lugonian NOTHING SACRED (Selznick International/United Artists, 1937), directed by William A. Wellman, stars Carole Lombard in one of her finer comedies. Unlike any of her other screen efforts, this movie is notable for being her only one done entirely in Technicolor. Produced under David O. Selznick, whose earlier works of THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1936) and A STAR IS BORN (1937) were also lenced in Technicolor, it's a wonder why his swashbuckling adventure of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937), wasn't produced in the same manner while products as NOTHING SACRED could have gone just as well in black and white format. Regardless, NOTHING SACRED provided Lombard her only opportunity in a Technicolor feature, which benefits this production all the more. Cast opposite Fredric March for the second and final time, following their initial pairing in the war aviation drama, THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK (Paramount, 1933), NOTHING SACRED also shows how much better they work together in comedy as opposed to melodrama.Opening title (over the visual of Rockefeller Center and other New York City landmarks): "This is New York, skyscraper champion of the world ... where the slickers and Know-It-All peddle gold bricks to each other ... and where truth crushed together rises again are more phony than a glass eye." Wally Cook (Fredric March), star reporter for the Morning Star newspaper, along with Oliver Stone (Walter Connolly), his publisher, are holding a banquet for an important guest of honor, Prince Surta (Troy Brown), who is immediately exposed by his wife (Hattie McDaniel) as Ernest Walker, a shoeshine man in Harlem. Because of the humiliation, and unable to fire Wally due to his five year contract, Oliver reduces his star reporter to obituary editor with his desk placed inside a small filing room. Not wanting to spend those remaining years at his present position, Wally talks Oliver into sending him on an assignment in Warsaw, Vermont, to interview a young girl named Hazel Flagg, a victim of radium poisoning with only six months to live. Believing this would boost circulation, Wally is given that assignment. Before his arrival to Warsaw, Hazel (Carole Lombard, appearing 16 minutes into the start of the story), learns from her physician, Doctor Enoch Downer (Charles Winninger) that her medical report regarding her poisoning was a mistake and that she will live after all. Initially planning to enjoy life to the fullest before she dies, she chooses New York City as her destination. It so happens that Wally, after meeting with Hazel invites her to a holiday in New York as guest of the Morning Star with all expenses paid, and a day-by-day exclusive up to the time she dies. Hazel accepts the offer, taking the doctor with her. Seeing the sites as Madison Square Garden and other landmarks, she also becomes a guest of honor at the Casino Moderne. Gathering all this attention from media and public alike, Hazel begins to feel guilty being a fraud, and wants to release herself from this situation without being exposed nor hurting Wally's reputation with the newspaper.Other members of the cast include such fine reliable character actors as Sig Rumann (Doctor Emile Egglehoffer); Margaret Hamilton (The Drug Store Lady); John Qualen (The Fireman); Maxie Rosembloom (The Prizefighter), with Hedda Hopper, Olin Howland, and George Chandler in smaller but notable parts. Comedian Frank Fay plays a master of ceremonies for the Casino Moderne sequence. Monty Woolley can be spotted as one of the doctors out to examine Haze; while Billy Barty gets a cameo bit as a child who bites Wally's leg.An amusing story with notable scenes such as the opening banquet that sets the tone of the story, along with the introduction to the residents of Vermont where they all respond with one word answers, as well as Lombard contemplating a staged suicide. Walter Connolly is typical and very amusing as the harassed publisher while Charles Winninger shows he could play something other than aging performer who believes vaudeville will never die. Great scenes of New York City in Technicolor process are also an added plus. The screenplay by Ben Hecht with story by James H, Street was later revamped by Paramount titled LIVING IT UP (1954) with the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the March and Lombard roles.Falling into public domain, NOTHING SACRED was not only distributed to video cassette by numerous distribution companies in the early 1980s, but was overplayed on various television and public TV channels for several years. Currently on DVD, NOTHING SACRED also had exposure on cable channels over the years, notably American Movie Classics(prior to 2001) and Turner Classic Movies. While there are better Carole Lombard comedies worth noting, NOTHING SACRED is one that has become better known, and surprisingly short (75 minutes) for a major production. (***1/2)

