Carole Lombard Movies
When Carole Lombard died at the age of 34 in a plane crash following a World War II war bond drive, the American film industry lost one of its most talented and intelligent actresses. Starting out in silent films as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty, she later epitomized screwball comedy in Twentieth Century (1934); My Man Godfrey (1936), for which she was Oscar nominated as Irene Bullock, with ex-husband William Powell as Godfrey; and Nothing Sacred (1937), playing the not-so-doomed Hazel Flagg. But Lombard was also a capable dramatic actress whose talents can be seen in her subdued performance as a nurse in one of her final roles, in Vigil in the Night (1940), as well as in The Eagle and the Hawk (1933), In Name Only (1939) and They Knew What They Wanted (1940). Other fine appearances include teaming with Fred MacMurray in several films, the best of which are Hands Across the Table (1935) and The Princess Comes Across (1936), in which Lombard does a humorously accurate Greta Garbo takeoff. Her two final films contain two of her best performances: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1940) and the Ernst Lubitsch war satire, To Be or Not To Be (1942). She was married to William Powell from 1931-33 and to Clark Gable from 1939 til her death. ~ All Movie Guide- 1934
Promoted as a follow-up to Frank Capra's 1933 hit Lady for a Day, Lady by Choice resembles the earlier film only in its choice of leading lady. May Robson plays a drunken derelict who'd once been quite a heartbreaker. Her self-respect is restored when she is asked to pose as fan-dancer Carole Lombard's mother. Lombard is part of the deal only to gain publicity for herself, but Robson takes her assignment seriously, ordering Lombard to give up her tacky profession and use her talents for something more dignified. At first against her will, Lombard starts taking formal acting and singing lessons and begins gaining a reputation as a serious artist. Wealthy Roger Pryor, a family friend of Robson's, falls in love with Lombard, but she breaks off the relationship so that Pryor won't be disinherited. Robson takes a hand in things, forcing Pryor and Lombard together in a delightfully devious fashion. Lady By Choice proved that Columbia Pictures (and scriptwriter Jo Swerling) could turn out a perfectly respectable Frank Capra film without Frank Capra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, May Robson, (more)
- 1936
Love Before Breakfast was the scintillating title Universal chose over Spinster Dinner, the Faith Baldwin novel upon which this airy comedy is based. Carole Lombard is a Park Avenue beauty squired by Preston S. Foster and Cesar Romero. Since neither gentleman is a prize catch, Lombard is fey and fickle throughout the film. That's all there is to Love Before Breakfast, which might have been completely forgotten had it not been for a famous 1930s-era painting in which a detailed poster for the film is the focus of attention. There's one iconoclastic alteration in the painting: Carole Lombard has been given a black eye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Preston S. Foster, (more)
James Stewart and Carole Lombard star in this comedy-drama about the struggles of a young married couple directed by John Cromwell. Stewart and Lombard play a recently married couple, Jane and John Mason. John works as an attorney for the law firm of skinflint Judge Doolittle (Charles Coburn). Doolittle calls John back to work immediately after the wedding ceremony, forcing the couple to abandon their honeymoon. But John is ready to do Doolittle's bidding, since he hopes to become a partner in the firm. Doolittle is openly disappointed at the marriage, hoping John would have instead married his daughter Eunice (Ruth Weston). Eunice eventually marries another lawyer in the firm, Carter (Donald Briggs). John and Jane try to make ends meet and invite Doolittle, Eunice, and Carter to dinner. The dinner turns into a disaster, climaxing with Doolittle informing John he has decided to make Carter a partner in the firm. Crushed, John and Jane work hard but to no avail, sinking deeper and deeper into debt. Jane has a baby, but when the child becomes seriously ill, the only way to save the baby is to have a special serum flown in through a blizzard from Salt Lake City. John needs $5000 to hire a pilot and get the medicine, and his only hope is to beg Judge Doolittle for the money. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, James Stewart, (more)
- 1931
