Tonight's Movie: Snowed Under (1936) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

A terrific cast stars in the enjoyable farce SNOWED UNDER (1936), just released on DVD by the Warner Archive.

I first saw this film in 2013 and have been looking forward to revisiting it for the first time in over half a decade. As it turned out, a 63-minute comedy was the perfect change of pace after watching the tough and suspenseful ASSIGNMENT IN BRITTANY (1943) earlier in the day.

As SNOWED UNDER begins, we learn that successful playwright Allan Tanner (George Brent) has a new show due to open in a few days -- but he has yet to write a good third act!

Allan escapes to his snowbound country house to work on the elusive final act, but before long his quiet hideaway is invaded by a succession of people: His first wife, Alice (Genevieve Tobin), who still carries a torch for Allan and wants to help with the play; his second "rebound" wife Daisy (Glenda Farrell), who arrives with a lawyer (John Eldredge) and the sheriff (Frank McHugh) in search of her unpaid alimony; and Pat (Patricia Ellis), who has a crush on Allan despite his insistence she's too young for him.

Chaos ensues as characters run in and out of rooms, doors slam, beds are changed, and the snow keeps falling. Sometimes it gets a little loud and obvious, but there are also some very funny moments, particularly as a succession of characters faint on the living room floor. By the time the final character happens upon what looks like a murder scene and faints herself, my eyes were watery with mirthful tears.

Perhaps it's not a great movie, but it's quite a fun one, which I've now enjoyed twice and look forward to seeing again. The cast is wonderful, particularly the charming Tobin, and the film is good company. I love spending movie time in that gorgeous house as the snow falls.

The director of SNOWED UNDER was Ray Enright. Arthur Todd was the cinematographer.

The print and sound are both excellent. The disc includes the trailer.

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 or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.