Where is the comedy in this film? "The Gilded Lily" is packed with talent and billed as a comedy romance. But it's quite a letdown mostly because there's just no witty or funny dialog. And there are no hilarious antics or funny situations. So, if there's comedy in this film, it's a well-kept secret from the audience. What there is here is a strangely skewered plot with performances just as skewered by some weak characters. What weak roles for three top actors of the day.
There's no doubt that this is a jab at the social "class" of celebrity. But the main characters have sudden changes of persona and character reversals that mostly diminish the romance of the first half. What started out to look like a real love story with a comedic love triangle instead turns into a confusion of characters who are mostly confused themselves. And what plot there is here is based on deceit, distrust, dishonesty, lies, greed, and a con game with a long stretch of nightclub and nightly entertainment scenes that quickly leads to boredom.
A couple of other reviewers noted the dark aspects of this film, and its lack of comedy. Most might recall the adage about how a little white lie often leads to disaster. Well, it plays out exactly that way here. One can understand Charles Gray's need for anonymity in visiting the U.S. with his father. But after he and Marilyn David are clearly in love, his father, Duke Lloyd Granton (played by C. Aubrey Smith), convinces him to return to England to personally break off his current engagement. Then he can return to America and Marilyn. But instead of telling Marilyn who he really is and why he's going to England and will return, he concocts the story of getting a job and needing to go away for a couple of weeks to inspect the company plant in Virginia. So, he doesn't love her enough to tell her the truth.
Marilyn's love for Gray is shaken easily when she sees the photo in the paper of Lord Charles boarding the ship to return to England with his father. The clincher is the caption regarding his fiancé in London. Although Peter Dawes didn't know Lord Charles was the man Marilyn had fallen for when he tried to get a story out of the incognito duke and his son on their return, he now pushes the idea that Charles was just playing around with Marilyn. So, her love is so real and strong (Not!) that she goes along with Peter's suggestions right away?
Peter writes some fake stories about the American commoner saying "No" to Lord Granton (Charles). So, now he has some hot stories and his prestige as a reporter rises. Then he parlays the lie into a bigger con to make Marilyn into a celebrity. The jab at the realm of celebrity status is very good, with Marilyn barely able to croak out a song and do the least bit of dancing. Her celeb status is mostly because of her glamorous looks, presentation and a down-to-earth frankness about herself and her plight.
For as blatant a con as Peter turned it into, by this point in the film, one is hoping that Marilyn and Charles will get together in the end. She had told Peter at the start that she didn't love him. He still pines for her, but puts his love on the backburner to milk their new money-making venture for all its worth. When he tires for not being able to spend any time alone with her, and she decides she needs to see Charles once more, they head off to England.
But now one sees that the Charles who loved Marilyn and cancelled his engagement, is taken as much by Marilyn's notoriety and celeb status. So, over these few weeks, his love for her is gone and in its place he now lusts for her but no longer has any thoughts of marriage or proposing? That's because he thinks she was just stringing him along in the first place. When Peter gives up trying to win Marilyn (with all of his deceit), he throws in the towel and returns to the States. The final reversal is Marilyn's seeing Charles as no longer loving her as before, so she flies back to New York and into the arms of Peter, for whom she never had that special feeling of love. Well, they meet on their favorite park bench, so one is left to imagine they wind up married.
In spite of the considerable star power of this film, it falls flat as a comedy. Audiences of 1935 weren't very enamored with the film either. It made a small profit, but it finished the year way behind a bunch of comedies and many combination comedies with musicals, drama and mystery. This film came out in January and even the December release of another Colbert and MacMurray film beat it at the box office that year - "The Bride Comes Home." Another MacMurray comedy, with Carol Lombard, finished well above this one - "Hands Across the Table." This and "Practically Yours" of 1944 are two Colbert-MacMurray comedies that are poor. Their best pairings were "True Confessions" of 1937, "No Time for Love" of 1943, and "The Egg and I" of 1947. Those all had very good plots.
