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Such a frustrating disappointment

Simply Perfect

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Mimi (Myrna Loy) is not taking the marriage of ex, Allen Wythe (Walter Pidgeon), lying down. Even with a Mrs. Wythe (Rosalind Russell) in the picture she is determined to get him back. When she makes her move on Allen it turns out easier than she expected but much more difficult in other ways.Aside from Mimi's husband stealing focus the cast of Man Proof remains on good behavior most of the time as they restrain themselves and the picture from going comically screwball. Loy who wonderfully underplays a drunk scene sobers up long enough to maturely assess her actions while Russell shows similar restraint at Loy's audacity. Meanwhile cad Pidgeon sees no problem with doing Mimi on the side. With adults behaving like adults Man-Proof is void of zaniness most of the way. Loy, Russell, Pidgeon and Franchot Tone as a graphic artist enamored with Mimi give sound performances but the overall production seems void of a rich sense of humor and Man-Proof is laugh proof more than it should be.

"Man-Proof" is one of those films that the studios just ground out week after week. There's nothing particularly special about it unless you count Myrna Loy, who is always special. Here she plays a young woman, Mimi, from new money - her mother (Nana Bryant) is a popular romance novelist -- who's jilted by her boyfriend Alan (Walter Pidgeon). He dumps her unceremoniously to marry Elizabeth (Rosalind Russell), who has lots more money. A family friend, Jimmy (Franchot Tone) who seems to love Mimi himself, thinks he's a jerk and is just as glad.After the wedding, Mimi, Alan, and Elizabeth bury the hatchet, and Mimi and Alan decide to be friends. After an evening at the fights while Elizabeth is home sick, Mimi decides that she wants Alan back.This is pretty predictable stuff, overwritten with heavy dialogue. I will say this - Rosalind Russell wears the most atrocious-looking wedding veil I've ever seen. It seems to be held up on either side of the head by wires and resembles the flying nun's habit, and it looks like it's made of cellophane. Actually it's some sort of silk but it's hideous. Worth a look if you want to chuckle.Pidgeon and Loy are good; Franchot Tone doesn't have much to do but wisecrack. Loy is beautiful as usual. Not much to recommend this.

Even though MGM had a huge cast of stars and tremendous budgets, sometimes even this film giant had a flop during its glory days and one such flop clearly is MAN-PROOF. Now you can't blame the stars, as this film featured the great talents of Myrna Loy, Walter Pidgeon, Franchot Tone and Rosalind Russell. No, instead the blame rests with the producer for casting these actors in this turkey and for the writers for producing a third-rate script. How no one realized this before hand is beyond me.The biggest problem with the script is that it's hard to like or care about anyone. While this is practically an insurmountable problem in most films, it's made even worse because the selfish and nasty plot just doesn't work with Myrna Loy in particular, as she made a career out of playing nice people. To make matters worse, she was the most selfish and unlikable person in the entire film.Here's the plot: Although Myrna and Walter are dating and people expect them to marry, at the last minute he instead marries Rosalind. He apparently does this because Roz is rich and Myrna isn't! Well, Rosalind is no picnic, either, as she knows she's taking Myrna's fellow and to add insult to injury, she asks Myrna to be a bridesmaid!! So, following the wedding, Myrna makes it her personal mission to destroy the marriage and take Walter back--proving she's nasty AND stupid for wanting this rat after he dumped her! Franchot is the nicest and most likable of them--spending most of the movie drunk! What a motley group of jerks--not a single one who you can respect or like! Plus, the film just seems mean-spirited and hard to believe or stomach!! The bottom line is that this might just be the worst film any of these four appeared in during their long careers. Not well made, enjoyable or interesting in the least. Even Monogram Studios might have been ashamed to put their name on this production!

I should confess up front that Myrna Loy buys the first 6 points just for showing up. That said, I think this movie has been underrated. It's a bit uneven and has some weak moments - self conscious and over wrought, or at least over written. But all in all, there's a lot to like. Myrna Loy, for one. Wait. I said that already. There are two really interesting characters - Loy's and Pigeon's. Russell and Tone are fine, but one dimensional. Meg, Loy's mother, is quite good, if expected. And despite Tone's obvious love for Loy throughout, there's no compelling chemistry between them even at the end when they're supposed to be obviously in love. But the overall package is well worth it.