Unfinished business

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Movie
Original title Unfinished business
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 96 minutes
Rod
Director Gregory La Cava
script Eugene Thackrey
production Gregory La Cava for Universal Pictures
music Franz Waxman
camera Joseph A. Valentine
cut William Hamilton
occupation

Unfinished Business is a 1941 American comedy film starring Irene Dunne and Robert Montgomery and directed by Gregory La Cava .

action

Nancy Andrews, a hopeful singer from Messina, Ohio who has passed the zenith of her youth, falls into a crisis of meaning after the wedding of her younger sister. Out of the impulse to finally make something meaningful out of her life, Nancy buys a ticket to New York City and gets on the next train. As soon as she arrives in her compartment, she makes the acquaintance of the notorious graver Steve Duncan, who sees another easy conquest in inexperienced Nancy. During the trip, Nancy falls in love with Steve, only to be dumped shortly before arrival. Disappointed, but not discouraged, Nancy tries her luck at the Metropolitan Opera , which she refuses on the grounds that her voice is pleasant, but overall more suitable for performances in nightclubs. Miss Andrews doesn't give up and gets a job as a telephone operator. On this occasion she made the acquaintance of the impresario Billy Ross, who immediately engaged Nancy for one of his glamorous clubs. All sorts of entanglements lead to Nancy marrying Tommy, Steve Duncan's younger brother. Actually, she still loves Steve, but at the end of the intricate storyline she realizes who her true love is.

background

Irene Dunne was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood in the early 1940s. She was equally adept as a performer of screwball comedies such as The Terrible Truth or My Favorite Woman and tearful melodramas in the style of restless love and chords of love . Since she ended her long-term relationship with RKO in 1935 , Irene Dunne avoided permanent ties to a studio, but instead, as a so-called free lancer, only signed contracts for one to a maximum of three films with individual film companies. In this way, she could ask for fees of up to 150,000 US dollars per film and in some cases earned over 400,000 US dollars a year.

In 1941 she accepted an offer from Gregory La Cava to take on the lead role in his latest project, Unfinished Business , which he was shooting for Universal Studios . Both had worked together for the film Symphony of Six Million in 1932 . The director had a number of box office hits over the years and was reputed to be an expert on romantic comedies. With Robert Montgomery there was also a male co-star available for Dunne who had extensive experience in the comedic trade. Like everyone involved, the actress herself had high expectations of the film:

"We thought we had a second My Man Godfrey ."

In the end, hopes were dashed and the film never recouped its costs. The critics took the title Unfinished Business literally and criticized the lack of rigor in terms of content and the lack of cohesion in the narrative. The plot is typical of La Cava. Like most of his films, Unfinished Business also tells of the painstaking attempt by individuals to advance both emotionally and professionally despite many setbacks. Unlike in previous films such as Stage Entrance or Fifth Avenue Girl , La Cava did not manage to create a successful connection between the elements of light comedy and the struggle of a talented woman for artistic success, described with a certain cynicism.

The character Irene Dunne plays in the film has a number of parallels with the biography of the actress. She plays a role here one of the few times that roughly corresponds to her actual biological age - 42. Until then, Dunne was mostly cast as a young naive, although she was usually 5 to 10 years older than her respective male screen partner. The character of Nancy Andrews is also going through a deep crisis of meaning, because despite all efforts she has no success in her dream job as an opera singer. Dunne himself failed in an audition for the Met in New York in 1920. In the end, Irene Dunne also only found fame and recognition through the detour of the revue theater. At the same time, the film shows the actress for the first and only time in a scene in which Irene Dunne expresses her erotic interest in a man directly and without comedic interludes: she seduces Preston Foster, whom she has only known for a few hours, more or less aggressively . In October 1941, the actress repeated her role on the side of Don Ameche in the popular radio show "Lux Radio Theater". The star and the director shot another comedy immediately afterwards. Lady in a Jam also failed at the box office and ended La Cava's career more or less quickly.

Reviews

The New York Times was not particularly impressed and used the title to make some unflattering comparisons.

“It is pleasant to see Miss Dunne and the always beaming Mr. Montgomery exchange sharp-tongued exchanges with the greatest of ease. [...] But this strange 'unfinished business' in which they toil so desperately remains something that casts doubt on the good faith of even the most indulgent. […] Miss Dunne is charming, although she has to combine the naivety of Cinderella with the cutting wit of a Dorothy Parker. [...] The unfinished business here is buried in the depths of some typewriter. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ We thought we had another My Man Godfrey.
  2. ↑ It is nice to see Miss Dunne and the ever-refulgent Mr. Montgomery toss brittle witticisms with the cultivated ease of real worldlings. [...] But this oddly unfinished business, in which they are so desperately involved, is something to tax the credulity of even the most lenient mind. [...] Miss Dunne, even though she must combine the naïveté of Cinderella with the devastating wit of a Dorothy Parker, is charming […]. The unfinished business here lies dead in someone's typewriter.