Libeled Lady

A newspaper publishes a false story: it writes that Connie Allenbury, a wealthy socialite, broke up a marriage. Connie sues for five million dollars. To keep the paper from going under, the editor Warren makes a plan: he will make the story true. He hires Bill, a former employee. Bill will get close to Connie and create the impression of an affair; for that he first has to be married. Warren marries his own fiancée Gladys to Bill. Gladys is not at all willing. Then Bill really does fall in love with Connie. Jack Conway directs. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy are in the cast. The film brought the four biggest stars of the period into one production, taken as a sign of the studio's power in those years. The form is fast comedy; the lines overlap and the plot keeps adding a new misunderstanding. Its most cited section is the fishing scene; one of the characters has to pretend to know a job he knows nothing about. It was nominated for best picture at the Oscars. The moral ground it builds is loose; everyone lies and the film makes no problem of it. Jean Harlow and William Powell were together in life at the time, and that was used in the publicity. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood comedy and fast dialogue. Who it is not for: the plot is contrived, the position of the women has dated, and the ending is hurried.