t the French Riviera, American Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper) stops into a shop to purchase pajamas. But he only wants the shirt, not the pants, which causes an uproar, since he wishes to pay only half of the asking price. He insists upon not spending money on something he won’t use. Although the president of the department store himself only sleeps in the pajama top, it would set a dangerous commercial precedent. A solution presents itself when Nicole De Loiselle (Claudette Colbert) interrupts the argument, offering to buy the unwanted bottoms. After they settle on a color and a percentage split, they part ways, but Michael reminisces over how attractive Nicole is, while also wondering who the pants are for, considering that she mentions she’s not married and has no brothers.

“There’s not a laugh in me before breakfast.” The no-nonsense Brandon, a wealthy stock trader and finance guru (worth nearly $50 million), determines that it’s love-at-first-sight, though he has no way of tracking down the mysterious woman. As luck would have it, as he’s transferring hotel rooms, he runs into the Marquis De Loiselle (Edward Everett Horton), who happens to be wearing the pajama bottoms. And the marquis explains that Nicole is his daughter – a fortuitous scenario that prompts Michael to learn everything he can about the family so that he might buy (and then seduce) his way into it without delay. The Loiselle patriarch is ecstatic, as he’s currently penniless and owes money all around town; but Nicole is furious, as she doesn’t want to be purchased like an object by a rich fool. “Are you a father or an auctioneer?”

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch (but very notably written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett), this fast-paced picture starts by building a fairly disagreeable lead role, yet the scenario escalates into absolutely hysterical territory in no time. Moral standards be damned – Nicole opts to accept a marriage on the condition of guaranteed money for life in the event of a divorce, which turns out to be highly probable when it’s revealed that Brandon has been married seven times before. With this questionable information she becomes determined to teach a lesson, even the playing field, and force a legal separation – starting a war of marital un-bliss. The unhappy couple are quickly at odds across Europe (during their honeymoon), as she spends money frivolously and refuses to be civil while in her husband’s company. Their actions and dialogue are hilarious (aided by an excellent supporting part from David Niven), employing rapid-fire exchanges and biting sarcasm. But the longer they go on despising one another, the more certain it is that they’ll end up in genuine contentment. “How does one get a job? It’s incredible how useless I am.”

It may be pure fantasy, as these types of screwball comedies go, relishing in unnatural confrontations and conversations, but it’s surprisingly amusing to watch these two lovers quarrel and fight in a balletic battle to unknowingly straighten out their romance. Of course, they have to break a few things in the interim. In the world of Lubitsch’s love stories, contention can be quite alluring; the continual game of oneupmanship never stops being funny, especially as Nicole invents new ways to outwit and torture her rival into submission. There are a couple of lulls as complex shenanigans are worked out, but the finale is sublimely fitting (once again resorting to comical delusion), ending in a lighthearted solution reminiscent of “My Man Godfrey,” which would become a staple of subsequent, masterful romantic comedies like “Bringing Up Baby” and “The Lady Eve.”

– Mike Massie