Still in his "sophisticated cad" period, William Powell essays the title role in Man of the World. Powell plays a smooth extortionist who preys upon wayfaring Americans in Paris. He woos lonely wives and wives-to-be, then threatens them with blackmail unless they sustain his lifestyle. One of his potential victims is Carole Lombard, with whom Powell (much against his better judgment) falls in love. Powell's vituperative mistress (Wynne Gibson) won't let her lover off the hook, and heads for the police. To avoid arrest, Powell reluctantly sends Lombard back to her fiancee--and then presumably picks up his racket where he left off. In real life, William Powell and Carole Lombard became husband and wife shortly after filming Man of the World. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Carole Lombard, (more)
- 1925
This melodrama featured Edmund Lowe in a dual role, and a very young Carole Lombard. Cyril Gordon (Lowe) joins the secret service, and since he is a dead ringer for international crook Harry Holden (also Lowe), he is assigned the task of retrieving a stolen government code from Holden's gang. He discovers that Celia Hathaway (Lombard) is being forced into a loveless marriage with the crook, so, still posing as Holden, he marries her himself. As they head for Chicago by train, they are pursued by the real Holden. Gordon tells Celia his true identity and the couple goes to Washington, D.C., where he reports to his higher ups. Holden breaks into Gordon's apartment and the two men fight it out. Holden loses and his gang is jailed. Celia decides she loves Gordon and wants to stay married to him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1928
Me, Gangster was director Raoul Walsh's third 1928 film -- and, according to some historians, the blueprint for such future Walsh crime dramas as Me and My Gal, The Roaring Twenties and White Heat. Told in the form of a diary, the story details the rise and fall of gangster boss Jimmy Williams, played by future serial favorite Don Terry. Shown to be a layabout and ne'er-do-well in his youth, Jimmy falls in with a gang of petty thieves, working his way up the professional ladder through a combination of brains and cold-blooded ruthlessness (not unlike the characters played by frequent Raoul Walsh collaborator James Cagney). He finally comes acropper when he tries to pull off a $50,000 heist by himself, which earns him a stiff jail term. The death of his beloved mother Lizzie (Stella Adams), combined with the good influence of heroine Mary Regan (June Collyer), prompts Jimmy to try to turn over a new leaf upon his arrest. Alas, he must now contend with his former gangland buddies, who don't cotton to "turncoats" and begin drawing up plans to put Jimmy "on the spot" for keeps. On the whole, Me Gangster is a bit more sentimental than one might expect from Raoul Walsh, but at least it's honest sentiment and doesn't weaken the picture as a whole. Filmed silent, Me, Gangster was released with a Fox Movietone music score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Collyer, Don Terry, (more)
In Hitchcock's rare foray into comedy (courtesy of a wittily risque script by Norman Krasna), Mr. Smith (Robert Montgomery) makes the mistake of telling Mrs. Smith (Carole Lombard) that if he had it to do all over again, he might not have married her. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Smith discovers that his marriage is invalid. Rather than say goodbye, the newly aroused Mr. Smith attempts to entice Mrs. Smith into the bedroom, thrilled at the prospect of an "illicit" romance. But Mrs. Smith has also been apprised that her marriage is no more--and, remembering Mr. Smith's "second thoughts", she kicks him out of the house. This comedy of misunderstanding rolls merrily along from this point onward, accommodating an uproarious scene at a fancy restaurant, a near-liaison between Mrs. Smith and new beau Gene Raymond on the World's Fair parachute jump, and a farcical denouement at a ski lodge, with Mrs. Smith's conjugally crossed skis symbolizing the carnal pleasures ahead for both Mr. and Mrs. Smith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, (more)
