Too Hot to Handle

I happen to be a big fan of old newsreels. From the dawn of sound films until around the mid-60s the newsreel was the source for visual news coverage. After that television and then cable television took over. I look at the educational channels when they have old 30s and 40s newsreels running.

The cameramen played by Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon are not too different from the print reporter characters that are a staple character in Hollywood films. These two have a friendly rivalry trying to scoop each other for news. The rivalry gets a little intense when aviatrix Alma Harding (Amelia Earhart) played by Myrna Loy gets ensnared in the rivalry and becomes the focus of their hormones.

The writing is sparkling with zingers and the direction is crisp. The plot moves from one madcap situation to the next. Among the supporting cast I should single out Walter Connolly and Henry Kolker as the rival bosses of Gable and Pidgeon who are driven to their respective wits end by the antics of their cameramen.

I defy anyone to watch this film and not split a gut laughing.