After watching "Her Cardboard Lover" on DVD, I had to check its history to see if it seemed as bad to others as it did to me. Sure enough, this film was considered a real turkey. It bombed at the box office and was a big loss for MGM in 1942. And, Turner Classic Movies reported that the leading male, Robert Taylor, thought it was one of the 10 worst films of the year.
Most movie buffs over time tend to have an array of actors they particularly like or enjoy to watch. And that usually involves a sort of expectation that one will enjoy the next film one will watch that has that actor in a prominent role. But with many more years and films under one's belt, so to speak, one learns not to expect sterling performances, superb screenplays, and great stories all the time. Time shows that no favorite actor or actress is perfect or always laudable in every role. Sometimes the actors are good or seem to do their best with material that is not so good. Screenplays can be weak or poorly written. Some stories just don't seem to work on film. Any number of other things might affect the product and one's takeaway from the film and the actors' performances.
So, rather than expecting a very good film and role or two in a movie one is about to watch, an avid movie buff just hopes for an enjoyable film and good performances. Thus it was with me as I placed the DVD in my player to watch "Her Cardboard Lover." I had seen many films in which the leads and supporting actors had appeared. I've enjoyed all of these performers over the years - Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, George Sanders, Frank McHugh, Elizabeth Patterson and Chill Wills.
But, boy, did this film turn out to be a stinker for all of them, with the possible exceptions of McHugh and Patterson. They each gave performances typical of their supporting role personas. But the rest, especially the three leads, were very bad. And, their bad roles/acting got worse the higher the role and actor. Thus, George Sanders seemed weak and confused in his changing character as Tony Barling. Robert Taylor was rather witless and aimless, almost as window dressing, as Terry Trindale. And Norma Shearer was such a mixed-up jumble of highs and lows, calm and frantic, and extreme over-acting, as Consuelo Croyden.
This film was supposedly based on a play by P.G. Wodehouse, whose comedy I've enjoyed in a number of other films. But, his stories can be hit and miss, depending on the writers for film adaptations. The play had moderate success on Broadway with two prominent actors - Leslie Howard and Jeanne Eagels. After that it had a couple of renditions made into films, and when this version was made, it's doubtful much of the Wodehouse comedy remained. The plot doesn't work well on film and the screenplay is very poor. And, then the performances further the demise of this film. It clearly suffered from poor interpretation of the roles by the cast and by horrible over-acting by Shearer to the point that she becomes annoying about midway in the film. And one wonders where the director, George Cukor was during all of this - or how much of a hand he had in making it lousy rather than good
This is probably one of the most scathing reviews I've written on a movie. It's due to the cast of three very good and big-name actors who made some tremendous films in their respective careers. Then, to have them all contribute to such a mess as this film - well, it's almost too much for any die-hard movie buff and fan of all this cast to endure and just go away quietly.
Maybe the four stars I give this film are too many, but I probably weakened some with Taylor's smiles and with the hope that the right romance or love would win out at the end. Well, it's written that way, but not the least bit believable as Shearer plays it. And, while the court scene at the end is poor by comparison to such scenes in at least a dozen other real comedies, it is better than a 3-star scenario.
Here's the best of the dialog that supposed to be funny in this film. Consuelo Croyden, "Good heavens, are you still here?" Terry Trindale, "Yes - unless we both went somewhere."
Most movie buffs over time tend to have an array of actors they particularly like or enjoy to watch. And that usually involves a sort of expectation that one will enjoy the next film one will watch that has that actor in a prominent role. But with many more years and films under one's belt, so to speak, one learns not to expect sterling performances, superb screenplays, and great stories all the time. Time shows that no favorite actor or actress is perfect or always laudable in every role. Sometimes the actors are good or seem to do their best with material that is not so good. Screenplays can be weak or poorly written. Some stories just don't seem to work on film. Any number of other things might affect the product and one's takeaway from the film and the actors' performances.
So, rather than expecting a very good film and role or two in a movie one is about to watch, an avid movie buff just hopes for an enjoyable film and good performances. Thus it was with me as I placed the DVD in my player to watch "Her Cardboard Lover." I had seen many films in which the leads and supporting actors had appeared. I've enjoyed all of these performers over the years - Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, George Sanders, Frank McHugh, Elizabeth Patterson and Chill Wills.
But, boy, did this film turn out to be a stinker for all of them, with the possible exceptions of McHugh and Patterson. They each gave performances typical of their supporting role personas. But the rest, especially the three leads, were very bad. And, their bad roles/acting got worse the higher the role and actor. Thus, George Sanders seemed weak and confused in his changing character as Tony Barling. Robert Taylor was rather witless and aimless, almost as window dressing, as Terry Trindale. And Norma Shearer was such a mixed-up jumble of highs and lows, calm and frantic, and extreme over-acting, as Consuelo Croyden.
This film was supposedly based on a play by P.G. Wodehouse, whose comedy I've enjoyed in a number of other films. But, his stories can be hit and miss, depending on the writers for film adaptations. The play had moderate success on Broadway with two prominent actors - Leslie Howard and Jeanne Eagels. After that it had a couple of renditions made into films, and when this version was made, it's doubtful much of the Wodehouse comedy remained. The plot doesn't work well on film and the screenplay is very poor. And, then the performances further the demise of this film. It clearly suffered from poor interpretation of the roles by the cast and by horrible over-acting by Shearer to the point that she becomes annoying about midway in the film. And one wonders where the director, George Cukor was during all of this - or how much of a hand he had in making it lousy rather than good
This is probably one of the most scathing reviews I've written on a movie. It's due to the cast of three very good and big-name actors who made some tremendous films in their respective careers. Then, to have them all contribute to such a mess as this film - well, it's almost too much for any die-hard movie buff and fan of all this cast to endure and just go away quietly.
Maybe the four stars I give this film are too many, but I probably weakened some with Taylor's smiles and with the hope that the right romance or love would win out at the end. Well, it's written that way, but not the least bit believable as Shearer plays it. And, while the court scene at the end is poor by comparison to such scenes in at least a dozen other real comedies, it is better than a 3-star scenario.
Here's the best of the dialog that supposed to be funny in this film. Consuelo Croyden, "Good heavens, are you still here?" Terry Trindale, "Yes - unless we both went somewhere."