These were weak roles for Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray and Ray Milland. Fans of the three stars may want to see the film, but be ready to nap instead of laughing. Eating some popcorn might help keep one awake.
There's no doubt that this is a jab at the social "class" of celebrity. But the main characters have sudden changes of persona and character reversals that mostly diminish the romance of the first half. What started out to look like a real love story with a comedic love triangle instead turns into a confusion of characters who are mostly confused themselves. And what plot there is here is based on deceit, distrust, dishonesty, lies, greed, and a con game with a long stretch of nightclub and nightly entertainment scenes that quickly leads to boredom.
A couple of other reviewers noted the dark aspects of this film, and its lack of comedy. Most might recall the adage about how a little white lie often leads to disaster. Well, it plays out exactly that way here. One can understand Charles Gray's need for anonymity in visiting the U.S. with his father. But after he and Marilyn David are clearly in love, his father, Duke Lloyd Granton (played by C. Aubrey Smith), convinces him to return to England to personally break off his current engagement. Then he can return to America and Marilyn. But instead of telling Marilyn who he really is and why he's going to England and will return, he concocts the story of getting a job and needing to go away for a couple of weeks to inspect the company plant in Virginia. So, he doesn't love her enough to tell her the truth.
Marilyn's love for Gray is shaken easily when she sees the photo in the paper of Lord Charles boarding the ship to return to England with his father. The clincher is the caption regarding his fiancé in London. Although Peter Dawes didn't know Lord Charles was the man Marilyn had fallen for when he tried to get a story out of the incognito duke and his son on their return, he now pushes the idea that Charles was just playing around with Marilyn. So, her love is so real and strong (Not!) that she goes along with Peter's suggestions right away?
Peter writes some fake stories about the American commoner saying "No" to Lord Granton (Charles). So, now he has some hot stories and his prestige as a reporter rises. Then he parlays the lie into a bigger con to make Marilyn into a celebrity. The jab at the realm of celebrity status is very good, with Marilyn barely able to croak out a song and do the least bit of dancing. Her celeb status is mostly because of her glamorous looks, presentation and a down-to-earth frankness about herself and her plight.
For as blatant a con as Peter turned it into, by this point in the film, one is hoping that Marilyn and Charles will get together in the end. She had told Peter at the start that she didn't love him. He still pines for her, but puts his love on the backburner to milk their new money-making venture for all its worth. When he tires for not being able to spend any time alone with her, and she decides she needs to see Charles once more, they head off to England.
But now one sees that the Charles who loved Marilyn and cancelled his engagement, is taken as much by Marilyn's notoriety and celeb status. So, over these few weeks, his love for her is gone and in its place he now lusts for her but no longer has any thoughts of marriage or proposing? That's because he thinks she was just stringing him along in the first place. When Peter gives up trying to win Marilyn (with all of his deceit), he throws in the towel and returns to the States. The final reversal is Marilyn's seeing Charles as no longer loving her as before, so she flies back to New York and into the arms of Peter, for whom she never had that special feeling of love. Well, they meet on their favorite park bench, so one is left to imagine they wind up married.
In spite of the considerable star power of this film, it falls flat as a comedy. Audiences of 1935 weren't very enamored with the film either. It made a small profit, but it finished the year way behind a bunch of comedies and many combination comedies with musicals, drama and mystery. This film came out in January and even the December release of another Colbert and MacMurray film beat it at the box office that year - "The Bride Comes Home." Another MacMurray comedy, with Carol Lombard, finished well above this one - "Hands Across the Table." This and "Practically Yours" of 1944 are two Colbert-MacMurray comedies that are poor. Their best pairings were "True Confessions" of 1937, "No Time for Love" of 1943, and "The Egg and I" of 1947. Those all had very good plots.
These were weak roles for Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray and Ray Milland. Fans of the three stars may want to see the film, but be ready to nap instead of laughing. Eating some popcorn might help keep one awake.