I took me many years to watch this movie because its title, or rather one word of its title, has always perturbed me:
Soxer. Much like I used to get confused about the pronunciation of a friend's last name -- was is Mar
· koe` or Mark`
· oe? -- I continue to stumble over the word "
soxer." How can
soxer sound like soccer? Does that X just dissolve? Alternatively, what is a
sockser? Resigned to confusion, I turned on the flick and allowed myself to swoon for Cary and Myrna.
This movie was good, not great. It's a screwball comedy that lacked some wit. The plot, in fact, is a bit disturbing: Myrna Loy's baby sister falls in love with Cary Grant [duh]. Cary Grant has legal charges brought against him, but Judge Myrna Loy gives him the chance to shake the charges by dating her lovesick sister. Apparently, by dating her, Cary Grant will help Shirley to get over him. Question mark there, as Cary is a
fox. Anyway,
Shirley Temple is 17 in the movie [underage, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the law], and Cary Grant is 35. A little icky, right?
Nevertheless, Cary Grant is just as charming as usual, and
Shirley Temple is just as bothersome, especially as her twenty-year-old self. Myrna Loy is not in the film as much as she deserves to be, but her character is
slammin: She is a judge, people. A judge. Just like
Sotomayor -- ever heard of her? I'd say that's pretty noteworthy for 1947.
Other characters include these guys who are
way too obsessed with double-breasted suits.
Faux pas, fellas.
3/5 pizzas
To indulge in a lame rhyme, Mae West is the best. This was my first of her movies and she's like obviously one of the coolest ladies of the 1930s. Not only did she star in this, but she wrote both the story and the screenplay. Super rad! Playing a character that I assume she plays in most of her roles, Mae is a woman who wants what she wants and fucks it. Sorry for the expletive, Mom. As the movie progresses, what she wants is Cary Grant. They got mad sexual chemistry, people. It's pretty fun to watch. In addition to Mae being sex positive, she is smart as a whip and a witticism-producing machine. One of the movie's best is "Honey, when I'm good, I'm good. But when I'm bad, I'm better." Oh, did I mention this was pre-Code?
