Man-Proof (1938)

Directed by Richard Thorpe. Starring Myrna Loy, Franchot Tone, Walter Pidgeon, Rosalind Russell, Nana Bryant, Gwen Lee, John Miljan.

Socialite Loy pursues playboy Pidgeon, and doesn’t stop even after he chooses to marry heiress Russell. Her efforts are aided by close friend Tone, who, of course, is later presented as a worthy alternative. Thin, tepid, and hard to stick with, even at just an hour-and-a-quarter. The cast is better than the trivial material, but they fail to breathe life into it, possibly because they all look like they’d rather be somewhere else. Loy appears so disinterested during the final kiss, it’s as if her romantic screen partner is a blood relation. Based on a Fanny Heaslip Lea story, “The Four Marys”, which was the working title.

42/100