THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937)

Jim (Gordon Jones) is an ace candid camera photographer for the Daily Mail who uses a pet carrier pigeon named Emily to deliver his photos to the paper. He has been missing for a couple of days (barhopping, we assume), and as punishment, his editor assigns him to get some candid shots of the notoriously camera-shy millionaire William Hunter, whose daughter Helen is getting married at the family mansion. His buddy Roger, who has been after Jim to take a position at his ad agency, has an invitation to the wedding but will be out of town so he lets Jim use the invite (and his fancy apartment) while he's gone. Jim crashes the wedding and snaps some pics, and when he sneaks into an upstairs bedroom to send his pigeon off with his film, he has a meet-cute moment with Helen's sister Sheila (Betty Furness)—he thinks she's in a state of undress when she enters the room and he closes his eyes out of propriety. But Sheila is much less uptight than the rest of her family and she winds up skipping out on the rest of the party, going with Jim to Roger's apartment, which he passes off as his own. When the two are caught trying to use Roger's identity to get room service, they're thrown in jail. Dad pays her bail, but upset that one of Jim's wedding photos of him has been published, he orders Sheila to stay away from Jim. Sheila has other plans: she becomes Jim's assistant. There are more shenanigans, more candid photos of Hunter, more jail time, and, of course, a miscommunication kink that strains Jim and Sheila's romantic relationship before the requisite happy ending. This B-romantic comedy, verging on screwball, is pleasant, and its one hour length is just right. Gordon Jones, who was in one hundred movies between 1930 and 1963, is one of my favorite B-actors (THE GREEN HORNET, NIGHT SPOT) and I quite enjoyed his performance here. His easy charm helped make a role that might have turned obnoxious remain appealing. He and Betty Furness (best known as a spokesperson for Westinghouse on 1950s TV and later as a consumer affairs advocate) work well together. Perennial stuffy butler E.E. Clive is amusing, though the actor he supposedly replaced, Eric Blore, would have been more fun. Henry Kolker is Sheila's father, and Franklin Pangborn has a small standout part as the hotel manager whose toupee keeps flipping up during various scuffles. Pictured are Jones and Furness. [TCM]