My Weakness (1933)

The charming and effervescent continental film star Lillian Harvey made her Hollywood debut in My Weakness. Borrowing a page or two from Pygmalion, the plot is hinged on a wager made between playboy Ronnie Gregory (Lew Ayres) and his crusty uncle Ellery (Henry Travers). Ronny bets that he can transform kitchen slavey Looloo Blake (our girl Harvey) into a fashionable society belle, which he does -- but he hadn't counted upon falling in love with the girl along the way. Supervising the proceedings is baby-faced comedian Harry Langdon in one of his best talkie roles as a whimsical Cupid. Clearly inspired by the Lubitsch and Clair musical semi-fantasies then in vogue, My Weakness is replete with rhyming dialogue, talking animals, and even a singing statue of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. The Buddy G. DeSylva-Leo Robin-Richard Whiting score is largely unmemorable save for Gather Lip Rouge While You May, which deserves a gold star for the title alone. My Weakness was the first of three Lillian Harvey vehicles for Fox Studios, filmed back-to-back to accommodate her busy European movie schedule. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi