meganbmoore | movie: Double Wedding (Reply)

Double Wedding is my second non-Thin Man exposure to William Powell and Myrna Loy, the first being Libeled Lady. Powell plays Charlie Lodge, a "Bohemian" who literally lives his life any way he wants to. He lives in a trailer in a parking lot, wears a fur coat(that looks like a woman's fur coat to me) and writes scripts and paints potraits. When he gets a phone call, the bar across the parking lot will shoot a bee bee gun to ring his gong. His friends Irene and Waldo, who have been dating for years, are going to be the leads in his new play, but their schedule is centered around the whims of Irene's micromangaging, high-powered businesswoman sister, Magrit(Loy).

This exchange probably sums up Charlie and Magrit's personalities better than anything I could say:

Magrit: One should know everything in advance and plan accordingly.
Charlie: One should know nothing in advance and plan accordingly.

As far as Charlie is concerned, Magrit, who he's never met, must be a complete shrew and control-freak. Waldo and Irene, of course, are always quick to jump to Magrit's defense, with gems like this(please note that these are not exact quotes, but as close as I can get without pausing every 5 seconds to write down the lines):

Waldo: Margit's nice. she helped us get together.
Charlie: Oh really?
Waldo: Yes. She told me Irene was a wonderful woman and I should love her so I do."
Irene: So you see, Margit's nice.

Or this:

Charlie: What are you two doing? Posing for a wedding cake?
Irene: No, these are our wedding clothes.
Waldo: We're getting married.
Charlie: What?
Irene: Well, Margit decided we should get married so we're getting married in May.

The problem, of course, is that while Irene loves Waldo, he's a complete milquetoast. Would you want to marry a guy who came out the loser in conversations like this with your sister?(Waldo lives with them)

Waldo: But I'd like to take a shower.
Margit: No, a shower will make your hair fall out. Take a bath.
Waldo: But I feel like a shower.
Margit: Take a bath and be sure to wear a shower cap.
Waldo: Yes ma'am.

As Charlie is nothing resembling a milquetoast and *gasp* stands up to Margit, Irene falls for Charlie, leaving poor Waldo in the Dust. Charlie, of course was head over heals for Margit 5 minutes after meeting her, so he decides to kill 2 birds with one stone: pretend he's also fallen for Irene as an excuse to spend time with Margit because she'll try to break them up, and to turn Waldo into a real man and help him win Irene back. (Part of which is a hilarious scene where Charlie and Waldo plan to have Waldo barge in on Charlie and Irene at dinner and demand Irene back, and they practive in the hitel lobby so everyone sees them and watches. Charlie sees his audience, boys, and goes in to dinner, while Waldo keeps practicing, oblivious to his audience.)

Naturally, after a series of misadventures, everything works out the way it should and everyone is who they should be with, and great fun is had by all. Though I fear Charlie likely sustained considerable brain damage in the last scene.