THE GILDED LILY (1935)

Working girl Marilyn (Claudette Colbert) and reporter Peter (Fred MacMurray, both pictured at left) meet every Thursday to sit on a New York City park bench to chat. They snack on popcorn rather than peanuts because Peter thinks "popcorn is made for watching the world go by." He casually confesses that he's in love with her but she replies that, though she likes him a lot, she's not in love. Marilyn thinks she'll find true love with a man who has no money and doesn't care. As it happens, as Marilyn tries to get on the subway, a man who calls himself Gray (Ray Milland) helps her out of a big crush of people. He's jobless but takes her to dinner and they hit off. Later they go on a rollercoaster at Luna Park and she takes him to MacMurray's park bench. The next time she meets MacMurray, she tells him she's in love with Gray, and the gallant MacMurray wishes her the best and says he'll still be her friend. What Marilyn doesn't know is that Gray is actually a British aristocrat, Lord Granton, visiting New York with his father, the Duke of Loamshire, who wants no publicity. Word gets out about the visit and, as it happens, it's Peter who breaks the story complete with photos. It comes out that he's been dating Marilyn, but it also comes out that he is engaged back home. Without speaking to Marilyn, Gray leaves for London, intending to break off his engagement, but she thinks she's been jilted. Peter builds up a story about Marilyn turning down Gray and she becomes known as the "No Girl." In some improbable plot twists, Peter talks her into becoming a nightclub novelty (think of Velma and Roxie in CHICAGO). He becomes her manager, she's a hit, she goes to London and makes contact with Gray and it looks like they might be an item again, but he's changed: he's too impressed with her status in the press. Might Peter have a chance again? He's got the popcorn ready.

This is a fairly breezy romantic comedy burdened down by the fact that mostly likable people spend much of the movie doing unlikable things. Gray is a liar (due to his father's wishes), Peter is thoughtless in his handling of Marilyn, and Marilyn has silly ideas about love and hurts both Peter and Gray. In fact, surprisingly for a love triangle movie, Gray seems like basically a nice guy, and I was genuinely not sure who I wanted her to end up with. You're pretty sure that MacMurray, with his sweet guy persona, will win out, but as Milland is also a nice guy, and all three of them mistreat each other to some degree, there is a little uncertainty about the ending. There is some witty dialogue; when Marilyn says that true love will make her feel like she's high up in the air, Peter replies that you can get that feeling "with a shot of bourbon on an empty stomach." The acting is solid, with all three leads giving good performances. Colbert's self-deprecating nightclub act is fun. C. Aubrey Smith and Donald Meek have small roles. There is some satire aimed at celebrity for celebrity's sake which is still applicable today. [TCM]