And that's to the type of man any 30's shop-girl would want. The girl is Claudette Colbert and the boy is Ray Milland, a British Lord who is incognito as a tourist. In a Pat O'Brien type role, Fred MacMurray is the guy Colbert obviously loves as evidenced by their recurring scenes right outside the main library in New York on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. In fact, the stone seats they take over are still there today! Colbert gets a bit of notoriety because she publicly rejects him when she finds out who he really is, and ends up singing at a fancy nightclub even though she really has no talent as a singer. The scene where she fumbles the song but brings her audience to laughter by ad-libbing is very funny. However, the dress she wears (with a huge feather in her nose) is tacky.
It's obvious whom she'll end up choosing, but it's how she makes the choice that will keep audience's interest and the trouble she gets into as she makes up her mind. This isn't one of the better 30's screwball comedies as it's not a great script, and the story has been done better. There are, however, some great scenes of 30's New York on the subway and in Coney Island that are of interest today. Colbert and MacMurray do share a good chemistry, which is why they appeared in more than half a dozen similar films over a 15 year period.
It's obvious whom she'll end up choosing, but it's how she makes the choice that will keep audience's interest and the trouble she gets into as she makes up her mind. This isn't one of the better 30's screwball comedies as it's not a great script, and the story has been done better. There are, however, some great scenes of 30's New York on the subway and in Coney Island that are of interest today. Colbert and MacMurray do share a good chemistry, which is why they appeared in more than half a dozen similar films over a 15 year period.