Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

mark.waltz This wacky screwball comedy has so much going on that you might have to watch it over again to make sure that you saw right. If Hellzappoppin' turned Broadway with all of its hysterical gags, this farce had Hollywood on its ears with laughter. Robert Young and Frank Morgan are mistaken for multi-millionaire and hobo respectively when they each check in to an inn in the Alps and practically cause an avalanche.Young encounters Morgan's daughter, Florence Rice, with Edna May Oliver garnering most of the laughs in her own uninhibited manner, even going down an Alp mountainside on skies and being accused of immoral behavior as age tries to track down long time employer Morgan. Mary Astor is a delight as an obvious gold digger, with smaller roles played by Reginald Owen, Felix Bressart and Herman Bing, the later in his funniest role as the hotel clerk whose attempts at keeping order keeps exploding in his face.The skiing and skating sequences appear to be black and white animation, but the lavish sets and costumes are only matched by the witty script. This isn't among the classic screwball comedies of the golden age, but as typical fluff, it is indeed fluff with plenty of innuendo and hysterically funny moments. Even an incident involving steam escaping results in plenty of giggles. Young and Rice are a charming couple, but it is the supporting characters, particularly Oliver, who end up as the scene stealers.

JohnLeeT A somewhat fascinating film when considered purely as an artifact of the times in which it was produced. While the story reflects the background of the Great Depression and it is clearly evident in the plight of the character portrayed by Robert Young, it is the black storm clouds of the coming war that cast their shadow across this motion picture. Based on a German novel that is harmless enough to have escaped the flames of a Hitlerian bonfire, the setting is Vienna, 1938. The fluff that is the plot plays out in a city facing its utter doom as Hitler is fated to soon shatter forever the loveliness of the cultural mecca. The delusional will hysterically welcome the evil seducer into their midst and crush the illusion this motion picture projected on thousand of screens. It is the beat of storm troopers' boots that echo in the background, overwhelming the soundtrack as the cast frolics in the Alpine snow soon to run red with the blood of Nazi victims. It is as if monstrous hordes of black helmeted ski troops line the peaks of the slopes, waiting to sweep savagely down upon hapless Hollywood stars. The characters seem oblivious to what is to come but their future is inescapably intertwined with the geo-political environment in which they are trapped. This film stands as a curious moment in time, a snapshot of people dancing on the precipice of the abyss. The Europe in which they exist will soon be no more and they will be engulfed in the wave of unrelenting violence and horror that will break upon them within months. The creative minds behind the production can not ignore the headlines and that shadow of fear fleets across the shallow smiles of the actors. The theatre audiences that watched this film were well aware of what was happening and perhaps had just seen a newsreel of goosestepping SS parading before the swastika draped maniac who would soon touch all their lives with his frigid fingers. It is this background that is the foundation of this production and our hindsight cuts deeply into the way we view this film. The audience of the era sat uneasily in their seats, conscious of the horror awaiting them but in determined denial regarding the future. The audience of today can see that future and watches powerlessly, looking at the images that are now tainted by the dark knowledge of historical perspective. The broad grins that illuminate the opening credits seem forced now and strange in the harsh light of reality. But what indeed is reality once time and history have had their way with it? The images in this movie are the present and what we see is what was as well as what will be. It is in this context that the true value of the film can be discovered and considered.

