Ladies in Love Reviews

A tame, multistoried comedy based on a Hungarian play, LADIES IN LOVE has a most impressive cast, but failed to catch fire at the box office because the film's jollity was very studied and almost forced. A brief look at the cast list indicates that just about every Fox contract player was pressed into this expensive ($750,000) flop. Three Hungarian working girls pool their savings to rent an expensive apartment in Budapest, hoping to impress the men they want to marry and/or to attract a higher class of beaux. Gaynor is a poverty-stricken peeress who hustles neckties to make a living and to support the feeding of the rabbits owned by Ameche, a doctor who uses the animals in his research. She supplements that by assisting Mowbray, an egotistical magician. Bennett wants Lukas to marry her but he is reluctant; meanwhile, she is being chased by Lawson, a rich young man, and keeps him at bay, dangling her indecision before him and never committing herself. Lukas eventually turns from her to marry innocent Simone, a young farm girl. Young is a naive singer-dancer who wants to nab Power, a count she met at a cocktail party. Eventually, Power decides to leave Young and marry Field, a woman of his own station. Young responds by planning a suicide attempt. By mistake, Gaynor drinks the poisoned potion and Ameche is called in to save her. In doing so, he convinces her that he loves her and wants to marry her. Bennett sees their joy and attempts to get Lukas back, but he is set to marry Simone the following day, so she takes Lawson off the string by agreeing to marry him. Power is already gone and Young is depressed, but Lawson gives her a reason to live by deeding her a hat shop so she'll have something to do with her life and give up the idea of suicide. The film ends as the women leave the apartment and go their separate ways. There were some high-priced and high-strung stars in this cast and everyone expected fireworks on and off the screen, but the conflicts never occurred, the actresses did their jobs and had little to say to each other, and the lack of chemistry resulted in a dud. This was a very calculated "woman's picture" from Darryl F. Zanuck, but women found it as trivial as men did. The dialog, though good, lacks the bubbling insouciance that a picture of this sort needs, and the story's stage-bound heritage is constantly evident.