SYNOPSIS

In this delightful screwball comedy, Spencer Tracy stars as Warren Haggerty, a workaholic city newspaper editor engaged to his long suffering fiancée Gladys (Jean Harlow), who has been waiting years for Warren to actually show up at the altar. It seems that every time the couple comes close to walking down the aisle, a big news story breaks, sending Warren back to his true love: the newsroom. This time out, their wedding is halted when Warren's newspaper is slapped with a $5 million libel suit from haughty socialite Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) after the paper prints a false story about her being a home-wrecker. In an effort to save the paper from certain bankruptcy, Warren quickly enlists the help of former employee Bill Chandler (William Powell), who specializes in finding slick ways to make libel suits disappear. His assignment: to find a way to make the home-wrecking allegations true and therefore make Connie drop the lawsuit. Warren arranges for Bill to marry Gladys in name only. As a married man, Bill's plan is to then insinuate himself into Connie's life and sweep her off her feet just in time for cameras to capture her reputation being compromised, thereby making the libelous allegations true. The real trouble begins when Bill really falls for Connie and Gladys falls for Bill. Can Bill convince Connie to drop the lawsuit without the scheme exploding in everyone's faces?

CAST AND CREW

Director: Jack Conway
Writers: Maurine Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, George Oppenheimer
Based on a story by: Wallace Sullivan
Producer: Lawrence Weingarten
Cinematography: Norbert Brodine
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons
Editing: Fredrick Y. Smith
Costumes: Dolly Tree
Music Composer: Dr. William Axt
Cast: Jean Harlow (Gladys), William Powell (Bill Chandler), Myrna Loy (Connie Allenbury), Spencer Tracy (Warren Haggerty), Walter Connolly (J.B. Allenbury), Charley Grapewin (Mr. Bane), Cora Witherspoon (Mrs. Burns-Norvell), E.E. Clive (Fishing Instructor), Lauri Beatty (Babs Burns-Norvell)
B and W - 98 min.

Why LIBELED LADY is Essential

Actress Jean Harlow truly came into her own with the success of Libeled Lady. It marked a return to playing the sort of brassy street smart characters that had made her a star to begin with following a period of trying her hand at more diverse roles. Audiences loved Harlow no matter what, but they were thrilled to see the sexy, funny, touching and tough platinum haired siren return to her comic roots. Libeled Lady was one of the biggest hits of her career, and she received top billing in a cast of great Hollywood heavy hitters. The terrific film made Harlow more popular than ever.

Libeled Lady is one of the great screwball comedies of its era, taking its place along such classics of the genre as Twentieth Century (1934), The Awful Truth (1937), and His Girl Friday (1940). Focusing on a foursome in the plot rather than just one couple, the film delivers double the antics and fun with its snappy script and briskly paced action.

The film was one of the biggest box office hits of 1937 and received an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture.

Libeled Lady gives audiences a chance to see real-life couple William Powell and Jean Harlow working together in one of only two films that they made together. Powell and Harlow had been linked romantically since 1934, and the two clearly have a good time playing comic adversaries.

Libeled Lady features four great stars working together for the first and only time: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Spencer Tracy and Myrna Loy. All four get to showcase their unique brand of terrific on-screen personalities, and everyone is in truly top form in this blend of sophisticated and streetwise comedy.

Stars William Powell and Myrna Loy had such great chemistry onscreen that they made a total of 14 films together over the course of their stellar careers. Known primarily for their superb pairings as married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles in the Thin Man film series, Libeled Lady gives viewers a delightful chance to see them in different roles, still exuding the same magical chemistry even as sparring adversaries falling in love.

by Andrea Passafiume