} Crítica Retrô: Somos do Amor / It's Love I'm After (1937)

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Sunday, July 2, 2017

Somos do Amor / It's Love I'm After (1937)

Você pode imaginar Bette Davis fazendo comédia? E Olivia de Havilland e Leslie Howard? Se isto é difícil de imaginar, sem problemas: você pode ver o trio com seus próprios olhos na comédia “Somos do Amor”.

Can you think about Bette Davis doing a screwball comedy? How about Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard? If this is hard to imagine, no problems: you can see the trio with your own eyes in “It's Love I'm After”.
Marcia West (Olivia de Havilland) é uma super fã que ama o ator shakespeariano Basil Underwood (Leslie Howard). Este amor incomoda o noivo dela, Henry Grant Jr (Patrick Knowles). Henry confronta Basil na véspera de Ano Novo, e tem uma ideia quando Basil cita uma peça.


Marcia West (Olivia de Havilland) is a super fan who loves Shakespearian actor Basil Underwood (Leslie Howard). This love bothers her fiancé, Henry Grant Jr (Patrick Knowles). Henry confronts Basil on New Year's Eve, and is inspired by a play Basil mentions.
Henry pede que Basil encontre Marcia e faça-a cair na real e deixar de amar o ator. Basil vê o plano como uma chance de se tornar uma pessoa melhor. Mas, para isso, ele tem de adiar mais uma vez o casamento com sua co-estrela dos palcos, Joyce Arden (Bette Davis).


Henry asks Basil to meet Marcia and make her fall out of love with the actor. Basil sees the plan as a chance to become a better person. But, for this, Basil has to postpone once more his marriage to his co-star of the stages, Joyce Arden (Bette Davis). 
Fingindo ser um verdadeiro canalha, Basil chega à casa dos West no meio da noite, pensando que este incômodo será suficiente para completar sua missão. Porém, ele reconhece Marcia: ele é a doce garota que foi até seu camarim e confessou seu amor e admiração por ele, tudo com muita educação. Ele fica triste por ter de destruir a imagem que Marcia tem dele, mas ela é mais rápida e mente, dizendo à família que convidou o ator para passar o fim de semana.


Pretending to be a real asshole, Basil arrives at the West house in the middle of the night, thinking it'd be enough to complete his mission. But he recognizes Marcia: she is the sweet girl who went to his dressing room after Romeo and Juliet and confessed her love and admiration for him, in the most polite way. He is sad to have to disappoint Marcia, but she is quicker and lies, telling her family she has invited him to stay for the weekend.
No dia seguinte, Basil faz de tudo para parecer uma diva antipática – e até usa algumas falas de peças clássicas para isso. Mas a cada atitude horrível dele, Marcia fica mais encantada.


The following day, Basil does everything to be seen as a diva – and even uses some lines from classic plays along the way. But with each awful deed he does, Marcia gets more enchanted by him. 
Nada é sagrado na screwball comedy, nem mesmo Shakespeare. Nas primeiras cenas, Basil e Joyce estão interpretando a cena da morte de Romeu e Julieta. Cheios de animosidade, eles se insultam em um tom de voz mais baixo, para que o público não os ouça. É uma cena hilário.


Nothing is sacred in screwball (see what I did here?), not even Shakespeare. In the opening sequence, Basil and Joyce are doing Romeo and Juliet's death scene. Full of animosity, they insult one another in a lower tone of voice, so the audience can't hear them. It's a hilarious scene.
Na primeira metade, Bette Davis é quase esquecida interpretando uma mulher que se torna insegura quando o assunto é amor. Ela já sofreu muitas vezes por causa de Basil, e agora esconde seus sentimentos reais e apenas o insulta. Na segunda metade, entretanto, ela volta a interpretar a forte Bette Davis que conhecemos e amamos.


In the first half, Bette Davis is practically wasted playing a woman who becomes insecure when the subject is love. Because she was disappointed so many times by Basil, now she hides her feelings and only treats him with insults. In the second half, however, she is back to the strong Bette Davis we all know and love.
O excelente coadjuvante Eric Blore é o melhor como Digges, estilista e melhor amigo de Basil. Ao fazer cenas teatrais, ele atua junto com Basil, fazendo até os papéis femininos, e mostrando que ele sabe todas as falas de diversas peças. Ah, e Digges é perito na arte de fazer e desfazer as malas.


