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Spurts of wonderfully
inventive dialogue (“Alone I will negotiate yon precipice,”
slurs a drunken doctor before descending a set of stairs) highlight
this earlier Preston Sturges screenplay featuring laudable examples
of classic screwball comedy. Mistaken identities, social mix-ups,
and quite a bit of inappropriate innuendo disguised as witty banter
populate the proceedings, along with some rather unconventional
solutions to cleaning up the outlandish messes the characters get
themselves into. While it’s missing the finesse and refinery
of Sturges’ and Wyler’s best works, The Good Fairy still
provides its share of worthy additions to the genre.
Luisa Ginglebuscher (Margaret Sullavan), an easily confused young
woman from the Municipal Orphanage for Girls, is quite the storyteller.
Part of her asylum upbringing also requires that she do one good
deed each day. Neither helps her when she’s recruited by
Maurice Schlapkohl (Alan Hale) to be an usherette at his enormous
Budapest theater. Before leaving, she’s warned about the
male gender, and like clockwork Cesar Romero makes a move on her
after her first day of work. She’s saved by a baron who
turns out to be the waiter Detlaff (Reginald Owen). From there,
she gets caught up with the minister of futility Dr. Metz (Eric
Blore) and the extremely wealthy president of a South American
meatpacking company, Konrad (Frank Morgan, complete with contagious
laugh). |
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As she’s forced
to create excuses to escape the over-the-top theatrics of the eccentric
millionaire, Luisa finds herself lying about having a husband. Deciding
to do her daily “good deed,” she chooses a random name
out of a phone book to receive great wealth from Konrad in exchange
for her companionship. The lucky man is the poor, unknown lawyer
Dr. Max Sporum, an ethical, justice-concerned man whose lifelong
dream is to obtain a hand-crank pencil sharpener with multiple holes.
Fortunately he’s played by Herbert Marshall, a fit romantic
counterpart for Luisa, if he’d only get rid of his frightening
beard.
Directed by William Wyler and recognizably penned by Preston Sturges, The Good Fairy succeeds on Luisa’s supreme naivety, which lands her in every questionable, risqué and unbecoming situation –resulting in her having to lie her way out of and back into each dilemma. Also featured is the compounding of fabrications to cover up good deeds, extra quirky characters, an odd lack of background music, and sticky situations that are so hairy, the only remedy is a matching, utterly illogical conclusion. But it’s the rapid-fire dialogue, tripping over words, stuttering, mixing up phrases, tricky doubletalk, nonsensical prattling and poppycock metaphors that make this comedy so enjoyable. - The Massie Twins |