domino harvey wrote:
That said, I'm learning important things. Like how there's no plot too stupid to be a screwball comedy (And Too Many Husbands and True Confession are probably bringing up the rear on that unenviable claim).
I can't remember the name of the film I'd nominate for this dubious honour (and maybe it's
Too Many Husbands - I'm pretty sure it was in one of those
Icons of Screwball Comedy sets), but it's the
ne plus ultra of the really fucking annoying screenwriting crutch of characters not simply explaining basic situations to their co-characters but preferring to get tangled up in ridiculously convoluted and risky charades that could be sorted out at any time by simply telling the truth, admitting an innocent mistake, etc. In the film I'm thinking of, one of the characters would evidently rather be convicted of murder and sent to the electric chair than give somebody the satisfaction of saying she loves him (or somesuch tomfoolery - I just wanted to see the idiot fry).