There Goes the Bride (1932)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

A Disappointing Continuation

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

There are obvious similarities between this and America's "It Happened One Night". Preparing to marry a pompous businessman she can't stand to cinch a deal for her father, Jessie Matthews looks at the picture of her fiancée, sticks her tongue out, and bolts. The groom is humiliated, the father is devastated, and she is robbed while hiding out on a train far away. Believing that the sleeping man (Owen Nares)opposite her has her purse (it's actually his briefcase), she tries to retrieve it, and he accuses her of robbing him. Holding her for the police, he can't keep her in his grasp (she slips away from him in a most clever way), yet ends up finding her in his car anyway. He is forced to take her back to his pad, has lots of explaining to do when his fiancée (Carol Goodner) shows up, and even more when his society pals arrive and think Matthews is the girl he's engaged to.Quick moving comedy with a few snappy songs, this is a rare glimpse into what American audiences were missing in areas that did not get these British imports. Matthews would later gain some exposure with classics like "Evergreen", "First a Girl" and "It's Love Again", but outside of New York City, pretty much nobody in the United States even knew who she was. She has a sparkling personality, yet unlike other British actresses who made it big here, never had an interest in crossing over to Hollywood. Fortunately, we're getting to discover her now, and it is obvious that she is worth discovering. Some of the men may seem a bit pompous, or their levels of humor like something from outer space, but with a renewed interest in British culture (thanks to the Merchant Ivory films of the 1980's and 1990's and the BBC series "Downton Abbey"), us Yanks are taking pleasure in seeing sides of British society we hadn't been interested in before. Oh, and by the way, I think this is much more entertaining than the somewhat overlong "It Happened One Night", even with the manly Gable and the leg-exposing Colbert.

Jessie Matthews made one wonderful film (Evergreen) and several lightweight, moderately amusing ones. But this is an utter atrocity. She is given very little opportunity to dance (she was a nice enough singer, but an exquisite dancer), and no dancing partner.The leading man, Owen Nares, looks and acts like a stuffed shirt, and the plot is not just lightweight but so ridiculous that one becomes irritated by its contempt for the audience. Jessie plays a bride who runs away on the day of her wedding because she never wanted to marry the groom (a wedding would help her father financially). She has to dodge people who are looking for her and will forcibly make her return and go through with the wedding. What kind of sense does this make? A forced marriage is invalid, and forcibly taking someone from where they are is kidnaping. And why would the groom want to marry a woman who doesn't want him? Owen Nares at first mistake her for a thief and threatens to call the police, then decides to keep her with him, in his home (he has no sexual designs on her, and is insulted when she suggests he might). This makes as little sense as the rest.Despite what the other commenters say, there are no funny lines. The script is as dull as it is inane. The whole thing seems to come from the world of very primitive musical comedy in which people would act in a silly or naughty way, even if it made no sense, and men would get excited by seeing girls show their legs.

When Jessie was filming this movie she was at the studio from 7am until 6pm, then travelling to the Gaiety Theatre in London, where she was starring in the stage production of "Hold My Hand", getting home at midnight. Next morning she would be up at 6am to start over. Director Albert De Courville was an eccentric slave driver. So if Jessie Matthews was accused of over-acting she was probably close to hysterics.She was always grateful to De Courville for giving her a chance in "There Goes the Bride" because none of the studio bosses wanted her. When they saw the finished film that was another story - Victor Saville thought she was the find of the year.Jessie is a delight in this comedy of mistaken identity. She plays Annette Marquand, an heiress, who runs away on the day of her wedding. She meets Owen Nare (almost 20 years her senior) who mistakes her for a thief, after an incident on the train. She is mistaken for his fiancée by his friends and they host a party for her. Then his real fiancée turns up.It is a bright little comedy that Jessie runs away with.There are some musical numbers. "I'll Stay With You" - Jessie sings and dances at the apartment. At the party with the great Carroll Gibbons and His Savoy Orpheans providing the music Jessie sings "I'm Looking for You" and is a big hit. (David Niven can be glimpsed standing around the table at the party). I don't know why it was set in Paris when they are all so terribly British.

This is Jessie Matthews second sound film.Whilst she exhibits much gusto and enthusiasm she rather overacts at time and her technique is lacking.I was fortunate enough to see her give a lecture with Michael Balcon at the NFT some 40 years ago.She explained that it was Victor Saville who had helped to give her the confidence to appear in front of the cameras.Anyway having said that she is rather oddly matched with a rather stuffy Owen Nares who was 17 years her senior at the time.Nares was a popular leading man of the 20s and 30s and who was by this time heading into the twilight of his screen career.There are some enjoyable,if unmemorable musical numbers.There is only one brief dance from Jessie.This film was issued as part of the "British Classics Collection" some years ago,and is still to be purchased second hand.If you are a fan of Jessie Matthews or of 30s films it is worth seeing,if only to observe a talent in embryo