LOVE IS NEWS (1937)

I've spent the month of April watching comedies (in honor of April Fool's Day) and I wrap the month up with this mild screwball comedy that includes elements of the earlier LIBELED LADY and THE FRONT PAGE.  Newspaper editor Don Ameche wants to re-sign cocky star reporter Tyrone Power so he gets him working on a story about Loretta Young, an heiress who doesn't like press attention.  Power tricks Young into getting exclusive access to her, and when she finds out, she tricks him, announcing to the press that she and Power are engaged, so he'll know what it feels like to be chased by the paparazzi.  What follows are all kinds of shenanigans, with socks on the jaw, public kissing, a car chase, Power and Young in jail, and Young's fortune-hunting ex-fiancé (George Sanders) showing up and making trouble.  This was Power's first comedy lead and though he's very good looking, his performance is a bit mannered.  He has a good scene in the beginning, playing checkers on a barroom floor with glasses filled with beer.  Young and Ameche are fine; Sanders seems a bit uncomfortable doing silly comedy; also with Slim Summerville, Walter Catlett, and Elisha Cook Jr.  There's an amusing running gag involving Ameche being nattered at over the phone by his (unseen) wife Mabel.  Too much plot is crammed into the short film, but it's mostly painless screwball fun.  [DVD]