Consolation Marriage (1931)

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Siskoid
Myrna Loy as a blonde is just weird to me. I can really believe she was a last-minute replacement on Consolation Marriage, which already had a brunette star in Irene Dunne (and Hollywood won't trust audiences to tell the difference between two thin brunettes so), as Loy feels quite "written" and stagey too. A couple years later, she would have played the Dunne role and brought character and energy to it. As the other end of a romantic triangle, she needs to be a lesser choice. And that's what I find disappointing. The premise, especially if they don't want to make it a comedy, is rife for psychological complexity - two people who were jilted by the loves of their lives for "status marriages" get into a platonic marriage arrangement themselves, but then the other two come back after their marriages have crashed and burned as spoilers for the relationship you're following. But if it's clear the spoilers are inferior matches, the movie's just TELLING you the leads are in love with them, but you can't really see it. It's a non-dilemma. So it's okay, just not very satisfying. 3 years 10 months ago