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| Bette Davis and Leslie Howard |
IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937). Director: Archie Mayo.
Colorized.
Basil Underwood (Leslie Howard of
Pygmalion) and his battling lover and acting partner Joyce Arden (Bette Davis) are appearing in a production of
Romeo and Juliet (which they aren't very good in) when starstruck heiress Marcia West (Olivia de Havilland) comes to his dressing room dripping with adoration. Her fiance, Henry (Patric Knowles of
Five Came Back), begs Basil to come out to the West estate and disillusion Marcia, act the cad, so that she will fully belong to
him. (Apparently he's unaware that Marcia did not expect to see Basil again). With his faithful retainer Digges (Eric Blore of
Swiss Miss) in tow, Basil arrives at the estate and puts his plan into motion -- only everything he thinks up backfires on him! Then Joyce shows up and is told by Marcia that she must step aside, Basil belongs to
her. Indeed?
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| de Havilland with Howard |
It's Love I'm After is a delightful screwball comedy that has a funny script and situations and some wonderful performances. Howard throws himself into the spirit of the thing from the very beginning and is a lovable egomaniac and ham. Davis, generally too intense for comedy, is fine in this as the angry woman whose long-awaited wedding to her paramour never quite seems to take place. Olivia de Havilland is also excellent, and she gets fine support from George Barbier as her consistently befuddled father and Knowles as the eternally unamused fiance. Bonita Granville and Spring Byington add to the fun as members of the West household, and Eric Blore nearly walks off with the movie as the wise and long-suffering Digges, who excels at bird calls.
Verdict: Cute picture. ***.
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