 Fantastic Melodrama, 2006-12-20
Suzy is pure melodrama, so if you aren't game, stop right now. The film starts out with a generous and beautiful chorus girl named Suzy (Jean Harlow). She hopes to make it big on the stage, but she refuses to submit to the advances of directors along the way. The result? She's penniless and hoping to find a rich man when she stumbles upon an elegant lad in a Rolls Royce (Franchot Tone). Although it isn't his car, she agrees to a date and soon the pair are married. However, he gets mixed up with some shady business and is shot. Suzy flees in fear of being accused of murder and finds herself married to a famous pilot on WWI (Cary Grant). Life is not perfect though, for her husband is a womanizer, and is friends with her first spouse who is very much alive.
This whole movie is a ball of emotional scenes and bits that break your heart. The romantic story is very similar to that in the silent Wings and the more recent Pearl Harbor. However, it is done very elegantly in true 1930s fashion. Each cast member is perfect in his/her role. Harlow is softly beautiful and not brash the way she was in her earlier films. Though if you study her, you might think she wasn't trying, she manages to tear you apart without emoting too much. Tone is sophisticated and intelligent as always, but also much sweeter. Despite being cast opposite Grant who was very popular with female audience members, Tone is the one we're meant to fall in love with. Grant is more of a scoundrel, the type that every woman knows is bad for her.
The story definitely translates well to modern audiences. Hopefully it will see a DVD release soon.
 Fine Performances In Claptrap Melodrama, 2001-12-20
Fine performances help this otherwise silly story of a World I-era show girl whose romantic entanglements lead her to uncover a German spy ring. Harlow and Tone are acceptable in their roles, and Harlow's charisma is given full play with her singing voice believably dubbed by vocalist Virginia Verrill; Lewis Stone also stands out in a supporting role. But the film belongs to Cary Grant, who gives a truly fine performance as the reckless, philandering flying ace that Harlow loves.The first half hour or so of the film is both slow and improbable; the remainder of the film is just as silly, but with the entrance of Cary Grant, however, the film picks up steam. Most viewers will enjoy the dog-fight scenes; discerning viewers will be amused to find Harlow's 1930s gowns uneasily mixed with the WWI background. Fans of the stars will certainly want the film in their collection, but the claptrap plot reduces it to a minor effort that few others will enjoy.
Hollywood Legends Jean Harlow And Cary Grant In Their Only Teaming On Screen , 2006-01-16
MGM's World War I romance "Suzy", is unique in being one of Cary Grant's rare forays into working for that studio of studios and his once only teaming with legendary MGM leading lady Jean Harlow. While Jean rather sadly only had a little more than twelve months left to live at the time of production on "Suzy", this 1936-37 period saw the real beginnings; (with his later smash hit role in Columbia Studios "The Awful Truth"),of the "Cary Grant", that movie goers would grow to love so much over the next thirty years and beyond. While "Suzy", could never be called a movie masterpiece it is a typically polished product of the studio system that MGM in particular developed and nutured so well through the 1930's with its "more stars than there are in heaven" motto.
Narrowly saved from mediocrity, 2007-01-18
The plot is shallow and the ariel combat action is rather poor, but Mr. Grant, Ms. Harlow, and Mr. Tone save it from less than mediocrity with their performances. It was a poor plot done in good taste to make a rather pointless story of a playboy, his friend, and his longsuffering wife during the first world war. If it were not for the acting, there would be little to save this film. Still, I could not stop myself from watching.
Suzy, Suzy, Suzy., 2006-03-22
We were robbed. Jean Harlow was just so beautiful & swinging into her prime. She was becoming a good actress, such as in Suzy. Yeah another goldigger part, but she not cheap, just cheeky. She's a showgirl, visiting England & looking for a rich husband. Instead she falls for a poor working-class inventor, Terry (Franchot Tome). She can cause men to act inplusively & Terry marries her almost immediately. So does Capt. Andre (Cary Grant). She flees to Paris when she thinks Terry has been murdered. Andre is a hotshot French pilot & is quite a philanderer, cheating on Suzy. That's the most unbelievable thing in this movie. He's newly-wed to Jean Harlow & she's spending nights alone pinning for him. It's war & of course Terry has recovered. He's in the RAF, finds, & confronts Suzy, who plans to tell Andre...soon. It all resolves itself as Andre is killed & buried with honors. Not even in the top 10 of Cary Grant's movies. He was still learning his "craft" as he put it. Jean Harlow didn't get much of a chance to get better. Some good old time dog-fight & air battle scenes. Typical MGM mellow-drama from the 30's. But I like 'em.
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