Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn, Joseph Schildkraut, Burgess Meredith
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
Plot
Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Idiot's Delight starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne on Broadway. Set in a lavish alpine hotel bordering an Italian air base, the story throws together several disparate people, each in his or her own way affected by the World War that threatens to erupt at a moment's notice. The only person who doesn't seem to have a political or economic stake in world affairs is Harry Van, a two-bit American entertainer who is stranded in the hotel with his travelling all-girl troupe, "Les Blondes." Harry is convinced that the alluring Irene, the foreign-accented "travelling companion" of munitions tycoon Achille Weber, is actually an American girl with whom he'd had a one-night stand years earlier, but Irene laughs off his insinuations. Eventually, Irene turns to Harry for comfort when Weber proves too disgustingly warmongering for her tastes. When war breaks out and the hotel is targeted for bombing, Harry makes sure that everyone gets to safety; he himself stays behind with Irene, with whom he has fallen in love. The two sing a hymn as the hotel is blown to oblivion. When Idiot's Delight was filmed in 1939, Norma Shearer did her best Lynn Fontanne imitation as Irene, while Clark Gable remained Clark Gable in his interpretation of Harry Van (his song-and-dance rendition of "Puttin' on the Ritz" is a classic of sneering insouciance). The film underwent an extensive "MGM-izing": while the pre-European affair between Harry and Irene is never dramatized in the play, the film shows Harry and Irene commiserating in a long prologue set in a seedy vaudeville house--and, in keeping with censorship restrictions, it is made abundantly clear that, while Harry befriends Irene, he does not sleep with her. The munitions manufacturer, here played by Edward Arnold, is depicted as an aberration, and not representative of "honest" business moguls (many of whom were close personal chums of MGM head Louis B. Mayer). And, while the ending of the play does not tell us whether or not Harry and Irene survive the bombing, the film permits the lovers a sun-streamed happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The sight of a platinum blonde Norma Shearer takes some getting used to -- but then so does most of Shearer in Idiot's Delight. For whatever reason, Shearer never really "gets" the character. She provides the extravagance that the character calls for, but without the fun or satire, and she often seems to be acting in a vacuum; there may be other characters onscreen with her, but she rarely really connects with them. As a result, there's very little chemistry between her and Clark Gable, a serious problem. Gable, luckily, doesn't need her. His performance is a small gem, played with a light touch when appropriate and at full guns when needed. And the chance to see the King performing "Puttin' On the Ritz" is fascinating. He doesn't really do it well, but he does it like Gable, and that's more than enough. Robert Sherwood's play has been significantly altered, but the alternations are not all improvements, especially in terms of the characters played by Burgess Meredith and Edward Arnold. Things have become a little too pat, and the ending rankles, but there's still enough in Idiot to make it worth the occasional viewing. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Harry Van (Clark Gable), an American World War I veteran, tries to reenter show biz and ends up in a mind-reading performance with an alcoholic partner. There he meets the mysterious Irene (Norma Shearer), an acrobat, who claims to come from Russia and wants to become his performance partner. They have a romantic night but Harry decides to stay with his previous partner.
Twenty years later, after a number of jobs, Harry escorts a dancing group of six blondes on a trip through Europe. They get stranded in an alpine country, where they have to wait in a hotel until the border opens again: the international situation is close to war. It is here that Harry meets Irene again, who is the mistress of a rich entrepreneur, Achille Weber (played by Edward Arnold). A pacifist (Burgess Meredith) told the people in the hotel that Weber is behind the war that just started, and that the planes the guests saw rushing away from a nearby air field are carrying bombs to kill thousands of people in other countries. The pacifist is imprisoned and it is later mentioned that he was killed.
The next day the people in the hotel are able to continue their voyage, as the borders have opened again. Also the American society manager is leaving, telling Harry and his blondes that the other countries will take revenge and bomb the hotel. But Irene cannot leave the hotel because she had told Weber what she is thinking about Harry, and Weber now denies taking Irene with him. Irene has no valid passport and cannot travel on her own, so she must stay in the country.
Harry, who had already left with the blondes, reluctantly comes back for Irene. She then admits that she is the person he had met in America twenty years ago. Harry says that he wants to take her with him and the blondes. They hear planes approaching, and are told that they should seek shelter in the cellar.
In an ending shown to the international audience, Irene does not want to go to the cellar. She and Harry stay in the society room of the hotel. With the enemy planes bombarding the air field next to the hotel, the couple sings a hymn from Harry's youth. They survive the bombing in the half destroyed hotel.
In the ending shown to the domestic (American) audience, Harry and Irene cannot go to the shelter because the results of a bomb blocks their way. This shorter end does not differ very much from the international one and is a happy one as well.
The country is not identified. In order for that to happen, the producers have the 'locals' speaking Esperanto. There are also Esperanto words and sentences written, like a sign reading Autobuso. The actors actually speak comprehensive Esperanto, but slightly too Italian-like.
Norma Shearer's elaborate hairstyle in this film was copied from the hairstyle worn by Lynn Fontanne when she played the same character in the Broadway production of the stage play. The film's ending is considerably different from the play's ending, as well as more optimistic.
Pat Paterson, who played Mrs. Cherry, was married to Charles Boyer for 44 years. This was her final film.
