Customer Reviews

The Good Fairy

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Marvelous comedy starring the great Margaret Sullavan, who is excellent as a naive girl who goes out of the orphanage where she has lived all of her life (in Budapest), to work as an usherette in a lavish cinema owned by Mr. Schlapkohl (Alan Hale), eventually becoming "the good fairy" to an arrogant and very moralistic lawyer, expertly played by Herbert Marshall, in an un-typical role.

Frank Morgan is excellent too as the millionaire who's after Sullavan and, unknowingly, gives her the chance to be a "good fairy". Also, there's an hilarious performance by the great character actor Reginald Owen, as the waiter of a luxurious hotel, who befriends Sullavan and tries to save her from Morgan's clutches.

This is the type of movie they do not make anymore, flawless, charming, enchanting, with lovable characters, thanks to Preston Sturges' wonderful script and William Wyler's deft direction..... Morgan and Sullavan "visited" together Budapest once more, but this time as a store owner and salesgirl in that other masterpiece from 1940, Lubitsch's "The Shop Around the Corner", which also featured Jimmy Stewart.

Don't miss buying this one, because it's scarcely shown on television and has long been unavailable. The DVD is of very good quality.

Margaret Sullavan plays a naive orphan who gets a job as an usherette in a massively grand cinema of the sort that modern cinema-goers can only dream about. She is befriended by waiter Reginald Owen, who gets her aninvitation to a party at a posh hotel. Here she meets a would-be seducer, a wealthy meat-exporter, Frank Morgan. She pretends to be married in order to cool Morgan off, and he promises to make her husband rich. Anxious to perform good deeds, she selects a lawyer's name at random from the phone book, and Morgan offers him a contract. Sullavan can't resist visiting the lawyer, Herbert Marshall (suave and charming as always) and naturally falls for him. The film gets funnier and funnier as her life becomes more complicated and entangled with the three bemused men, Reginald Owen, determined to keep her virtuous, Frank Morgan, trying for exactly the opposite, and Herbert Marshall, who of course is falling in love with her. The climax, where all four of them are engaged in a hopeless conversation of crossed purposes, reduced me to tears of laughter. This is a sublimely funny film, with occasional moments of dramatic tension (like will Sullavan succeed in making Marshall shave off his beard? I could scarcely stand the suspence). The best line in the film is when Moregan tells Marshall "well, I could use one honest lawyer, but don't overdo it". This film is just sublime.

Very few people know of this delightful gem from 1935, starring the sublime Margaret Sullavan in one of her very best parts. She plays Luisa, a completely unworldly orphan hired from her orphanage to work in a movie theatre as an usherette by Alan Hale. Hale is the first of a series of "good fairies" who come to Luisa and try to transform her life: the other is Herbert Marshall (as a grouchy waiter), Frank Morgan (as an amorous millionaire) and Reginald Owen (as a poor lawyer)--but all the while it's Luisa who thinks she's acting the role of Good Fairy to them. The script (Preston Sturges's re-write of a Molnar play) here is so superb (and constantly surprising) that you would have thought it was exactly tailored to the various actors' talents: none of them have ever been funnier. But even when none of them are onscreen (in the hilarious movie-within-amovie sequence) it's still funny. Sullavan took this role (she acted only infrequently onscreen, much preferring the stage) to improve her comedy skills, but she's absolutely peerless: her delight over her "genuine foxine" tippet near the movie's end, and her subsequent bickering over its beauty with Morgan, are indescribably charming.