SimonJack "Nothing Sacred" is screwball comedy at its best. It's a wild mix of barbs, witty lines, crazy antics and uproariously funny scenes. It's also a wonderful farce about the press and politics. Its satire mocks the high society of New York, the "hicks" of small town New England, and the false sentimentality of the public.The four lead roles are superb. Carole Lombard is Hazel Flagg and Fredric March is Wally Cook. They play marvelously off one another as the comedy shifts into high gear. Charles Winninger plays small own Dr. Enoch Downer who carries a 20-year grudge against the big city newspaper for cheating him out of a quiz prize. Walter Connolly, another staple of Hollywood's golden age of comedy, is Oliver Stone, publisher of the New York Morning Star newspaper. The supporting cast of more than 90 has many actors who have one to several lines -- all very funny. Some snippets that may seem to have little to do with the story are hilarious. One scene shows a construction worker sitting on a steel girder 60 stories up and reading a newspaper on his lunch break. Another scene of a newspaper front page segues into the street food market, and a vendor wraps a big fish in the paper. Another is a close-up of a chalkboard sign at the market, "Miss Hazel Flagg lunched here to-day." The camera pans out and the sign below the produce reads, "All kinds of cheese and bologna our specialty." Screenwriter Ben Hecht and director William Wellman must have thrown every outlandish thought they had into the film. Some wacky scenarios had me laughing aloud. Wally and Hazel attend a wrestling match in Madison Square Garden. It's the funniest wrestling scene put on film. The wrestlers throw the referee and one another out of the ring, and the ref jumps on one of the wrestlers to help the other guy. It's a riot. Toward the film's end, Wally figures out how to fake Hazel's pneumonia. He has to get her pulse racing and her temperature up, so he eggs her on to fight with him. This hilarious scenario had me in stitches. Carole Lombard shows why she was considered Hollywood's queen of screwball comedy. This is one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen in a movie. The film has more side-splitting scenarios. From start to finish, it is loaded with wackiness. It's one of the best screwball comedies ever made. It's the perfect anecdote to play when one is down or needs to laugh. Here are some samples to wet the whistles of those who haven't yet seen this film. The lines are much funnier with the scenes. Wally, "Well, he's got a different quality of charm. He's sort of a cross between a Ferris wheel and a werewolf. But with a likable streak."Oliver, "Doctor, I want to know the worst. I don't want you to spare our feelings. We go to press in 15 minutes."Hazel, "I don't suppose newspapermen marry, as a rule?" Wally, "Not after they're 14 or 15. That's the dangerous age for the journalist. His ideals are not yet formed and he falls easy prey to elderly waitresses. Once his fine side is born, he waits." Hazel, "For what?" Wally, "For sounds of a fire alarm, Miss Flagg. He waits to go rushing off to the fire." Hazel," What fire's that, Mr. Cook?" Wally, "Love!"Wally, "Stop looking so happy and gallant, will ya? It breaks my heart."Hazel, "Oh, Enoch ... If you were only as honest as you look."Wally, "Oliver thought we could get the president, but he's still fishing. I arranged to have the symphony orchestra there instead."Nightclub emcee, "Show them the finger, babe."Oliver, "I am sitting here, Mr. Cook, trying to figure some way out of the blackest disaster that has ever struck down an innocent man since the days of Judas Iscariot."Oliver, "That's Hazel Flagg. The biggest fake of the century. A lying, faking witch with the soul of an eel and the brain of a tarantula." Wally, "She hasn't' got anything wrong with her at all? Sweet heaven, I can't believe it. It's like some kind of miracle."Oliver, "The whole city is getting ready to laugh at us. A howl that'll be heard around the world. It'll be worse than the French Revolution."Wally, "Oliver's having a catfit. You know, I've been misjudging him. When I told him you were safe and sound, he choked up, and he couldn't talk for a minute."Oliver, "Before I'm finished with that female Dracula, she'll know one thing. That Oliver Stone is worse than radium poisoning." Hazel, "You won't hate me so much if I'm behind bars." Oliver, "Pneumonia? It's a lie, I tell you. Temperature of 106? Dying? Go back and take her temperature again. I don't trust that girl until I get a doctor. No, not Dr. Downer. Tell Mo to throw that Vermont quack out of the room the minute he shows his face."Hazel, "What's the use? Why fight them any longer?" Wally, "Because I love you. Because I'm going to marry you and I don't want to spend my honeymoon hanging around Sing Sing throwing kisses to you in the exercise yard. Oliver, "Pneumonia! It's the finger of God if it's true. It's like a pardon from the gallows."Wally, "Now listen to me, and listen carefully. When you come to …" Hazel, "What do you mean, 'come to?'" Wally, "I mean, when you regain consciousness."Mrs. Cartwright (chief ranger), "Miss Flagg … if you persist in flaunting your recovery in this flagrant manner, the trees of America will be without girlfriends.'Fake disappearance note, "I have gone to face the end alone – like an elephant."

f-madany I loved the humor of this movie, and the way the beautiful Lombard seemed to let it flow from every aspect of herself. The viewer was completely captivated with her, and her little deceit. It's the kind of story, were you know what's going to happen, but still there's never a dull moment. The whole 75 minutes of the film is backed full of pure laugh out loud entertainment. And the best part of it is that those living outside of the cities today can empathize with Hazel Flagg's actions. She is not the lying villain, but the naïve, guilt ridden heroine. The imagery of NY was major bonus for this movie and in selling it to audiences. Especially the shot of the Manhattan skyline seen from the plane.

dlabarge-33974 After watching Nothing Sacred, I found it to be quite boring after watching 20 minutes. I couldn't really catch on to it and like it. A few camera shots I really like, like when Hazel and Wally are in the box and Wally asks Hazel to marry him, I really like the tracking/ push in shot. I also found the establishing shots to be very nice also. Carole Lombard was great in My Man Godfrey and she's very good in this film as well. It seems like she plays the character of an over dramatic young female very well. I also found the actor who played the doctor and Wally quite good as well. The plot was kind of clouded for me I couldn't really understand it all too well. You could easily see the screwball comedy aspects in the film though. They stood out quite well.