One of the landmark "screwball" comedies of the 1930s, My Man Godfrey offers the radiant Carole Lombard in her definitive performance as flighty young heiress Irene Bullock, who on a society scavenger hunt stumbles on Godfrey (William Powell), an erudite hobo residing in the city dump. Godfrey becomes the family's butler, much to the dismay of Irene's father Alexander (Eugene Pallette), who thinks his household is crazy enough without another apparent lunatic under his roof. Halfway through the film, we discover that Godfrey isn't a penniless bum at all, but the scion of a wealthy Boston family. Having been burned by an unhappy romance, Godfrey dropped out of life, taking up residence in the dump. Here his faith in humanity was restored by his fellow indigents, who managed to survive and remain optimistic despite the worst deprivations. Meanwhile, however, he wants to straighten out the Bullock family, who he feels are a basically decent bunch beneath all their pretensions and eccentricities -- and along the way, of course, Irene determines that Godfrey will be her husband. While Godfrey's ultimate "solution" to the exigencies of the Depression seems more of a placebo, My Man Godfrey is all in all a totally satisfying jolt of 1930s-style wish fulfillment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Carole Lombard, (more)
- 1929
This very early talkie stars Irene Rich as the daughter of gruff old ferryboat captain Theodore Roberts. Rich runs a restaurant out of her house, while her husband George Barraud collects the ferry's tolls. Unbeknownst to Rich, Barraud is allowing his bootlegger brother Robert Armstrong to use the house as a hiding place for his liquor. But Barraud is the film's true villain: He steals the ferry money from his father-in-law in order to entertain his mistress, waitress Carol (later Carole) Lombard. When a prohibition agent comes snooping, Barraud kills the man and hides the body in one of Armstrong's liquor barrels. Armstrong, who's really an OK guy underneath, steps in to protect Rich and her children from his brother's homicidal activities. Escaping from the law, Barraud grabs his own kids to use them as a shield. He is killed, but Armstrong rescues the children; the bootlegger promises to go straight for the sake of Rich, whom he's grown to love. Ned McCobb's Daughter was based on a play by Sidney Howard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Rich, Theodore Roberts, (more)
No Man of Her Own represented the only time that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard co-starred in the same picture (at the time the film was made, both were married to other people; their romance and subsequent marriage was several years in the offing). Gable plays a crooked cardsharp who takes it on the lam from the New York constabulary. He hides out in a small town, where he falls in love with librarian Lombard. Endearing himself to Lombard's family, Gable pretends to be an out-of-town broker. He takes his new bride Lombard back to New York, where he resumes his dishonest activities, all the while keeping his one-and-only in the dark. The fly in the ointment is Gable's ex-lover and former partner in crime Dorothy Mackaill, who threatens to expose Gable to the law. Rather than appear to be a cad in his wife's eyes, Gable turns himself in, telling Lombard that he's about to embark on a long business trip. The truth is revealed sometime before the final reel, but Lombard is willing to forgive and forget so long as Gable promises to go straight. Given the usual wiseacre urbanity of Gable's and Lombard's separate starring vehicles, No Man of Her Own seems unusually banal and sentimental. Still, the film is an opportunity not to be missed by latter-day "Golden Age of Hollywood" aficionados. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, (more)
- 1933
A wealthy, but sad young woman falls in love with an impoverished fellow in this bittersweet romance. While her father is only concerned with her happiness, her uncle strongly objects to the match as he wants her to marry into royalty. When the father's bank is on the verge of collapsing, he asks his brother for help, but he only will if his niece will marry a prince. The dutiful daughter agrees to it. Before she does, her parents arrange for her to meet her true love again. Her father then flies back to meet his brother, but instead ends up crashing his plane so his daughter can receive his insurance policy and marry the man she really loves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Lyle Talbot, (more)
- 1932
Beautiful but impractical socialite Penelope Newbold (Carole Lombard) has convinced herself that "the perfect marriage" is an impossible concept. After all, she reasons, no one man could possess all the virtues required for an ideal husband. Thus, she divides her time between dependable, hard-working gynecologist Dr. Karl Bemis (Paul Lukas) and wastrelly playboy Bill Hanaway (Ricardo Cortez). Penelope wises up in a hurry when Bill turns up murdered in the bedroom of another woman, whereupon our heroine takes a crash course in nursing to prove worthy of the faithful Dr. Bemis. If Carole Lombard had continued starring in dreck like No One Man, chances are that she wouldn't have attained the legendary status she presently enjoys in the annals of movie history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
