Watch Nothing Sacred For Free

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

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

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

NOTHING SACRED (Selznick International/United Artists, 1937), directed by William A. Wellman, stars Carole Lombard in one of her finer comedies. Unlike any of her other screen efforts, this movie is notable for being her only one done entirely in Technicolor. Produced under David O. Selznick, whose earlier works of THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1936) and A STAR IS BORN (1937) were also lenced in Technicolor, it's a wonder why his swashbuckling adventure of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937), wasn't produced in the same manner while products as NOTHING SACRED could have gone just as well in black and white format. Regardless, NOTHING SACRED provided Lombard her only opportunity in a Technicolor feature, which benefits this production all the more. Cast opposite Fredric March for the second and final time, following their initial pairing in the war aviation drama, THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK (Paramount, 1933), NOTHING SACRED also shows how much better they work together in comedy as opposed to melodrama.Opening title (over the visual of Rockefeller Center and other New York City landmarks): "This is New York, skyscraper champion of the world ... where the slickers and Know-It-All peddle gold bricks to each other ... and where truth crushed together rises again are more phony than a glass eye." Wally Cook (Fredric March), star reporter for the Morning Star newspaper, along with Oliver Stone (Walter Connolly), his publisher, are holding a banquet for an important guest of honor, Prince Surta (Troy Brown), who is immediately exposed by his wife (Hattie McDaniel) as Ernest Walker, a shoeshine man in Harlem. Because of the humiliation, and unable to fire Wally due to his five year contract, Oliver reduces his star reporter to obituary editor with his desk placed inside a small filing room. Not wanting to spend those remaining years at his present position, Wally talks Oliver into sending him on an assignment in Warsaw, Vermont, to interview a young girl named Hazel Flagg, a victim of radium poisoning with only six months to live. Believing this would boost circulation, Wally is given that assignment. Before his arrival to Warsaw, Hazel (Carole Lombard, appearing 16 minutes into the start of the story), learns from her physician, Doctor Enoch Downer (Charles Winninger) that her medical report regarding her poisoning was a mistake and that she will live after all. Initially planning to enjoy life to the fullest before she dies, she chooses New York City as her destination. It so happens that Wally, after meeting with Hazel invites her to a holiday in New York as guest of the Morning Star with all expenses paid, and a day-by-day exclusive up to the time she dies. Hazel accepts the offer, taking the doctor with her. Seeing the sites as Madison Square Garden and other landmarks, she also becomes a guest of honor at the Casino Moderne. Gathering all this attention from media and public alike, Hazel begins to feel guilty being a fraud, and wants to release herself from this situation without being exposed nor hurting Wally's reputation with the newspaper.Other members of the cast include such fine reliable character actors as Sig Rumann (Doctor Emile Egglehoffer); Margaret Hamilton (The Drug Store Lady); John Qualen (The Fireman); Maxie Rosembloom (The Prizefighter), with Hedda Hopper, Olin Howland, and George Chandler in smaller but notable parts. Comedian Frank Fay plays a master of ceremonies for the Casino Moderne sequence. Monty Woolley can be spotted as one of the doctors out to examine Haze; while Billy Barty gets a cameo bit as a child who bites Wally's leg.An amusing story with notable scenes such as the opening banquet that sets the tone of the story, along with the introduction to the residents of Vermont where they all respond with one word answers, as well as Lombard contemplating a staged suicide. Walter Connolly is typical and very amusing as the harassed publisher while Charles Winninger shows he could play something other than aging performer who believes vaudeville will never die. Great scenes of New York City in Technicolor process are also an added plus. The screenplay by Ben Hecht with story by James H, Street was later revamped by Paramount titled LIVING IT UP (1954) with the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the March and Lombard roles.Falling into public domain, NOTHING SACRED was not only distributed to video cassette by numerous distribution companies in the early 1980s, but was overplayed on various television and public TV channels for several years. Currently on DVD, NOTHING SACRED also had exposure on cable channels over the years, notably American Movie Classics(prior to 2001) and Turner Classic Movies. While there are better Carole Lombard comedies worth noting, NOTHING SACRED is one that has become better known, and surprisingly short (75 minutes) for a major production. (***1/2)

Nothing Sacred is a screwball comedy which is rather light on the laughs. Carole Lombard is unsurprisingly the best thing the film has to offer. She has great comedic talent and genuine star power. But a performer is only as good as the material and unfortunately for Lombard, and for the viewer, the material here just isn't good enough. The movie is rather dull and, despite clocking in at a mere 77 minutes long, plodding. Lombard has her moments and injects a little life into the proceedings now and again. But by and large the film falls flat. It's not very interesting and, fatally for a comedy, not very funny.Lombard plays Hazel Flagg, a young Vermont woman who is dying of radium poisoning. Only she is not actually dying, she was misdiagnosed and is actually in perfectly fine health. She finds this out just before disgraced New York newspaperman Wally Cook tracks her down. Wally needs a big story to rescue his career after his last big story turned out to be a total fraud. Hazel Flagg, the courageous young woman bravely facing death. That will be his big story. Hazel isn't going to tell him she's not actually dying because, hey, he offered her a trip to New York! The whole city falls in love with brave, valiant Hazel Flagg. How long can this charade be kept up? Meanwhile, Hazel and Wally might be falling in love. This whole thing is a big mess which seems destined to unravel in spectacular fashion. It's a scenario which seems to have much comedic potential. But the laughs never come. Lombard has her charms and gives it a game effort. But she has so little to work with. And her co-stars don't provide much in the way of help. Fredric March displays very little personality in the role of Wally, the character comes across as very dry. Walter Connolly, playing Wally's boss, is a notable supporting player. Unfortunately he's notable really only for how annoying he is. Horribly grating overacting. Ultimately Nothing Sacred proves to be nothing special. This is a dud.

Nothing Sacred is another screwball comedy that fits the bill with the rest of the films during that time. Carole Lombard, after playing Irene Bullock in the ultra successful My Man Godfrey film a year earlier, once again is brilliant as she plays Hazel Flaggs. The film is able to present comedy through excellent execution of the dialogue and creative script writing from the filmmakers. the movie is very well directed by William Wellman and is truly successful in getting humor out of the eccentric characters and the overall feel in the film. The acting in the movie is superb with each joke or line being delivered perfectly in order to make the film funny and light-hearted. Nothing Sacred combined terrific script writing with tremendous acting to become a classic movie from a time when movies were forced to follow the strict guidelines of the 1934 censorship code.

This is a very heart warming well done film. It will not change your life, or make you realize some kind of grand epiphany, but it will entertain you and make you laugh. As most screwball comedies from this time period, this film is very predictable. You know that Wally and Hazel will end up together, but that isn't why you watch the film. The Journey is fun, and Carole Lombard is excellent as usual. She is one of my favorite actresses of the time period. This film is worth a watch, especially if you are a fan of the modern romantic comedy, it will shed a whole new light on the genre.