This has long been director William Wyler's hardest-to-find classic, a truly nutty, thoroughly charming romantic comedy written by the incomparable Preston Sturges (and very loosely based on a Ferenc Molnar play). All the Sturges touches that would later be his hallmarks as a director are here - the jaded wit, the almost dance-like physical comedy, the hilarious supporting cast of characters (the priceless Eric Blore, Frank Morgan, Beulah Bondi and Alan Hale, among others)... "The Good Fairy" is as much his as Wyler's. Margaret Sullavan is captivating as always as the pure-of-heart (and slightly loopy) heroine - a characterization she would come to perfect in later roles. As for Wyler, this was the first in what would be a string of classics in an astonishing number of genres. But here they are - Preston Sturges, Margaret Sullavan and William Wyler - near the beginning of their careers, already in top form, in a forgotten classic FINALLY available again for public viewing. Enjoy!

I frequently gift this DVD to men and women over 50 years old; they love it! The movie transports us to a kinder, gentler moment. This comedy of manners plays on the naive innocence of the heroine, who has been insulated from the dangers of the world in her orphanage. Margaret Sullivan is a delight. She's selected by a movie owner to drum up business at his movie theatre (based on her looks, perhaps). At the movies, she meets a film watcher who works as a waiter. In good faith, he invites her to dinner at his fancy restaurant. Sitting alone as an attractive young lady, she becomes the target of an old seducer, a man rich and frivolous. Enter the waiter who tries everything to save the girl's chastity. Such a film is impossible today but I adored its simple charm and grace. The film title will become clear to those who watch the film (I won't give the secret away) Recommended.

This is a rather wonderful movie. The phrase "very funny" recurs throughout in various contexts and it really describes the movie itself. I wake up in the middle of the night and start laughing as scenes from this movie play through my head.

I snap up anything having to do with Margaret Sullavan. According to Quirk's biography, she was advised to turn down this role. She'd made a reputation in Hollywood as a serious dramatic actress and the feeling among her handlers was that taking a frothy role like this would confuse the public as to what kind of personality she was. For her part, the most important thing was refining her skills as an actress and comedy was an area she felt needed work. Hence she insisted on taking the part, almost as an exercise. The results are gratifying in that Margaret Sullavan is really funny here, more so than in any other comedic performance by her that I've seen (the others are in "The Moon's Our Home" and "The Shop Around The Corner," the latter an excellent film).

As I acquaint myself with these old Margaret Sullavan movies I learn about other performers of the day who also possessed great talent. Here it's Herbert Marshall who is, indeed, very funny as he delivers lines like "new office equipment...to start with."

Addendum 10/4/03 - These remarks are for music fanatics only. I've realized that nearly every melody in the score of this film is derived from the same six-note descending scale that concludes the Wagner wedding march heard at the very end. To get an idea of what I mean, listen to the end of the march sung by the kids just as Margaret Sullavan in wedding garb fades out. This is followed immediately by a reprise of the opening theme of the film, and as you can hear, the first six notes of that theme are exactly the same as the final six notes of the wedding march.

Most if not all of the other melodies also begin with this same sequence of descending notes, sometimes transposed or otherwise varied. Just listen to each of them starting with the melodramatic melody heard during the mock movie ("Go!"), moving on to the ballroom music at the ritzy hotel where the same descending scale forms the backbone of the melody, then later the scene where Margaret Sullavan models the foxine and a playful melody is heard that begins with the descending sequence, but here beginning on the fifth degree of the scale.

Film composers have always been overtrained for their work, and I realize now that this must be the kind of game they indulge in to try to stay challenged.

Someone mentioned this film to me as a good one, but I never heard of it. I took a chance on it because I like romantic comedies and thought this would be a different kind of film, but still in that genre. I won't rehash the plot again as some of the other reviewers have already done that.

I will note that I was worried it might be too old and dated. Sometimes I watch old movies and they feel like they are just that, old. This did not, it was very good! While it was obvious it was an older movie and some of the references were out of date, the characters seemed very fresh and pertinent and it didn't seem stale. The important themes (love, trust, naivete, etc.) were still there and the actors were very charming. The comedy in it was very well-executed and the actors weren't over the top. I would recommend this to anyone who loves romantic type comedies who is looking for something a little different. Times may have changed, but people haven't.