vincentlynch-moonoi The first time I watched this film, I started out my review by saying, "I'm surprised at how positive the other reviews here are of this film. And to be honest, I'm surprised that I have a negative view of this film...Maybe watch this once to enjoy Frank Morgan and Edna May Oliver. But this one gets a thumbs-down from me, despite my liking the cast very much."I watched the film again last evening, and had a completely different take on it. I found it to be...well, I thought of the word charming and I thought of the word delightful.Frank Morgan has long been my all-time favorite character/supporting actor. And this is classic Frank Morgan...and filmed the same year as he was the Wizard Of Oz (although he definitely looks a little pudgy here)! The other delight here is the wonderful Edna May Oliver, who turns in another of classically drool performances; she was an eccentric gem on screen! Robert Young is the male love interest here, and does very nicely. Not so impressive was a rather limp role and performance by a generally underrated actress -- Mary Astor; Astor had a film career that seemed like a roller coaster ride, with this being one of her lesser roles. It could have been a good role -- she plays a broke woman out to find a millionaire...in this case Frank Morgan. Florence Rice is the love interest of Robert Young here; she does just fine. I have rarely seen any reason to be impressed with Reginald Owen, although he does his job here. Henry Hull, a veteran character actor, is interesting here.The film is supposedly set in the German Alps, where Morgan -- a rich businessman -- goes incognito and is mistaken for a poor man who has won a contest to stay at a hotel in the Alps. Meanwhile, Young has no job, but is mistaken for being rich. Oliver is watching over her employer (Morgan), and the only real disappointment in the film is that in the end they don't realize how much they are for each other.This is one of those B pictures that with a little more in terms of production values, might very well have been an A picture. A good example of the poor production values is how fake the background shots of the Alps look. Nevertheless, I do recommend this film to enjoy the wonderful Frank Morgan and the equally wonderful Edna May Oliver.

MartinHafer This is one of those films that you see and then can't understand why it isn't more famous. This delightful film is clearly one of the best comedies of the 1930s--you today practically no one has heard of it! The film begins in Austria. The owner .of a soap company (Frank Morgan) has sponsored a contest where the two people who write the best company jingle each will receive a two-week trip to a resort in the Alps. The first prize is won by Robert Young--a very poor man who desperately needs a job. The second prize is claimed by Morgan himself! Whether this is clearly nepotism or not is uncertain....but you assume his owning the company MUST have had something to do with this win! As for Young, he needs money more than a trip but decides to go anyway--perhaps if he hobnobs with the rich at this resort it will open up some doors to a job. As for Morgan, on a lark, he decides to go there as well--but incognito. He's tired of the high society life and decides to just go as a regular guy--in regular guy clothes. However, before they both arrive, Morgan's nosy housekeeper (Edna May Oliver) calls ahead to the hotel to be sure they treat her boss well--after all, he's a millionaire and should be pampered. But, in a case of mistaken identity, the hotel manager thinks that Young is the rich millionaire--and he and his assistant dote on him and give him a deluxe room. At the same time, they are both snobs and when they see Morgan in his ordinary clothes, they assume he's just some poor jerk who won the contest and treat him like dirt!The hotel workers are not the only ones who make this same mistake. A gold-digger (Mary Astor) thinks Young is her meal ticket and begins throwing herself at him incessantly. Only later, when she reads through a copy of "Who's Who" does she realize that Morgan is rich and single--then she chases him like a hungry lion chasing a Porterhouse steak! In addition to these characters, the vacation begins to really hum when Oliver shows up--along with Morgan's daughter (Florence Rice). In addition, Morgan's butler (Reginald Owen) comes along--posing as a rich industrialist. Oliver and Owen are fantastic in these comedic roles and provide lots of rich color to the film. Rice, though not in a comedic role, was also quite good and it's odd she never really gained fame as a star.Once Oliver and Rice show up, in addition to the plot involving Astor trying to vamp Young and Morgan, Rice and Young hit it off as well. The only problem is that Young doesn't know that Rice is rich--and she's afraid to tell him because he says he can't stand rich folks! So how will all these stories work out and will the snobs at the resort ever get their comeuppance? See for yourself--though I can pretty much guarantee you'll see everyone get what they deserve. The way the film takes all these elements and ties them all together AND makes you laugh out loud (I know I did several times) is wonderful and just goes to show you what wonderful writing and acting can do. Despite not having a lot of 'big name' stars, this is a great little film and one of the reasons I didn't give it a 10 was the sloppily made skiing sequences--these will NOT come off as well as the James Bond skiing scenes, that's for sure! Overall, a lot of fun and not a bad date movie provided you have someone who also appreciates movies made in "the good old days", too! And, by the way, if she or he doesn't...find someone else!By the way, my theories for as to why this film is a hidden gem, I have two ideas. First, while these were all fine actors, they were not top names and some times this is a strike against a film. Second, this was made just before WWII and feelings towards Austria were NOT at an all-time high now that the country was absorbed into the Nazi empire. Plus, once WWII started, it wasn't like the studio was going to re-release a comedy that takes place in Vienna and the Alps.