU’RE IN LUCK! IT’S HAPPY-GO-LUCKY’

Likeable, lightweight MGM stars Myrna Loy and Robert Taylor are wasted in director Norman Taurog’s limping, 1939 fly-away bit of fluff Lucky Night about a socialite, Cora Jordan (Loy), who one night impetuously marries beneath her – to the drunken ne’er-do-well Bill Overton (Taylor) she meets on a park bench – and then finds that life is a struggle.

Unfortunately, though pleasant enough, the film is a bit of a struggle, too. Loy and Taylor do help, giving performances infused with charm, especially Loy. But the silly, snobbish yarn mostly defeats them and the rest of the good cast. The contrived screenplay by Vincent Lawrence and Grover Jones is based on a 1935 story in Collier’s magazine by Oliver Claxton.

Also in the cast are Joseph Allen, Henry O’Neill, Douglas Fowley, Marjorie Main, Charles Lane, Bernard Nedell, Bernadene Hayes, Gladys Blake, Edward Gargan, Irving Bacon, Oscar O’Shea, Wilson Benge, Fern Emmett, Ethan Laidlaw, Richard Cramer, Frank Faylen, Garry Owen, Lee Phelps, Cyril Ring, Carl Stockdale, Bobby Watson and Josephine Whittell.

Lucky Night is directed by Norman Taurog, runs 82 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Vincent Lawrence and Grover Jones, from a story by Oliver Claxton, is shot in black and white by Ray June, is produced by Louis D Lighton, is scored by Franz Waxman, and is designed by Cedric Gibbons.

It was released on May 5, 1939.

It was fairly popular. Costing $589,000, it took $1,080,000 at the box office, and made a profit of $126,000. However, it was the only feature the stars made together.

The cast are Robert Taylor as Bill Overton, Myrna Loy as Cora Jordan Overton, Joseph Allen as Joe Hilton, Henry O’Neill as Cora’s father H Calvin Jordan, Douglas Fowley as Bill’s friend George, Bernard Nedall as ‘Dusty’ Sawyer, Charles Lane as Paint Store Owner Mr Carpenter, Bernadene Hayes as Clerk at Carpenters Blondie, Gladys Blake as Clerk at Carpenters Blackie, Marjorie Main as the Landlady Mrs. Briggs, Edward Gargan as Policeman in Park, Irving Bacon as Bus Conductor, Oscar O’Shea as Lieutenant Murphy, Wilson Benge, Fern Emmett, Ethan Laidlaw, Richard Cramer, Frank Faylen, Garry Owen, Lee Phelps, Cyril Ring, Carl Stockdale, Bobby Watson and Josephine Whittell.

Norman Taurog directed six Martin and Lewis films, and nine Elvis Presley films, more than any other director. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for the 1931 Skippy.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,742

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Myrna Loy stars in Lucky Night (1939).