But again, there were things that caught my attention as I watched it once more. I think I may have mentioned already that one of the things that stood out in a major way was the fact that Herbert Marshall doesn't come in until halfway through the film. That's not only a late introduction but it's unconventional for a romantic comedy to introduce the other half so far into the game already. You have a lot of laughs in the meantime but I checked the counter only to realize it was 42 minutes in. So I decided to try and break down the structure--without a script because I never found one--to see what else is similar or different from other screwball comedies.
Instead of a typical three-act structure, I think the film seems to be split into two acts. This would explain why Marshall's Sporum is introduced so late in the film. The first half of the film is setting up all the mischief and misunderstanding and the love story itself that will occur in the second half. I suppose one could argue that there are three acts but I rather like this division of two acts, which makes more sense in my head. This two-act structure might be more familiar with that of a play, which is what the film was adapted from although IBDB claims it's a three-act play. I suppose an alternative could also be that it's a four-act play with the opening and closing sequences as stand-alone acts, but I digress. The fact that it's not a three-act structure is interesting to me. I'm not sure why it came out this way, but it seems to work.
Sturges' specialty was the comedy film, and in this film you can see his trademark dialogue and slapstick, as well as the visual storytelling, so important to the medium. A lot of what happens in the first act are jokes and misunderstandings. The frustrations between characters are dead-on funny, none more so than Detlaff and Konrad. In fact Detlaff, as played by Reginald Owen, is such a scene-stealer that if you take away one thing from this film it's his performance, typical of a Sturges character. In any case, all this elongated the first act into the first half of the film.
There's also the sequence with Sullavan's Luisa as the usherette and then her hanging back during the screening of a film in which there's the hilarious "Go!" scene with two actors acting out a melodrama. I love that Sturges wrote this, his making fun of romances on film considering that we're about to see a romance develop in this film. Is it relevant? Necessary? I don't care. It made me laugh.
When we finally get to party scene in the hotel, which Detlaff works at, there are several dialogue-free scenes. Luisa taking in the scene is that of a little child just watching all the grown-ups having fun. Then what follows are all her attempts to fit in with minimal distraction: the contents of her purse fly out, she gives her coat ticket to a head waiter instead of keeping it for the night, she waves grandly at a working Detlaff from across the dance floor. Luisa is like Cinderella at the ball, which is kind of what the story is--a Cinderella story.
In this sequence there is also the introduction of Frank Morgan's Konrad, who, as already mentioned has many funny exchanges with Detlaff, is instantly charmed by Luisa. The exchange between the two is that of a an adult with a child at times. Luisa is pretty innocent but she plays dumb to stave off Konrad's advances. It is here finally that the conflict at hand is presented in which Luisa picks a name out of a phonebook and passes off the stranger as her husband so that Konrad can employ him and make him rich so indirectly Konrad can spoil Luisa. And with that, the first half of the film closes.
And the second half begins with a bearded Marshall as Dr Sporum. This half of the film sets into motion everything set up in the first part. Konrad goes over to Sporum's place and offers him a job, but his motives are clear to the careful listener. He intends to send Sporum off to South America at some point to take a tour of the business. Sporum is a stuffy and snobbish person when first introduced but he's probably the only character to go through a major change in the film. When he finally meets Luisa they actually get on quite well. So much so that they go shopping together.
With Luisa believing herself as the good fairy at this point she starts acting it by giving Sporum advise and overseeing his transformation. But most importantly this sequence serves to show that the two are meant to be and fall for one another.
But like most romantic comedies there is the misunderstanding. Sporum thinks Luisa has eyes for another man, but even still they can't stop thinking about one another and on her way to meet Konrad, Luisa calls Sporum and pretty much declares her love for him. Now while she meets Konrad, he declares his love for her, but before he can do anything, Detlaff intervenes and kidnaps Luisa.
As the film winds down the rest is pretty much predictable in that the misunderstandings come to light and then all is explained, but of course the happy couple stays together. What makes this different from the romantic comedies of today? Along the way, this is actually funny. Sure it's silly, but funny all the same.
Breaking this down, what I found interesting is how the ending is typical of most films but I still found myself enjoying it. It takes a long time to get to the conflict, but even still the first half has little bits that tie one sequence to the other, building up to the conflict. But more importantly, it's enjoyable to watch that build-up and you can forgive the tardiness of the hero's introduction. The cast at hand is already entertaining as it is, so you don't mind as much. And so The Good Fairy has a different sort of structure than the typical romantic comedy, but this is a screwball comedy and as such all bets are pretty much off. I think part of the success of this story is that Sturges just went off and made it his own, not following the rules. And having seen the films he did direct, you kinda wonder what he would've made differently with this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment