SYNOPSIS: A whole family of con artists attempt to fleece an old lady. Unfortunately, they grow to like her.
NOTES: Leon Shamroy was nominated for the 1938 Academy Award for Best Cinematography, losing to Joe Ruttenberg for The Great Waltz. Franz Waxman was similarly nominated for Best Original Music Score but dipped out to Erich Wolfgang Korngold's The Adventures of Robin Hood.
COMMENT: A beautifully acted, if somewhat slow-moving and predictable comedy of manners about four confidence tricksters who seek to impose on a rich old lady but are reformed by her.
Richard Wallace's direction is somewhat pedestrian, but superlative photography, eye-catching art direction and gorgeous costumes, plus sharp film editing more than save the day.
Minnie Dupree, a noted stage actress who made very few films, gives a beautiful performance, as does Janet Gaynor in a somewhat offbeat role, well removed from the Goody Two-Shoes characterizations she usually essays. Roland Young, of course, does much his usual bit (and does it proud), whilst young Paulette Goddard makes quite an impression as a secretary who has an eye for Fairbanks Junior.
NOTES: Leon Shamroy was nominated for the 1938 Academy Award for Best Cinematography, losing to Joe Ruttenberg for The Great Waltz. Franz Waxman was similarly nominated for Best Original Music Score but dipped out to Erich Wolfgang Korngold's The Adventures of Robin Hood.
COMMENT: A beautifully acted, if somewhat slow-moving and predictable comedy of manners about four confidence tricksters who seek to impose on a rich old lady but are reformed by her.
Richard Wallace's direction is somewhat pedestrian, but superlative photography, eye-catching art direction and gorgeous costumes, plus sharp film editing more than save the day.
Minnie Dupree, a noted stage actress who made very few films, gives a beautiful performance, as does Janet Gaynor in a somewhat offbeat role, well removed from the Goody Two-Shoes characterizations she usually essays. Roland Young, of course, does much his usual bit (and does it proud), whilst young Paulette Goddard makes quite an impression as a secretary who has an eye for Fairbanks Junior.
