Lady Behave! (1937)
7/10
This one was surprisingly good!
3 January 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This movie has slipped into the public domain. Often this is because the movie was so bad, no one bothered to renew the copyright. However, do NOT assume this is so with this film--it is surprisingly good.

A dopey lady goes out for a night on the town and returns married to a total stranger. To make things worse, she's ALREADY married! While she seems unconcerned (and drunk) when she returns to her sister's home, the sister is scared her wacky sister will be arrested for bigamy. To keep her from this, her nicer (and sober) sister, Paula, is convinced to pose as the new bride—after all, the groom was so drunk he probably wouldn't notice that she isn't the actual bride. Things become complicated, though, when Paula is expected to move in and be wife…and mother to his bratty kids from a previous marriage. And, they become even more complicated when Paula's opportunistic friend (Joseph Schildkraut) arrives at the home to shake down the children. In other words, he offers to woo Paula and take her away from their father IF they pay him $30,000! Paula is horrified by this scheming man but she can't say anything—as he knows the truth about Paula's sister. And, in an even more unbelievable twist, Paula helps the kids raise money to pay off Schildkraut to woo her! Truly this has one of the most complicated and convoluted plot setups I have ever seen—especially for a B-movie that is less than an hour long! However, it doesn't get any less complicated. That's because when the new husband (Neil Hamilton) arrives a bit later, he sees his new bride and is completely taken by her. And, believe it or not, the film gets even crazier with subplots involving Warren Hymer and others. Not surprisingly, Hamilton falls head over heels for his new bride and they are deliriously happy together. However, given that they really are NOT married, you know that it will get pretty crazy but, true to the formula for such romances of the day, it will all work out perfectly by the end.

So is the movie worth seeing? Well, despite its low budget and complicated premise, the film was very likable. The actors, though not top stars, did a fine job and the film, though predictable, is fun and has a satisfying ending. It's the sort of B-movie romance I like and you probably will too if you can just suspend disbelief, sit back and enjoy.

By the way, for viewers who are NOT fans of old time movies, you will probably recognize Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon from the "Batman" TV series from the 1960s. However, in the early to mid-1930s he was a dashing leading man. By the time this movie was made, his career was on the decline and his appearances in films would be spotty over the next several decades.
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