Dreadfully Boring

Better Late Then Never

Best movie ever!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Copyright 4 January 1944 by Loew's Inc. New York opening at the Capitol: 24 March 1944. U.S. release: April 1944. Australian release: 14 September 1944. 8,515 feet. 94 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Feeling neglected because Bill, her astronomer-husband, is preoccupied with a new comet, Vicky Whitley seeks some diversion. She meets an astrologer who tells her that, by the twenty-second of the month, she will fall in love with a man who has traveled widely. Vicky informs Bill of the prediction. Upset at her belief in astrology, Bill leaves her and goes to his observatory. Vicky patiently waits for her "man" to appear. After an uneventful day on the twenty-second, she telephones Bill; and admitting that she was wrong, asks him to return home. Just as midnight approaches, however...VIEWER'S GUIDE: Ideal for insomniacs.COMMENT: This wartime escapist farce is pretty tough sledding. The most generous assessment at our Hollywood Classics screening was that the wittiest thing about the movie was its title. A slight comedy spun out to 94 minutes, well beyond the point of tedium. A complete waste of some fine players. Admittedly, In the hands of a less talented director than Alexander Hall, who makes the most of the occasional jokes and mildly intriguing if far too repetitive situations, the results would have been considerably less than the just barely passable entertainment that this Heavenly Body offers.ADDITIONAL COMMENT: As bores go, The Heavenly Body is something rather special, in that it offers the ultra-luxury of being bored by no less a personage than Hedy Lamarr. - PM Reviews.

Hedy Lamarr was never more beautiful than in this movie, true. But that doesn't save it. She is given a thankless part, completely undeveloped, with no good lines and a lot of embarrassingly foolish situations. The result leaves her with nothing to work with, so she can do nothing but look nice. I suppose the part could have been cast with a scatter-brained blonde - imagine Ann Southern, perhaps? - but they why would the astronomer have married her? William Powell was one of Hollywood's great actors in the 1930s and 40s. But an actor has to have something to work with, and once again, the scriptwriters gave him nothing. Whether it was his own idea or the director's, he ends up hamming some scenes up badly, which is embarrassing from the actor who gave us My Man Godfrey, the various Thin Man movies, etc.By 1944 Fay Bainter had given us her portrayal of Ellen Whitcomb in *Woman of the Year.* Why was she cast in the ungrateful role of an astrologer who suddenly turns out, with no preparation at all, to be a rations hoarder? Or, put more bluntly, why was this script made into a movie without a lot more development, and why was it cast with these people in parts that were not suited to them? This is an annoyingly bad movie.

This is such a ridiculous and silly film that I found it impossible to watch all of it, as it was simply too exasperating and irritating. MGM must have realized they had a turkey on their hands because they employed seven screenwriters, including even the British novelist Michael Arlen, and hired a second (uncredited) director, namely Vincente Minelli, to try and save the film. But all failed. William Powell and Hedy Lamarr were the stars, and they did very well. But their valiant efforts and those of the seven screenwriters and two directors, were all for nothing. The fact is that it was a ludicrous project commissioned by idiots. The main theme of the film is that William Powell, an observational astronomer working at a big telescope (clearly mean to be Mount Palomar), has a beautiful but pin-headed wife who takes astrology so seriously that she will not let him touch her on Tuesdays and according to her chart she must leave him for another man she does not know. The irony of having Hedy Lamarr, probably the most intelligent female star in Hollywood, play the stupidest woman in the history of films, is extreme. The film is an absolutely disgusting attempt to make a comedy based upon the premise that women are unspeakably stupid. One does not have to be a feminist to want to throw up.

William Powell does a lot ham acting and a bit of leering at The Heavenly Body of Hedy Lamarr, but in the end The Heavenly Body just ends up more silly than amusing.Poor Bill and Hedy they did two films together, neither of them would be at the top ten of either of their list of film credits. The first was Crossroads based on an incredibly silly premise about amnesia. And try as I might I could not wrap myself around the concept that a woman who was married to an astronomer would have the slightest faith of any kind in astrology.I also couldn't believe that Hedy would be led into it by neighbor Spring Byington who is playing one of her usual airhead characters. But when astronomer husband Powell who is excited over the discovery of a new comet on a collision course with the moon is not paying attention to her, she's gullible enough for anything.Which includes Byington's astrologer Fay Bainter who says that Lamarr will have a new man in her life shortly whom she will marry. When new air raid warden James Craig seems to fit the bill, Lamarr kind of forces the issue with a bit of flirting.Of course if you've got Hedy Lamarr flirting with you, Craig's no fool.Which leaves Powell in the predicament of weaning his wife off astrology and James Craig.The Heavenly Body does have a couple of good scenes, the highlight is Powell getting absolutely plastered on vodka and inviting the whole Russian tea room over in the spirit of the American-Soviet wartime alliance. Powell's character here is no drinker like Nick Charles, in fact he's a teetotaler and he's not used to holding his liquor.In the end though The Heavenly Body asks just a little too much of its stars to carry a weak story resting on a silly premise.