Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Henry, Hammy, Swoons

The Moon's Our Home (1936)
directed by William A. Seiter
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Cinefile

Henry Fonda, as usual, plays a snob, but this time he’s at least an adventurous one – Peter Matthiessen, more or less, mailing his manuscripts to New York from dusty zip codes overseas. Margaret Sullavan is both an heiress and an actor, and wonderful at winning over minions, audiences, and lovers with her fury. The movie lays miles of groundwork for the impending feud between these self-involved entertainers but doesn't take full advantage of Sullavan’s sense of independence.

Yes, they quarrel and even ski, but Sullavan's rampages at the beginning of the film are a lot funnier than her anger at the end of it (except for the scene where she tries to hit Fonda with a lamp). She surrenders too soon, and this being the 30s, the sacrifice demanded of her is steep. LA sun and Egyptian princes are offered at the altar of Fonda’s New York kitchen, where presumably she can count their money at the breakfast table, wash the dishes afterwards, and quietly grow old. But like the couple’s real-life marriage, there's no reason to think the situation will stick, and back to California we’ll go.