"This is New York, Skyscraper Champion of the World...Where the Slickers and Know-It-Alls peddle gold bricks to each other...And where Truth, crushed to earth, rises again more phony than a glass eye..." With this jaundiced opening title, scripter Ben Hecht introduces his classic comedy Nothing Sacred. Fredric March plays Wally Cook, a hotshot reporter condemned to writing obituaries because of his unwitting complicity in a fraud. Anxious to get back in the good graces of his editor Oliver Stone (Walter Connolly), Cook pounces on the story of New England girl Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard), who is reportedly dying from radiation poisoning. Actually, Hazel isn't dying at all; she's been misdiagnosed by Moscow's eternally drunk doctor (Charles Winninger). But when Cook offers to take her on an all-expenses-paid trip to New York in exchange for her exclusive story, it's too good an offer to pass up. Once in the Big Apple, Hazel is feted as a heroine by the novelty-seeking populac; she enjoys the adulation at first, but soon (and with the help of gallons of alcoholic beverages) suffers the pangs of conscience. She confesses her deception to Cook, who by now has fallen in love with her. Cook and Stone conspire to keep the public from discovering the truth, eventually dreaming up a phony suicide. Travelling incognito to avoid arrest, Wally and Hazel marry and go on a honeymoon, secure in the knowledge that New York City has forgotten all about her and moved on to their next fad. Brimming with witty, acerbic dialogue and hilarious bits of physical business, Nothing Sacred is among the best "screwball" comedies of the 1930s. The musical score by Oscar Levant both mocks and celebrates the George Gershwinesque musical style then in vogue. As an added bonus, the film is lensed in Technicolor (avoid those two-color reissue prints), allowing modern viewers to see what New York City looked liked back in 1937. Nothing Sacred was later adapted into a Broadway musical, Hazel Flagg, which in turn was filmed by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as Living It Up (1954), with Lewis in the Carole Lombard role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Fredric March, (more)
- 1934
- NR
Ne'er-do-well Gary Cooper is so desperate for quick cash that he's willing to sell the custody rights of his own daughter (Shirley Temple), whom he's never seen. Cooper's girlfriend Carole Lombard is shocked by this callousness and walks out on him, but when Cooper meets his daughter and has a change of heart, he reclaims the little girl and is reunited with Lombard. Still, Cooper can't hold down a job. Another get-rich-quick scheme ends unhappily when Cooper is forced to participate in a jewel robbery. After fighting it out with his confederates, the wounded Cooper begs the victim of the robbery, a wealthy and loving woman, to adopt his daughter and give her the sort of life he is unable to provide. Now and Forever would have been mighty turgid stuff without the combined star power of Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, and six-year-old Shirley Temple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, (more)
- 1928
Power is a rubber-stamp adventure flick from the very prolific Paramount Pictures. William Boyd and Alan Hale star as a pair of dam workers who, despite their strong friendship, duke it out on a regular basis. But when the dam threatens to burst, the battling buddies work side by side to rescue the deluge-threatened townsfolk. The principle source of friction between Boyd and Hale are a pair of "dames," played by Carole Lombard and Joan Bennett. Both ladies are ill-served by their tiny roles at this early stage of their respective careers, though Lombard exhibits more camera know-how than Bennett. Power was scripted by future director Tay Garnett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Jacqueline Logan, (more)
- 1926
