We're Not Dressing

The first twenty minutes aboard a ship has little plot, just some passable musical numbers. When the ship goes down the movie picks up and starts to be quite funny. As another poster mentioned, it seems to be the blueprint for Lina Wertmuller's "Swept Away." However, it apparently has its own roots in something called "The Admirable Creighton". Carole Lombard is quite lively and animated here. You can see her acting roots in silent film. She uses her whole body to act. She carries the movie nicely. Bing Crosby is kind of stiff. He developed into a fine comedian, but here he is just a handsome singer. A young and quite pretty Ethel Merman and an older character actor named Leon Errol provide a good bit of the comedy. George Burns and Gracie Allen suddenly show up and basically do some delightful Burns and Allen routines. I grew up on their television series. I did notice that Burns was a lot grumpier and less forgiving of Allen's silliness than he would become 20 years later on television. There are a couple of bits that seem less funny in post-feminist days. Crosby slaps Lombard and she kisses him in return and at another point he seems to threaten her with rape and ties her up. These moments are just a part of the times and don't appear to reflect a misogynist attitude. I thought the best song was Crosby's 'Love thy Neighbor.' I think the film is a must for Lombard fans, Burns and Allen fans and fans of 30's screwball comedies. Others might not like it very much.