"You know something funny? He didn't mention you either."


Margaret Sullavan's waif-like delicacy proved perfect for this Wiliam Wyler film adaptation of Ferenc Molnar's fanciful play about a young orphan who causes confusion by trying to do a good deed and ends up finding love in the process. Wyler also fell under Sullavan's spell while filming this and the two became a couple.

A fabulous cast that includes Frank Morgan, Herbert Marshall, Eric Blore, Beulah Bondi, and Reginald Owen in a comic gem of a performance, act out Preston Sturges screenplay to marvelous perfection. Wyler and Sullavan let the charm slowly build, each new ingredient adding to its flavor until this sweet and delicate confection can't be resisted.

Luisa (Margaret Sullavan) gets a chance to leave the orphanage for the first time to work as an usherette in a movie theatre called The Dream Palace. It is there that she meets waiter Reginald Owen and they have a fanciful friendship, he trying the entire film to protect her innocence from Frank Morgan's Konrad, a rich meat exporter who has fallen under Sullavan's spell, not fully realizing she is genuine.

Complications arise when she makes up a white lie about being already married and picks idealistic lawyer, Max Sporum, out of the phone book to be her wedded husband. He falls under Sullavan's spell also, but totally unaware that Konrad has made him a rich attorney because Luisa is his good fairy. Luisa falls under the spell of Max's simple yet charming ideals until the inevitable occurs and everyone discovers the truth.

Frothy and lighter than air, this film slowly works its way into your heart until you too fall under Sullavan's spell. Owen is terrific as her protector and has some wonderful moments. Perhaps the most memorable scene is between Luisa and Max on the phone, when she tells him tearfully, "Think of me kindly. Almost--almost as if I loved you."

This early 1930's film has a bit of sophistication similar to foreign films which requires more of an attention span than filmgoers of today are used to having to muster but is well worth the effort. Remade in a slightly more American fashion as a Deanna Durbin vehicle, "I'll Be Yours," also highly recommended, film buffs, and fans of Sullavan especially, don't want to miss this one.

Penned by the peerless Preston Sturges ("Sullivan's Travels") and directed with flair by Wyler, "Good Fairy" is the kind of brassy, urbane romantic lark that Ernst Lubitsch was perfecting in the early '30s. Sporting an irresistible good-girl charm, Sullavan never shone brighter than here, cleverly fending off Morgan's priggish, overheated Konrad and gently falling for Marshall's gallant, bewhiskered barrister. (Even Wyler was smitten--he married his "Fairy" as soon as the shoot ended!) Alan Hale, Reginald Owen, Eric Blore, and Cesar Romero target the funny bone in hilarious side roles, chewing up Sturges's saucy, snappy dialogue. And so will you.

This is an enjoyable minor comedy. Set in Hungary and based on a Molnar play, it is somewhat reminiscent of Lubitsch's earlier Trouble in Paradise (which also starred Herbert Marshall) and his later The Shop Around the Corner (which also had Margaret Sullavan and Frank Morgan). To say those Lubitsch films are better than The Good Fairy -- which they are -- is to praise with faint damnation, as they are all-time classic comedies.

William Wyler is celebrated for his dramatic, not his comedic flair, but there is nothing seriously wrong with his direction here. The work he gets out of his then-wife Margaret Sullavan is charmingly winning, as it needs to be. Sturges' script has flashes of his later style, but he was not yet as adept at working around the censors as he later grew to become, and the second half of the film is a bit stagy and contrived. Still, this is an amusing and little-seen mid-30's comedy that will be appreciated by fans of Sullavan, Morgan, Wyler, Sturges... and Lubitsch.

As for the Kino DVD itself, the "extras" are very thin (just the preview and some Wyler family photographs) but the print is gorgeous. It must have been digitally cleaned up somehow -- new film doesn't look this good. The sound is excellent, too. Whatever it is they're doing at Kino, every old film should be so lucky.