CMBA Comedy Classics Blogathon: "The Richest Girl in the World"

First thing about the film I selected for this blogathon: I had seen it like two years ago. I remember I enjoyed it very much, but two years ago I had barely seen classic comedies, therefore my mental map has changed since then.

Was it as good as I remembered it? Let's see.

The Richest Girl in the World (1934) is about the richest girl in the world. Seriously. As we all know normal rich people have a lot of problems to deal with, like losing kids inside their mansions, having to assist to dreaful ceremonies and parties, not knowing what to buy next, not knowing what kid to adopt next, etc. But they also have sentimental problems. Especially if you're Miriam Hopkins, the RICHEST girl in the world.

Miriam founds herself continually asking: this guy that says he loves me, is in love with me or with my money? So after her honest fiancé says he won't marry her because he's in love with another girl, Miriam starts thinking. She also sees her dear secretary Fay Wray deeply in love with her husband and she wants something like that for herself.

For security reasons she's pretending to be her secretary, while her secretary pretends to be her. In that situation she meets Joel McCrea, an impossibly tall, tanned, athletic, handsome, cute guy, who says he couldn't care less about the RICHEST girl in the world. Hope is born in Miriam's heart. And a kitten just died because that last cliché. Well, Miriam will prove Joel's will by throwing the fake richest girl in the world in his face.

One of the things I like about this film is how writer Norman Krasna gave a little background and humanized the character of the girl with a lot of money. First, we learn that her parents died in the Titanic (no, her dad wasn't Leo DiCaprio) and that a good ol' man took care of her (one of the bests scenes is when Henry Stephenson, the protector, tells this story). Then we learn that she's practical, not spoiled, that she's a good friend, doesn't have a lot of clothes and has a good humor. So you root for her.

I also like the way Miriam Hopkins acts...most of the time. She gives naturalness to her character and a playful presence. The are few secondary characters, but they make a good group: Fay Wray being always supportive, her husband (Reginald Denny) being a good sport about the whole incognito deal, and the mentioned Henry Stephenson, also very effective and funny. 

The negative side: in a movie that was in this "humanized" trail, some scenes are out of place. For example, in a moment of anger, Miriam goes after Joel and her secretary/fake rich girl that were in a canoe. With her motorboat she makes the little canoe overturn. That would work in a normal screwball comedy, but not in this one. There are other scenes in which she drinks with Joel that were a bit repetitive, long and didn't add much to the story. Maybe this would have been less notorious if the movie had some kind of music, but it just have two songs in dance scenes. And, in my very humble opinion, Joel is very handsome and all but he's very wooden as actor. Except for a few moments.

Anyway, Norman Krasna got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Story. He was 22. He says he attended to the ceremony with Groucho Marx and his first wife, Ruth. Norman didn't win and got drunk. Suddenly he rises and shouts "Everybody!". Silence. Then he invited everyone to his place, even when she just had a can of sardines at home. Groucho had to take him home. 

Closing lines. Maybe this one is not really a HA-HA film, but is very enjoyable little comedy anyway. The end :)

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Written for the CMBA Comedy Classics Blogathon.

A blog you should follow: 'My Love of Old Hollywood'

Today I wanted to write a special post about an interesting blog I found the other day: My Love of Old Hollywood. Page, the owner, writes about Actors and Actresses from the silent Era to the 1940s. The info she provides is really amazing (I found several anecdotes that I didn't know) and very easy to digest, plus she makes a special Youtube video roll related with the person reviewed. But the most exciting thing is that she posts about stars whose autographs are in her personal collection, so her entries are illustrated with signatures of Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Fay Wray, Douglas Fairbanks, Jean Harlow, Charles Boyer, James Cagney, Colleen Moore, Una Merkel and more. 

Janet Gaynor's handwritten note.

Charles Boyer's signature. 

"Sincerely, Irene Dunne"

Page explains in her first post And So We Begin:

I get asked a lot about when I started collecting this type of memorabilia and why. The why goes back to about the age of 8. My mother would find a quiet room in our house and sit down to an old black and white movie whenever she could. After seeing the joy on her face and complete contentment while watching The Thin Man movies or hearing her infectious laugh while watching Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn, I wanted a part of it and I found myself just as lost in the beauty of Old Hollywood as she still is today.

My collection started about 15 years ago and it is now at over 250 pieces and growing. The items that I will list on this blog are from The Silents to the 1940's. In no way is this site meant to sell or buy items and its not a place to argue about Star Wars ruling over Hitchcock. Everyone is welcome to comment on the blogs and items that will follow, and hopefully we can keep it all about our love of old movies and the stars that filled the silver screen.

I realize my collection may not appeal to everyones taste and I welcome hearing from and showing anyone else's items from this era. The more the merrier. Just realize that although some collect fridge magnets, matchbooks and even beanie babies, thats a discussion for another site, and I am sure theres a website out there for anything collectible that you can imagine. (Okay, I do collect fridge magnets)...Don't judge me. There will be plenty of time for that later when we get started. : )

Oh, she gave me an foretaste of her next posts including items from her collection: Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh, Gloria Swanson and Elizabeth Taylor. Plus she will post on Myrna Loy next at my request :)

Visit Page's site here: My Love for Old Hollywood. 

* Credits: All the pictures from My Love for Old Hollywood.