Man-Proof ** (1938, Myrna Loy, Franchot Tone, Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon) – Classic Movie Review 7,282

MGM’s starry 1938 film Man-Proof tells a tale of a philanderer (Walter Pidgeon) marrying one woman (Rosalind Russell) while carrying on with another (Myrna Loy).

Even the very starry cast cannot motor up into top gear director Richard Thorpe’s 1938 MGM black and white American romantic comedy movie Man-Proof, a dull tale of a philanderer called Alan Wythe (Walter Pidgeon) marrying one woman, Elizabeth Kent (Rosalind Russell), while carrying on with another, the predatory Mimi Swift (Myrna Loy). Franchot Tone is the fourth star, as Jimmy Kilmartin, who shares an obvious love for Mimi throughout.

Based on Fanny Heaslip Lea’s 1937 novel The Four Marys, this is a tatty, tired, old-hat comedy romance that is low voltage in both departments. However, the four polished and appealing great stars add a lot of pep, managing to be amusing, even in places when the screenplay is not. And it is very brief at just 75 minutes.

Man-Proof also features Nana Bryant, Leonard Penn, John Miljan, William Stack, Oscar O’Shea, Dan Tobey, Marie Blake, George Chandler, Joyce Compton, Irving Bacon, May Beatty, Betty Blythe, Ralph Bushman, Grace Hayle, Mary Howard, Claude King, Gwen Lee, Jack Norton, Aileen Pringle, Frances Reid, Laura Treadwell and Dorothy Vaughan.

Ruth Hussey and Rita Johnson’s scenes as Jane and Florence were deleted.

It was a hit. The budget was $513,000, and it took $1,095,000 at the box office, resulting in a profit of $217,000 for MGM.

Myrna Loy recalled that filming Man-Proof was joyful because of her positive experience with co-stars Pidgeon and Rosalind Russell. Though they had been rivals and had frequently vied for the same roles in the past, Loy and Russell became friends during shooting.

There was a change of title and of one of the stars. Man-Proof went into production in 1937 under the novel’s working title of The Four Marys, while Walter Pidgeon replaced Melvyn Douglas.

Screenplay by Waldemar Young, Vincent Lawrence and George Oppenheimer, based on The Four Marys 1937 novel by Fanny Heaslip Lea. Produced by Louis D Lighton. Cinematography Karl Freund. Edited by George Boemler. Music by Franz Waxman. Made and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Release date January 7, 1938.

The cast are Myrna Loy as Mimi Swift, Franchot Tone as Jimmy Kilmartin, Rosalind Russell as Elizabeth Kent, Walter Pidgeon as Alan Wythe, Nana Bryant as Meg Swift, John Miljan as Tommy Gaunt, Gwen Lee as Binnie Bell, George Chandler as Newspaper Room Employee, Leonard Penn, William Stack, Oscar O’Shea, Dan Tobey, Marie Blake, Joyce Compton, Irving Bacon, May Beatty, Betty Blythe, Ralph Bushman, Grace Hayle, Mary Howard, Claude King, Jack Norton, Aileen Pringle, Frances Reid, Laura Treadwell and Dorothy Vaughan.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,282

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com