march 30, 1998

photo: THE AWFUL TRUTH

To celebrate the publication of this authoritative work on Hollywood romantic comedies of the 30’s and 40’s, the Walter Reade Theater presents a lively discussion of the films and screen personalities of the period by the book’s author and Margo Jefferson, winner of the Pulitzer for her book reviews and a regular contributor to the New York Times on cultural subjects.

program notes and times

Organized by Joanna Ney.

THEODORA GOES WILD will be shown in an excellent 35mm print.

Discussion with Jim Harvey and Margo Jefferson (Monday, March 30: 7:45 pm) is included with admission to double features:

THEODORA GOES WILD
(Monday, March 30: 2 and 6 pm)
Leo McCarey's 1937 efferevescent masterpiece
THE AWFUL TRUTH
(Monday, March 30: 4 and 8:30 pm).

The conversation will be preceded by a rare screening of THEODORA GOES WILD (1936), directed by Richard Boleslawski from a screenplay by Sidney Buchman. THEODORA stars the irrepressible Irene Dunne, whom Jim Harvey calls "the most dazzling screwball comedienne of them all." Although Dunne first made her mark as a screen actress in romantic dramas and weepers such as BACK STREET and MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, she emerged, albeit reluctantly, as a deft comic with an impeccable sense of timing much admired by her co-stars, most especially the master of masters, Cary Grant, with whom she was so brilliantly paired in THE AWFUL TRUTH and MY FAVORITE WIFE.

THEODORA, Dunne's first starring comedy, is a delightful tale about a New England woman who exposes the life of her sleepy hometown in a steamy best-seller and then decides to head for the high life in New York. There, she falls in love with the sophisticated illustrator of her book, with comic results. Although Dunne was initially reluctant to do the film, which she considered a piece of fluff--she preferred serious roles, comedy felt too easy-- it emerged as a sleeper hit for Columbia Pictures, according to Harvey, "a huge and unexpected hit (that) became the precursor and paradigm of almost every important romantic comedy to follow it, from THE AWFUL TRUTH to NINOTCHKA to THE LADY EVE. THEODORA changed the course of Dunne's career, and put her into that elevated company of screwball heroines that included Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, Jean Arthur and Myrna Loy. Of all the great glamorous comediennes of her time, Irene Dunne may be the least known and deserves fresh appreciation."