Amazing character actor Eric Blore is the best as Digges, Basil's dresser and best friend. When performing scenes, he acts alongside Basil, doing even female roles and showing that he knows all the lines from several plays. Oh, and Digges is an expert on the art of packing and unpacking.
Leslie Howard está incrivelmente bom em um papel cômico que exige que ele esteja em cena o tempo todo. Um ponto negativo é Bonita Granville interpretando uma garotinha irritante que nem faria falta no filme. Bem, nem todos os atores mirins podem ser engraçados como Virginia Weidler em “Núpcias de Escândalo” (1940).


Leslie Howard is incredibly good in a comic role, and he is on the screen for most of the movie. On a negative note, we have a very young Bonita Granville playing an obnoxious child who doesn't even add to the plot. Well, not all kid actors can be funny like Virginia Weidler in “The Philadelphia Story” (1940).
Não podemos negar que Bette e Olivia foram escolhas estranhas – mesmo percebendo que elas se saem bem com seus papéis, em especial Olivia, que tinha apenas 21 anos. Eu fiquei imaginando como este filme poderia ter sido melhor com um roteiro mais sólido e duplas diferentes: tipo, Jean Harlow como Marcia e Myrna Loy como Joyce, ou Carole Lombard como Marcia e Jean Arthur como Joyce.


We can't deny that Bette and Olivia were odd choices – even though they played their parts well, especially Olivia, who is just 21 here. I kept imagining how this film could have been better with a more solid screenplay and different duos: like, Jean Harlow as Marcia and Myrna Loy as Joyce, or Carole Lombard as Marcia and Jean Arthur as Joyce.
É uma pena que “Somos do Amor” não seja tão conhecida. Pode não ser uma das melhores screwball comedies de todos os tempos, mas é uma farsa charmosa com uma performance adorável de Olivia, uma boa de Bette, uma divertida de Leslie e mais uma inesquecível de Eric Blore.


It's a shame that “It's Love I'm After” isn't better known. It may not be among the best screwball comedies of all times, but it is a charming farce and has a lovely performance by Olivia, a nice one by Bette, a funny one by Leslie and another unforgettable one by Eric Blore.

This is my contribution to the Second Annual Olivia de Havilland + Errol Flynn blogathon, hosted by Crystal at In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and Laura at Phyllis Loves Classic Movies.

7 comments:

  1. I think this movie is simply adorable, especially the line about Gable. I am sure your putting the spotlight on this little comedy will lead others to enjoy its charms.

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  2. Nice review!

    If you want to see Bette Davis in another great screwball comedy I highly recommend The Bride Came C.O.D. She's superb in the role with James Cagney's character even referring to her as "the outstanding screwball of her generation".

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  3. I'm not a huge fan of screwball comedies, but this looks so cute, I'm going to hunt it down! Thanks for bringing it to my attention :-) That exchange where Howard threatens to kill himself and Davis says the line about "blood and destruction" is cracking me up just from your review and the gifs!

    BTW, I know you love blogathons just like I do, and I'm hosting an Alan Ladd blogathon in September that I thought you might be interested in. Details are here, if you are.

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  4. Great review, I read every word!

    Betty Davis and Olivia de Havilland, I would never have thought of them going together! I really like screwball comedies, and this looks like a great one!

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  5. This is such a fun movie and yes, it needs to better known! Also, Granville needs a good spanking!

    Thanks for bringing this cute film to the Blogathon.

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  6. Very nice discussion. I totally agree that it's weird to think of Davis and De Havilland in a screwball comedy although I do think both actresses had a great sense of comic timing in other films I've seen where they use a little humor (like Davis in All About Eve). I think it's even weirder to think of Leslie Howard in a screwball comedy. I'm anxious to see this film now since you mention that he is excellent in it.

    Tam
    The Dream Book Blog
    thedreambook.wordpress.com

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  7. I loved every minute of this movie and every word of your review. This is a very funny screwball that needs to be more widely known. I especially love Leslie Howard in this.

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