After several years' experience as a screenwriter, Howard Hawks made his directorial debut with Fox Films' The Road to Glory. Though based on a story by Hawks, the film that emerged bore little resemblance to the director's original concept. Judith (May McCoy) and David (Leslie Fenton) are a pair of jazz-age libertines who care about nothing but satisfying their own desires. After suffering an injury in a car accident brought about by David's reckless driving, Judith discovers that she is slowly but surely going blind. This tragedy convinces Judith that God does not exist, while a penitent David desperately tries to convince her otherwise. In an excessively melodramatic climax, David is seriously injured by a falling tree, whereupon Judith abandons her agnosticism and prays for her sweetheart's recovery. Not only does David survive, but all the excitement has completely restored Judith's eyesight! Whether or not Road to Glory measures up to Howard Hawks' later classics is open to conjecture, since the film no longer exists. (Incidentally, Hawks' 1936 war film Road to Glory was not a remake). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- May McAvoy
- 1935
A follow-up to the highly successful Bolero, this lively romantic drama stars George Raft as Joe Martin, a Cuban-American dancer who lives and works in Havana with his lovely partner Goldie Allen until a bad case of varicose veins forces impacts his career. One night, the beauteous gringa heiress Diane Harrison (Carole Lombard) comes to the club. Joe is immediately smitten. His interest takes a less fleshly turn when he learns that she owns a yacht. When Diane compliments Joe on his moves, her escort gets jealous and a fight ensues. Joe finds himself jobless and flees to the jungle where he learns the rumba from the exotic Carmelita (Margo). He loves the dance and predicts that it will be the next fad. To promote it, he and Margo open a new club in Havana. The place is a smash. Diane returns, is wowed by both Joe and the dance and offers to bring back to his native New York. But Joe came to Havana after ratting on a gangster and if he returns, will surely die. Still, he and Margo decide to take the risk and their choice results in romance. The spectacular dance numbers were choreographed by the famed dance team Veloz and Yolanda. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Carole Lombard, (more)
- 1930
In this lightweight musical comedy, an aspiring songwriter tries to make it big on Broadway. Later his uncle decides to show him all about the world and so hires three gorgeous show girls to take him around the Big Apple. All three of the opportunistic young lasses find themselves attracted to the man; of course it doesn't hurt that he is heir to $350 million. He does choose one of them. Songs include: "My Future Just Passed", "The Pickup" "Business Girl", "Pepola", "I'd Like to Be a Bee in Your Boudoir", "You Appeal to Me" and "Do You Play, Madame?" (George Marion, Jr., Richard A. Whiting, sung by Buddy Rogers). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Kathryn Crawford, (more)
- 1928
The ebullient Eddie Quillan made his talking-picture bow in the Pathe part-talkie Show Folks. After a chance meeting with counter-girl Rita Carey (Lina Basquette), vaudeville hoofer Eddie Kehoe (Quillan) invites Rita to join his act. On the eve of their all-important Broadway debut, however, Eddie and Rita have a lover's quarrel, prompting Rita to walk out on her partner. Eddie is forced to find another girl for the act; unfortunately, he chooses gold-digging Cleo (a very young Carole Lombard), who can't dance her way out of a wet paper bag. Not surprisingly, the act is a floperoo, and Eddie is sent back to the "small time." He is rescued from permanent obscurity by Rita, who foregoes her own big chance for fame and fortune to rejoin Eddie as his partner -- both onstage and off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Quillan, Lina Basquette, (more)
- 1932
Paramount Pictures seldom fully utilized the talents of contract player Carole Lombard, as witness such tedious programmers as Sinners in the Sun. Lombard plays Doris Blake, an elegant fashion model who spurns her auto-mechanic suitor Jimmy Martin (Chester Morris) in favor of married millionaire Eric Nelson (Walter Byron). Securing a job as a chauffeur, Jimmy marries his employer, wealthy heiress Claire (Adrienne Ames), on the rebound. Ultimately, both hero and heroine realize that (here comes the message) MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING, whereupon both turn their backs on money and creature comforts to find happiness with each other. Somewhere near the bottom of the cast list is Cary Grant, who would later co-star with Carole Lombard in the infinitely better romantic drama In Name Only. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, (more)
