Tonight's Movie: Men Are Such Fools (1938)

As regular readers know, I'm a fan of Priscilla Lane, so I was hoping MEN ARE SUCH FOOLS would prove to be a fun diversion. Unfortunately, I found it to be more tedious and frustrating than entertaining.

When watching a movie, I tend to focus the most on whatever elements I find to like, and consequently very poor reviews are not the norm for me, even for so-so movies. So it's rather ironic that I've posted three fairly negative reviews in a single week! There are usually at least a few things that make a film interesting -- for instance, I loved Ginger Rogers' wardrobe in IT HAD TO BE YOU -- but some of this past week's movies really tried my patience (grin).

In MEN ARE SUCH FOOLS Priscilla Lane plays Linda, a girl on her way up the corporate ladder, who is being relentlessly pursued by Jimmy (Wayne Morris). Will Linda continue with her successful career in advertising, or leave it all behind to marry Jimmy and be a suburban housewife?

One of the film's biggest flaws is there aren't any characters to root for. It's pretty difficult to make Priscilla Lane unappealing, but the filmmakers almost succeeded here. Linda is a self-centered, rude conniver who is thoughtless of others, while Jimmy is a domineering, juvenile bully. Humphrey Bogart has a supporting role as a man who chases Linda after she's married, and what did Hollywood ever see in Hugh Hubert, whose "comedic" mannerisms are incredibly annoying?

Supporting actresses Mona Barrie (playing an advertising executive), Marcia Ralston (as Bogart's ex-fiancee), and Penny Singleton (as Linda's friend) provide the most interest, and the film picks up considerably whenever one of these ladies is on the screen. Gene and Kathleen Lockhart are also in the film.

The film has some eye-catching sets, particularly Jimmy and Linda's house and a sequence shot poolside at a party.

Wayne Morris would later leave the screen for most of WWII; he became a pilot and received numerous medals, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses. He reached the rank of Lt. Commander.

MEN ARE SUCH FOOLS was one of a handful of non-musical films directed by Busby Berkeley. Some fun trivia is that the background music during the pool party scene is the song "I'm a Fish Out of Water," which was featured in the previous year's Berkeley film, HOLLYWOOD HOTEL -- which starred Priscilla Lane's sisters, Rosemary and Lola. In fact, Johnnie Davis, who sang "Hooray for Hollywood" in HOLLYWOOD HOTEL, plays Penny Singleton's husband in this film.

MEN ARE SUCH FOOLS was filmed in black and white and runs 69 minutes. It's not out on DVD or video, but can be seen on Turner Classic Movies. The trailer can be seen here.

Priscilla Lane movies previously reviewed at this blog: FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938), DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS (1939), YES, MY DARLING DAUGHTER (1939), FOUR WIVES (1939), THREE CHEERS FOR THE IRISH (1940), FOUR MOTHERS (1941), BLUES IN THE NIGHT (1941), and SABOTEUR (1942).