Nutshell Review: Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Starring: Norma Shearer, Marie Dressler, Rod La Rocque, Gilbert Emory, Hedda Hopper, Tyrell Davis
Studio: MGM
Viewing: DVD Warner Home Entertainment
Plot: Kitty (Shearer) worships her husband Bob (LaRocque), waiting on his every need. When he is caught in a lie, exposing his infidelity, Kitty packs up the kids and leaves for Paris. After spending 3 years enjoying the high life in Paris, Kitty returns to America at the request of her rich, older friend Mrs. Boucciaault (Dressler). Ostensibly invited to break up Boocie’s (Dressler) nieces engagement to a Mr. Brown, Kitty is clearly a party girl, remade into an engaging, enlightened beauty. When Brown appears & is Kitty’s ex-husband, a fact they both want to hide form the others, Kitty’s plan take a turn. Flitting between Townley (Emory) & Wallace Granger (Davis), Kitty engages is flirtation at the highest level, leaving Brown in the cold as he tries to strike the match of their love. Granger, on the other hand, is the whipped dog to Madge Livingston (Hopper), a demanding shrew who constantly tests his love by demanding he execute even the most meaningless tasks for her. Finally, Townley is the older and more debonair of the 2, but mainly interested in sex.
As Kitty stokes the desire of each of the men, she flits about giggling, frustrating Boocie, who only wants to undo the engagement. Her efforts to throw Kitty & Brown together only allow for Kitty to rebuff him and Brown to repeatedly profess his love. After a night of frustration for all the men, they each end up in Kitty’s room at the same time. Townley is first and comes with the simplest intentions, Brown then enters to profess his love yet again, while the insipid Granger shows up to recite a sappy poem to Kitty. All are sent away, Brown the most directly because he then proposes marriage to the niece (Sally Eilers). Since Bootsie has been plotting to undermine the engagement she is none to pleased.
After a good night sleep everyone prepares to leave in the morning, Townly promising to wisk Kitty away on his yacht. Bootsie, ever the schemer, has Kitty & Brown’s children brought to the house to pull on heart strings. As they run to their father, his fiancé stands in disbelief, unaware of his marriage to Kitty or the existence of 2 children. Acknowledging the obvious last ditch effort by Boocie, Kitty lets herself be alone with Brown where they both profess their unending love.
Thoughts: Unlike several of Shearer’s other on screen marriages (The Divorcee & The Women to name a couple) her marriage in Let Us Be Gay is not a marriage of equals. She is a dowdy homemaker, dolled up in homemade clothes, waiting hand and foot on her uppity husband. He is a dog, who has no problem leaving his wife & two kids at home while he sneaks off for a Sunday rendezvous with his mistress. Shearer is unrecognizable in the early scenes, with no make-up, her hair pulled tight & in clothes Adrian’s nightmares would have been made of, let alone what he would have put on the MGM lot’s leading lady! Knowing Shearer’s insistence on always “being put together” no matter when or where she would be seen, it’s amazing she allowed herself to be photographed in such a way (maybe that’s why I couldn’t find another picture that Norbert Brodine shot with Shearer, even though he was later nominated for 3 Academy Awards). She pulls off the homely wife by somehow appearing smaller and rounder than she normally appears on screen, even admitting to the mistress that she’s well aware of Bob’s indiscretion.
Shearer’s transformation in the flash forward is amazing; as if two separate actresses were playing the part. She is pure elegance and grace, full of confidence as she flits around in her stunning gowns and furs by Adrian. She is playful, funny and flirtatious, clearly entertaining to both men and women, when she wants to be. She has transformed into a sophisticate party girl and Boocie uses her to her sly advantage. Speaking of Boocie, Dressler is at her hammy best, over exaggerating her facial expressions and inventing & executing little bits of business to keep the viewer distracted at all times. She’s a joy to watch and, as always, a presence whenever she’s on the screen.
Finally, let me touch on Rod LaRocque (the PERFECT porn name, by the way), who I feel is the weak link in this movie. He is more sniveling than convincing and one wonders why Kitty would go back to someone so clearly fixated on himself. Throughout the picture he does nothing to endear himself to Kitty, instead saying he loves her, but still entangling himself with Diane (Eilers). His best line may be when he’s explaining to Kitty that the original affair means nothing to him and whines “I’d never do anything to hurt you.” Famous last words in the philandering husband’s playbook. Repeatedly he tries to take the high road with Kitty, bounding back & forth between pleading for her love & turning his nose up at her frivolous flirting and carefree attitude.
Category: Pre-Code
See Also: The Divorcee, The Cheat, Private Lies
Random Notes & Quotes:
-Shearer was pregnant with her first child during the filming so a variety of objects, including potted plants, high backed chairs & even a feathery black fan to hide her changing figure. High angle shots also assisted. Let Us Be Gay opened 2 weeks after Irving Thalberg Jr was born. Due to the pregnancy Shearer missed out on the starring role in Paid that went to Joan Crawford.
