edwagreen Regarding a previous review concerning Joseph Schildkraut as a schemer. This film came out in 1938, the year before Schildkraut was the winner of the best supporting actor award for the Oscar-winning "The Life of Emile Zola." He played Dreyfus in that film and he was anything but a schemer. Ditto 22 years later when he played the memorable father in "The Diary of Anne Frank."This picture is comical in nature. It takes place in Hungary and we hear the Blue Danube Waltz played at the beginning. Why? Hungary was part of Austria-Hungary until the end of World War 1.Now that our history lesson is finished, let's get on to the film. It's filled with political satire. William Powell, who made this film in an attempt to get back to work several months later following Jean Harlow's untimely death, plays a butler who is elected to the Hungarian Parliament for the opposing party of the Prime Minister he works for.Annabella is the married daughter of the P.M. and the two fall in love. Husband Joseph Schildkraut finds out and tries to use this affair to create for himself an important governmental position so that he will not say anything, quietly divorce Annabella and avoid scandal.Politics is a nasty business. This picture is silly, it could have used the nastiness. Schildkraut could provide fireworks in previous films such as "Marie Antoinette." He doesn't do that here and the film suffers for it.Henry Stephenson is good as the Prime Minister. He is the definition of the old politician staying in office by saying little. As his wife, Helen Westley is comical.

charlytully This 1938 film, set in an area soon to come under the sway of the Nazi blitzkrieg, perpetuates a dangerous myth which threatens the survival of humanity even today: that the working class can get along with (and even marry into!) the castle owning ilk. Maybe in some alternate universe Adolf Hitler could have settled down with a nice Jewish girl and raised 8 kids; maybe there Donald Trump would hire more people than he fired; maybe there Michigan would have double the number of auto builders today compared to 35 years ago (in reality, there are 90% fewer people on the line now); maybe there the wealthy officers would perform the trench warfare as peasants looked on from distant bunkers with binoculars; maybe there guys in neck ties would not be sitting at desks scheming so hard to "privatize" the streets we travel, the water we drink, and the air we breathe; maybe there the top 1% who owned one-third of everything would not be so envied by the next 9% who had to split another third of everything among themselves that these bitter greed-heads would not feel so compelled to take away more of the final third from the 90% of us who make up the working class, but WE have to live in the universe of here and now.Go ahead, watch THE BARONESS AND THE BUTLER as pure entertainment, rather than as the actual subversive opiate for the masses that Hollywood has churned out for more than a century. (If movies were "green lit" by real Americans from the working folk, flicks such as THE BARONESS AND THE BUTLER or PRETTY WOMAN would never be made!) Why won't Hollywood tell the truth about the likelihood of a working class lamb lying down peacefully with a top 1% lion? Well, to quote Jack Nicholson, it's because YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.

blanche-2 "The Baroness and the Butler" is a 1938 film starring William Powell and the French star signed by 20th Century Fox, Annabella, who got the big star buildup from Fox. Little did Darryl F. Zanuck know that she was more interested in matters of the heart than career. When she met and fell in love with Tyrone Power on her next film, "Suez," Zanuck tried to get rid of her by offering her films in Europe. She refused to leave Power (and who could blame her) and the two married, becoming the Brangelina of their era. Zanuck blacklisted her, and there went the star buildup and the big film career.This is a charming film set in Hungary, about a butler, Johann Porok (Powell) who works for the Prime Minister (Henry Stephenson). The prime minister and his family, particularly his daughter Katrina (Annabella) are shocked when Johann is elected to Parliament - by the opposition party. What's more, he wants to stay on as butler. Meanwhile, Katrina's philandering husband (Josef Schildkraut) has a few political ambitions of his own.Powell does a smooth job in this film as the elegant butler who is known for his brilliant speeches in Parliament. Stephenson is great as his amused boss, and Schildkraut, who played so many slimeballs, is terrific as usual. Annabella was a wonderful actress, and when her film career took a nosedive thanks to Zanuck, she and Power did radio shows together. Annabella also had a great success on Broadway, did "Liliom" with her husband in Westport Connecticut, and worked tirelessly for the war effort before returning to France when she and Power divorced."The Baroness and the Butler" isn't a great film, but it has good performances and a breeziness about it. Enjoyable if predictable.

Rich La Bonte (flatrich) An amusing little story that probably worked better on the stage and doesn't appear to have been much of a challenge for any of the cast. Powell fans will enjoy it nonetheless and Anabella is quite stunning, despite her thick accent. More of Nigel Bruce in comedy relief might have helped the film along.Although 20th Century Fox touted this as a debut film for French star Anabella, her filmography includes two earlier American films for the same studio. A note on the Fox Movie Channel stated that production on The Baroness and the Butler was delayed while Powell mourned for Jean Harlow, who was engaged to him at the time of her death.