Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray are pals. They meet every Thursday evening on the stone benches of the New York Public Library, to eat popcorn and watch the world go by. When she falls in love with incognito British lord Ray Milland, MacMurray seems happy for her. When he vanishes with a misunderstanding, MacMurray promotes her as the "No" Girl, the one who walked out on Milland.
In the first of their seven pairings, MacMurray, in his second credited role, benefits greatly from the snappy dialogue, Despite that, there's an odd stop-and-start quality to the movie, as each shift in the plot is laboriously chewed over before anything happens. This kills the energy of the movie, only for director Wesley Ruggles to use the laborious set-up to execute a very funny gag sequence.
It's frequently maddening, but besides the wealth of supporting actors, including C. Aubrey Smith, Grace Bradley, Louis Alberni, and Tom Dugan -- all of whom seem to appear in one shot for for one gag -- there's one thing this movie has going for it: MacMurray and Miss Colbert seem utterly comfortable together. contrast them with Milland, whose Transatlantic accent sounds odd for his role, and doesn't seem to be invested in any of his lines. could this have been a deliberate choice, to make the two leads seem more simpatico?
In the first of their seven pairings, MacMurray, in his second credited role, benefits greatly from the snappy dialogue, Despite that, there's an odd stop-and-start quality to the movie, as each shift in the plot is laboriously chewed over before anything happens. This kills the energy of the movie, only for director Wesley Ruggles to use the laborious set-up to execute a very funny gag sequence.
It's frequently maddening, but besides the wealth of supporting actors, including C. Aubrey Smith, Grace Bradley, Louis Alberni, and Tom Dugan -- all of whom seem to appear in one shot for for one gag -- there's one thing this movie has going for it: MacMurray and Miss Colbert seem utterly comfortable together. contrast them with Milland, whose Transatlantic accent sounds odd for his role, and doesn't seem to be invested in any of his lines. could this have been a deliberate choice, to make the two leads seem more simpatico?