BKRudy-1 Reviews

Let Us Be Gay (1930)

Shearer and Dressler Shine in this Creaky Museum Piece

[6/10 · 6 August 2008]

If you love Shearer or Marie Dressler (or both, as I do!) this a must see little movie. I FINALLY saw it again on TCM after over 20 years. It's not out on video or DVD and it seems that TCM only airs it once every 5 years or so. The plot is creaky and cliché'-ridden (Since I wasn't around in 1930, I'll assume that the depression audiences of the day must have loved this romantic trite). The supporting character are painfully wooden and annoying (Hedda Hopper had to soon realize after this that she wasn't cut out to be an actress. You know that Shearer is going back to her louse of an ex-husband (who still doesn't deserve her) at the end and you almost want to slap her senseless for doing so. Nevertheless, I love Shearer and Dressler and the two of them are a hoot together as they scheme and plot. They just seem so much more smarter than everyone else around them. It's a shame they never made another movie together. Their screen chemistry was simply marvelous! FYI: Reading Norma Shearer's bio, I learned that she was pregnant with her first child when filming this movie. You can't tell, but she suffered with terrible morning sickness throughout the entire shoot. Adrian also had his work cut out for him trying to disguise Norma's increasing "baby bump". But Marie Dressler thought she was a real trooper and the two women became fast friends off-screen.