-Shearer had a cast in one eye that she struggled to hide her whole career, using muscle strengthening tricks, as well as always favoring left profile
-The 1929 play on which Let Us Be Gay was based starred Tallulah Bandhead
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Starring: Norma Shearer, Marie Dressler, Rod La Rocque, Gilbert Emory, Hedda Hopper, Tyrell Davis
Studio: MGM
Viewing: DVD Warner Home Entertainment
Plot: Kitty (Shearer) worships her husband Bob (LaRocque), waiting on his every need. When he is caught in a lie, exposing his infidelity, Kitty packs up the kids and leaves for Paris. After spending 3 years enjoying the high life in Paris, Kitty returns to America at the request of her rich, older friend Mrs. Boucciaault (Dressler). Ostensibly invited to break up Boocie’s (Dressler) nieces engagement to a Mr. Brown, Kitty is clearly a party girl, remade into an engaging, enlightened beauty. When Brown appears & is Kitty’s ex-husband, a fact they both want to hide form the others, Kitty’s plan take a turn. Flitting between Townley (Emory) & Wallace Granger (Davis), Kitty engages is flirtation at the highest level, leaving Brown in the cold as he tries to strike the match of their love. Granger, on the other hand, is the whipped dog to Madge Livingston (Hopper), a demanding shrew who constantly tests his love by demanding he execute even the most meaningless tasks for her. Finally, Townley is the older and more debonair of the 2, but mainly interested in sex.
As Kitty stokes the desire of each of the men, she flits about giggling, frustrating Boocie, who only wants to undo the engagement. Her efforts to throw Kitty & Brown together only allow for Kitty to rebuff him and Brown to repeatedly profess his love. After a night of frustration for all the men, they each end up in Kitty’s room at the same time. Townley is first and comes with the simplest intentions, Brown then enters to profess his love yet again, while the insipid Granger shows up to recite a sappy poem to Kitty. All are sent away, Brown the most directly because he then proposes marriage to the niece (Sally Eilers). Since Bootsie has been plotting to undermine the engagement she is none to pleased.
After a good night sleep everyone prepares to leave in the morning, Townly promising to wisk Kitty away on his yacht. Bootsie, ever the schemer, has Kitty & Brown’s children brought to the house to pull on heart strings. As they run to their father, his fiancé stands in disbelief, unaware of his marriage to Kitty or the existence of 2 children. Acknowledging the obvious last ditch effort by Boocie, Kitty lets herself be alone with Brown where they both profess their unending love.
Thoughts: Unlike several of Shearer’s other on screen marriages (The Divorcee & The Women to name a couple) her marriage in Let Us Be Gay is not a marriage of equals. She is a dowdy homemaker, dolled up in homemade clothes, waiting hand and foot on her uppity husband. He is a dog, who has no problem leaving his wife & two kids at home while he sneaks off for a Sunday rendezvous with his mistress. Shearer is unrecognizable in the early scenes, with no make-up, her hair pulled tight & in clothes Adrian’s nightmares would have been made of, let alone what he would have put on the MGM lot’s leading lady! Knowing Shearer’s insistence on always “being put together” no matter when or where she would be seen, it’s amazing she allowed herself to be photographed in such a way (maybe that’s why I couldn’t find another picture that Norbert Brodine shot with Shearer, even though he was later nominated for 3 Academy Awards). She pulls off the homely wife by somehow appearing smaller and rounder than she normally appears on screen, even admitting to the mistress that she’s well aware of Bob’s indiscretion.
Shearer’s transformation in the flash forward is amazing; as if two separate actresses were playing the part. She is pure elegance and grace, full of confidence as she flits around in her stunning gowns and furs by Adrian. She is playful, funny and flirtatious, clearly entertaining to both men and women, when she wants to be. She has transformed into a sophisticate party girl and Boocie uses her to her sly advantage. Speaking of Boocie, Dressler is at her hammy best, over exaggerating her facial expressions and inventing & executing little bits of business to keep the viewer distracted at all times. She’s a joy to watch and, as always, a presence whenever she’s on the screen.
Finally, let me touch on Rod LaRocque (the PERFECT porn name, by the way), who I feel is the weak link in this movie. He is more sniveling than convincing and one wonders why Kitty would go back to someone so clearly fixated on himself. Throughout the picture he does nothing to endear himself to Kitty, instead saying he loves her, but still entangling himself with Diane (Eilers). His best line may be when he’s explaining to Kitty that the original affair means nothing to him and whines “I’d never do anything to hurt you.” Famous last words in the philandering husband’s playbook. Repeatedly he tries to take the high road with Kitty, bounding back & forth between pleading for her love & turning his nose up at her frivolous flirting and carefree attitude.
Category: Pre-Code
See Also: The Divorcee, The Cheat, Private Lies
Random Notes & Quotes:
-Shearer was pregnant with her first child during the filming so a variety of objects, including potted plants, high backed chairs & even a feathery black fan to hide her changing figure. High angle shots also assisted. Let Us Be Gay opened 2 weeks after Irving Thalberg Jr was born. Due to the pregnancy Shearer missed out on the starring role in Paid that went to Joan Crawford.
-Shearer had a cast in one eye that she struggled to hide her whole career, using muscle strengthening tricks, as well as always favoring left profile
-The 1929 play on which Let Us Be Gay was based starred Tallulah Bandhead
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