Skylark (1941)

Or, if you prefer, Comedy Lite, because 'Skylark" is only semi-funny. I can only guess Director Mark Sandrich didn't have a good feel for comedy as several scenes which could have been funny seemed forced and heavy-handed. A Leo McCarey or Mitchell Leisen could have gotten more mileage out of them, but, as is, "Skylark" is unsatisfying and leaves you feeling unfulfilled, like Lite beer or diet soda.Other reviews recount the plot, but just let me say that the main reason to watch this one is to watch several old pros give their all and try to make a mediocre picture better just by their presence. It belongs mainly to Claudette Colbert, who tries mightily and comes off the best of the principals. She is ably supported by Ray Milland and Brian Aherne, who also do their best. Walter Abel does not come off so well and is better in straight drama parts. And the old pop standard 'Skylark" is apparently not from this picture. I put my star rating in the heading as the website no longer includes them.

Samson Raphaelson's hit Broadway play of 1939 (with Gertrude Lawrence headlining) comes to the screen starring the left side of Claudette Colbert's face. She plays the frustrated wife of Ray Milland, a stuffy advertising executive who is coasting through their marriage after five years; one night, she flirts innocently with another man (Brian Aherne) and gets the gumption to seek a divorce. 'Sophisticated' comedy with lead-balloon lines and static character interaction. Colbert manages to live and dress exquisitely but, in the very first scene, overhears her husband's assistant buying her anniversary present and actually exchanges it for something less expensive (!); Aherne, as a lawyer, and twinkling like a debonair version of Red Skelton, takes Colbert for a drive and for a bite to eat at a diner--and this non-romantic date actually convinces her to leave her husband. The whole scenario is such a shallow conceit--a fraud--that it's impossible to take the performances into consideration, although the bit players (all sarcastic) certainly show up the principals. ** from ****

Lydia and Tony Kenyon (Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland) are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. Their relationship now contains about as much excitement as a straight line. Along comes Jim Blake (Brian Aherne), providing a point of conflict that defines a love triangle. This is not a drama. The story comes from a play and its comedy is probably best appreciated if seen as Shakespearean. Blake is a passive-aggressive "Puck" who constantly picks at the relationship's frayed edges. A marriage is in the balance, but the characters banter wittily as if discussing the correct price for a cow. Lydia and Tony could have been played by Myrna Loy and William Powell. The writing is clever and enjoyable. The characters are fun to watch. If you can let the story just be what it is, you might enjoy it. Suspend disbelief and engage your sense of humor. Otherwise, you might be tempted to think this film makes light of wifely dissatisfaction.

Very cute movie, about a wife that is sick of playing second fiddle to her husband's advertising job. It is obvious that he loves her but, he is so obsessed with his job, and little else, he loses her. Claudette Colbert is great as usual, and has some very funny scenes. She proves she was never afraid to get messy as long as it got a laugh. Ray Milland is dashing, but we don't like him in the beginning of the film when he makes Colbert apologize to his clients wife for running off with her other man, played so well by Brian Ahern. One of the funniest lines is when he "gifts" his clients his cook. Mona Barrie who plays the best friend of his wife says: "Lookie, lookie, lookie, there goes cookie". She leaves Ray, and then he realizes what a mess he made and tries to win her back. She gets involved with Ahern, who is charming and attentive and totally lovable. Ray lies about quitting his job, but she catches him in the lie and that is that. I really like this film, it is funny and touching and we are wanting Ray to win her back. He is so good looking and when he realizes that she is all that matters, we see him wear his heart on his sleeve for her. In the end, love conquers all over the job and the dog food. Just as a note.....I just came across a Vanity Fair article about Claudette Colbert where she said that she and Milland had planned a tryst at her secretary's apartment. Both were married at the time. She got half way there and turned around and went home. No tryst but she admired him all thru her life. Milland was a big womanizer, and maybe she thought better of the situation. They are so good together that it does not surprise me.