William Powell and Kay Francis are both lovely to look at and delightful to listen to in this sparkling comedy, the definitive guide on how to be suave and charming whilst committing armed robberies. Jewel Robbery has always suffered in my eyes from being in the shadow of the ultimate sophisticated comedy from the same year, Trouble in Paradise - a true gem which also had bouquet, but taken on its own merits stands up well. It's relentlessly witty, and deliciously risqué, but maybe a little more verbose than I'd like. The upper class stereotypes depicted, their milieu and moral vacuousness still can ring the bell all these years later, along with the utter submission and innate ineptness of the working class stereotypes around them.
The actual jewellers robbery scene itself went its urbane way a little too long for me, and it was a pity that Powell didn't manage to steal the biggest jewel of his pre-Code career - she would have let him take it!
That all sounds as if I can't like JR but I do, it's just I log these kind of impressions as well as my pleasure in spending a elegant 65 minutes in much more refined company than you could get nowadays. And Francis said "Divine" too, what more could anyone want?
The actual jewellers robbery scene itself went its urbane way a little too long for me, and it was a pity that Powell didn't manage to steal the biggest jewel of his pre-Code career - she would have let him take it!
That all sounds as if I can't like JR but I do, it's just I log these kind of impressions as well as my pleasure in spending a elegant 65 minutes in much more refined company than you could get nowadays. And Francis said "Divine" too, what more could anyone want?