Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

moonspinner55 Jean Arthur imbues her movies with so much grace and inner-sparkle that her performances usually save the day, no matter what the picture. Curiously, both she and William Powell are stuck here in a second-string screwball outing, one with a flimsy plot about the investigation into the death of a jockey. Arthur (photographed in gauzy, movie-magazine fashion) either wants alimony from ex-husband Powell or another shot at marriage, but one never feels for her because the character isn't conceived as person--she's just a string of wisecracks. This is the type of 1930s heroine prone to comical inquisitiveness, yet once inside a morgue she does what all women are supposed to do--she faints. Powell reportedly had a high time working with Miss Arthur, but you'd never know it from these results. The two stars look awkward next to each other, hesitant over their banter. The actor playing Powell's valet is excruciating, and the pauses for the expected laughs are pregnant with unease. *1/2 from ****

John austin William Powell and Jean Arthur team in this murder mystery comedy about a divorced couple who get together to investigate a string of murders centering around the horse racing industry.It's definitely a Thin Man knockoff, but all the right elements are present. Powell plays an erudite physician as the straight man who gets implicated in a murder. Arthur is the comic as his ex wife who helps him track down the killer as he gets ready to strike again.Like a lot of depression era espacist movies, this film focuses on wealth and lavish lifestyles. Much of the film takes place in swanky high-rises with penthouse apartments. Powell has a butler and personal secretaries and makes his way through New York's elite horse racing set.It's a fun movie even if you don't buy the black widow spider as the murder weapon. It's also a production code era movie that deals gently with the subject of divorce. The Bradfords start out as a divorced couple in an obvious love/hate relationship, but they fall in love again during the course of the movie. The last scene is the two of them getting remarried. That's the way they made you play that subject in those days.

ackstasis M-G-M had struck success in 1934 by adapting Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man" with William Powell and Myrna Loy in the central roles. The film was a commercial hit, received four Oscar nominations, and spawned five sequels between 1936 and 1947. The good folks at RKO Radio Pictures asked themselves "why can't we have success like that?" and so set about replicating the accomplishment. They got halfway there, at least: for the "Nick Charles" role, Powell was loaned out from M-G-M, but, for his "Nora," Jean Arthur arrived from Columbia Pictures. Both were already big names in the screwball comedy business – that year, Powell also starred in 'After the Thin Man (1936)' and 'My Man Godfey (1936),' and Arthur had graced 'Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936).' There does seem to be a slight mismatch in each star's comedic style; Arthur's impulsiveness tended to work better with an actor less sure of himself, like Jimmy Stewart. Thus, the interplay between husband and (ex-)wife doesn't quite come off as naturally as it did with Myrna Loy, but RKO still got their money's worth.Does this 'Thin Man'-knockoff reach the heights of its inspirational source? It does its best, but the answer is no. While certainly utilising the comic talents of its two stars, 'The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)' lacks an interesting script, becoming so halfheartedly-distracted by its main characters that the supporting cast – the very people whose movements we should be scrutinising – are anonymous wax figures. Robert Armstrong (Carl Denham in 'King Kong (1933)') is easily the most notable supporting player as shifty bookie Nick Martel, while Eric Blore does that snooty butler act he enjoyed so much. As for the other suspects, I can't tell you much about them. When, in a Nick Charles-inspired detective tactic, Dr. Bradford (Powell) decides to bring together all the potential murderers, I couldn't remember ever meeting half of them. Heck, it's been less than 24 hours since I watched the film – with full attentiveness, I assure you – and I can't even remember the name of the guilty party. At least the method of murder was ghoulishly clever.Though Powell's character is supposed to be a professional surgeon, writer Anthony Veiller apparently felt obliged to furnish him with the characteristics of a detective. One of Nick Charles' most enticing attributes was that, despite an enviably laid-back demeanour, he could swiftly snap into physical action when a gun-wielding criminal threatened his safety. Dr. Bradford, likewise, picked up this instinct at some point during his medical training, and seems to be relatively well-acquainted with the city's hoodlums (admittedly, he does once complain about his ex-wife's habit of thrusting him into homicide investigations). Paula Bradford (Arthur) has the active imagination – and certainly the enthusiasm – of Nora Charles, but maybe not the courage under fire: upon entering the morgue, she faints in her ex-husband's arms, but not before Eric Blore has hilariously fallen down behind her. Certainly, if you're going to watch 'The Ex-Mrs. Bradford,' then it's for the two leads, who are pleasant enough to be worthwhile. As a kind of interlude in the 'Thin Man' series, it works, as well.

blanche-2 William Powell is a doctor dealing with a murder and an ex-wife in "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford," also starring Jean Arthur, Eric Blore, and James Gleason. It seems that Powell had chemistry going with just about any woman with whom he was teamed. Though he and Myrna Loy were the perfect screen couple, the actor made a couple of other "Thin Man" type movies, one with Ginger Rogers and this one with Arthur, both to very good effect.Somehow one never gets tired of seeing Powell as a witty, debonair professional and "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford" is no exception. The ex-Mrs. B has Mr. B served with a subpoena for back alimony and then moves back in to help him solve a mystery that she's dragged him into. And this isn't the first time she's done that! It almost seems as though there was a "Bradford" film before this one or that this was intended to be the first of a series of films - Mr. B complains that his mystery-writer ex is constantly bringing him into cases. This time, a jockey riding the favorite horse in a raise mysteriously falls off the horse and dies right before the finish line.The solution of the case is kind of outlandish but it's beside the point. The point is the banter between the couple and the interference of the ex-Mrs. B. Jean Arthur is quite glamorous in her role and very funny. However, with an actress who comes off as brainy as Arthur does, the humor seems intentional rather than featherbrained. I suspect the writer had something else in mind - say, the wacky side of Carole Lombard. When Arthur hears that the police have arrived, she says, "Ah, it's probably about my alimony. I've been waiting for the police to take a hand in it," it's more of a rib to Powell rather than a serious statement. It still works well, and it shows how a good actress can make a part her own.Definitely worth watching, as William Powell and Jean Arthur always were.