What struck me the most different and hilarious about this film wasn't so much the dialogue, which was great, but the whole concept was absolutely ridiculous, so much so that it was just down-right funny. From the name Ginglebuscher to the ingénue, the film is filled with funny all the way around. Actions are just exaggerated and executed well by the players. I found myself unable to stop laughing from time to time, which doesn't happen often.
I absolutely loved the idea of a sheltered girl living in an orphanage being recruited to be an usherette at a movie theatre. And Luisa is willing to be an usherette even though she has no idea what that is. And so out she goes into the world, just trying to mingle and following the rules. It's so adorable you can't help but have a chuckle. But what I love most is how she deals with pushy men that come after her. The answer is to say that she's simply married. This is how she befriends the waiter Detlaff, played stupendously by Reginald Owen, whom she identifies as her husband, and the poor guy has no clue but takes pity on her.
Owen is actually the one stand-out performance to watch in this film. The faces he makes are so out there and his interactions with Morgan are hilarious. It's simply worth it just to watch Morgan grow upset as Owen instigates him in order to get him away from Sullavan. In fact, Lu is thrilled to think of herself as someone's good fairy--who picks out a "husband" via telephone book in order for Konrad to make him rich--but the real good fairy in the film is Detlaff who invites her to a party where he works in order for her to have some fun and then he goes out of his way to protect her, even kidnapping her away from Konrad in a fast-paced sequence filled with falls near the end of the film.
Herbert Marshall as usual is his charming self as Dr Max Sporum, the lawyer whom Lu chooses for Konrad's riches to fall upon. But he's barely on screen, only appearing halfway through. But when he does come on, he's great, wearing an apron--an image I can't get out of my head. He's got a beard, which he shaves off later on, and of course he falls for the heroine.
Morgan looks young here and his laugh is shrilly and almost contagious. He repeats, "You're marvelous" so many times you wanna see a tee-shirt made with him quoting it. My only problem is that he seems like such a good-natured guy to be such a hornball. I don't know if it's because I see him and I see the Wizard, but it's not completely distracting. He does a fine job, mostly because his character is written well.
And so this goes back to the writing. I've noticed the films which Sturges wrote but didn't direct, still stand out. Even if they were changed in someway, there's still that Sturges screwballiness instilled within the story. The names of the characters sound as if they're purely his invention, and the plot of taking someone so fresh out of the womb so to speak and placing them in the real world is another theme which he explores later on in his work. Sturges is one of those writers who cannot be imitated and stands on his own. My only wish is that I could find this script so that I could read it.
I'm a firm believer that anyone can make a decent film if they have an excellent script, which is probably why I give more credit to Sturges than to William Wyler for The Good Fairy. Even still, it's fair to say that Wyler did have final say and was able to deliver a great film that's under-appreciated. But like all great films, it's really a collaboration of all who work on the film, and this film is truly a gem more people should watch. Even if it is to wonder, how would Sturges have directed? Now that's something to ponder on.
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