Crazy for Powell and Loy

I was trying to write a post for Kate's Summer Blog A-Thon, but the words just weren't flowing. I am super excited to read some of the entries tho. You should totally go over to Silents and Talkies to check it out!

Instead, I watched Love Crazy this weekend and decided that Confessions was in desperate need of a Billykins post. I adore William Powell in just about any capacity. Whenever I am sick, I tend to gravitate to good him in particular. I have a friend who can judge how I am feeling by what old movie is on my TV. Bill is my remedy for mind ailments. If I have a headache, his voice has a very soothing quality. He is very easy on the ears.

Back to Love Crazy... this is one of the few Powell/Loy films I didn't own... so thanks to my handy dandy DVR and TCM, I was able to add it to my collection :) Powell/Loy made three types of movies together (Comedy, Drama and Thin Man). Love Crazy falls into the four films or so that made up the P/L screwball comedies. These are actually my favorites! I like their dramas... and although my love for the Thin Man movies are amazing... my affection for them dwindles with each one they put out. For example, The Thin Man (first one) is fantastic... I could watch it over and over, but Song of the Thin Man gives me heartburn. I only watch it once a year.... during a Thin Man Marathon.... on a rainy day.... when there is nothing left to do.... You get my point. Look at me... chasing rabbits again...

So Love Crazy is pretty much one misunderstanding after another. It is Powell doing whatever he can (including acting mentally insane and dressing in drag) to keep Loy from divorcing him. Powell is incredibly funny in this one. I particularly like when he is acting crazy at a party. He not only sets 50 or so top hats "free" in a pond, but he also falls out of a tree in the buff... laughter is immediate. Loy is a little cold. A temperature she excels at. Only Loy can make cold understandable and likeable. Her and Powell had such an easy way together that you can totally see why MGM constantly paired the two. They seem in tune to eachothers every move, word.

My favorite P/L comedy is probably I Love You Again. Powell spends the first half of the movie chasing Loy only for the roles to reverse about half way through. It's very romantic and sweet. Powell plays a con man who suffer amnesia, becomes a stiff, upper crust society guy who marries Loy, then he suffers amnesia again and turns back into his con man self (this is actually where the movie begins) Got it? It is kind of hard to explain the plot without multiple paragraphs... suffice it to say that this movie is wonderful for anybody who loves P/L.

Libeled Lady comes awful close to I Love You Again in my book... but I love that one for Jean Harlow... Another post for another day! These are just randome P/L pics btw. No method to my madness.... well, at least not tonight :)