Product Description
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An amazingly talented comedy actress with the face of an angel,
Carole Lombard illuminated the silver screen with her sparkling
wit and dazzling beauty. Now fans have a chance to reunite with
six of her most hilarious and heartwarming films, together in one
unforgettable collection.Join Carole as she travels to the
seductive streets of Paris in Man of the World; gets shipwrecked
on a tropical island in We're Not Dressing; chases after the
millionaire of her dreams in Hands Across the Table; chooses
between two romantic rivals in Love Before Breakfast; travels the
high seas to murder and mayhem in The Princess Comes Across; and
takes to the witness stand in True Confession. It's a DVD
collector's dream come true with one of Hollywood's brightest
stars!
Bonus Content:
Disc 1 - We're Not Dressing:
* Theatrical Trailer
.com
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In the 1930s, nobody combined glamour, romantic comedy, and
drama better than Carole Lombard. Having entered show-biz at the
age of 12, the former Jane Alice Peters (b. Oct. 6, 1908, in Fort
Wayne, Indiana) distinguished herself from equally stellar
contemporaries like Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, and
Jean Arthur by establishing her versatility as a fashion icon
whose beauty was matched by playful intelligence and a bright,
independent persona (on screen and off) that predated feminism by
40 years and made her an appealing foil for admiring male
costars. As this delightful half-dozen of her lesser-known
features makes abundantly clear, her meteoric success was
entirely well-deserved, and The Glamour Collection shows her as a
star on the rise, gaining confidence and adoring fans with each
new picture. As one of Para's most valued contract players,
she starred in five of the six films included here (Love Before
Breakfast was a loan-out to Universal), beginning with 1931's Man
of the World, a Parisian romance written by Herman J. Mankiewicz
(10 years before Citizen Kane) and headlined by future Thin Man
star William Powell as an expatriate con artist who falls for
Lombard's spoiled heiress--a romantic pairing made all the more
believable by the stars' real-life marriage later that year.
A loose adaptation of The Admirable Crichton, We're Not Dressing
(1934) is Depression-era entertainment at its most diverting,
employing a full stable of Para players (including George
Burns and Gracie Allen, Ethel Merman, and a young "Raymond"
Milland) in a shipwreck romance between socialite Lombard and
singing sailor Bing Crosby, who croons songs enty (including
"Stormy Weather") and shares equal screen-time with an
affectionate bear! Directed by Norman Taurog (best known for his
later work with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley),
it's every bit as fun as the Marx Brothers hits from the same
period. Arguably the best film in this set, Hands Across the
Table is noteworthy for the typically stylish direction of
Mitchell Leisen, who brings his reliable sophistication to the
tale of a New York manicurist (Lombard) who must choose between
potential suitors Fred McMurray (as a would-be heir to a fortune)
and disabled ex-pilot Ralph Bellamy. (This being 1934, Norman
Krasna's otherwise excellent script restricts Bellamy to the
romantic sidelines with outdated feel-good sentiment.) Love
Before Breakfast (1936) is a similarly enjoyable but typically
chauvinistic dose of '30s high-society love-play, in which
Lombard bounces between boyfriend Cesar Romero and a Wall Street
tycoon (Preston Foster) who knows what's best for her and bosses
her around accordingly. In the mystery/comedy The Princess Comes
Across (1936), McMurray returns as a lovestruck bandleader,
falling for Lombard's radiant Swedish princess (played as a
playful nod to Greta Garbo) on a cruiser bound for Hollywood.
After completing the classic Nothing Sacred, Lombard (who
married Clark Gable in 1939) teamed with McMurray yet again in
True Confession (1937), a black screwball thriller/comedy
elevated by the presence of comedy stalwarts John Barrymore,
Edgar Kennedy and Una Merkel. It rounds out The Glamour
Collection in fine form (Lucille Ball is said to have modeled her
TV persona after Lombard's character), and leads the way to such
later classics as Made for Each Other (1939) and To Be or Not to
Be (1942). Tragically, Lombard's outstanding career was cut short
when she perished (along with her mother and 20 other passengers)
in a 1942 plane c. Fortunately for DVD collectors, these six
films (all remarkably well-preserved with clear image and sound)
serve as a fitting tribute to Lombard's unique talent, allowing
movie lovers of all ages to rediscover one of the most alluring
queens of the silver screen. --Jeff Shannon