Tonight's Movie: The Goose and the Gander (1935) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER (1935) is a delightful comedic romp starring Kay Francis and George Brent. It's available from the Warner Archive.

The Archive released this film some time ago, but I was inspired to review it by the Archive's brand-new release IT'S A DATE (1940), in which Francis plays Deanna Durbin's mother. I'll be reviewing that title in the near future.

I first saw THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER back in 2009. I didn't remember it that well but recalled I had really enjoyed it, and that was certainly the case this time around. It's a fun film fans of the cast or romantic comedies will really enjoy.

Georgiana (Francis) is the jilted ex-wife of Ralph Summers (Ralph Forbes). She'd love to have a bit of revenge and hatches a crazy plan for Ralph to find his new wife Betty (the delightful Genevieve Tobin) spending time alone with handsome Bob McNear (Brent).

Betty and Bob end up "marooned" at Georgiana's country house, pretending to be "Mr. and Mrs. McNear." Then a pair of jewel thieves (John Eldredge and Claire Dodd) show up in Betty's stolen car and pretend to be Betty and Ralph. Lost yet? No matter, it's all quite delightful and amusing as identities are gradually untangled and true love conquers all.

Last time I saw the movie I hadn't seen "Wild Bill" Elliott's Westerns or detective movies so didn't know him well enough to pick him out in his many '30s appearances, billed as Gordon Elliott. It was thus a lot of fun to watch him in several scenes as one of Georgiana's swains at a nightclub. He's seen here in a still with Francis and Brent.

Speaking of Georgiana in the nightclub, Francis wears an Orry-Kelly gown in that scene that seems to stay on her by nothing short of a miracle! (It's seen in the same still in which Elliott appears.) She has a fantastic wardrobe, and her country house is also enviable. Oh, to live in the delicious world Warner Bros. created for Francis in this movie!

THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER was directed by Alfred E. Green and filmed in black and white by Sid Hickox. It runs just a tad over 65 minutes.

This is an older Warner Archive DVD from 2010 which doesn't seem to have been cleaned up to the extent of more recent Archive releases. The print is occasionally spotted and speckled, but on the whole it's quite watchable, and I very much enjoyed it. There are no extras.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Store at Amazon and from other online retailers.