ksf-2 Both Astor and Douglas had been in films for years by this time, so we know it'll be a good film. And with Donald Meek, there should be some good antics coming ahead. Too bad they didn't give him a larger part. Blake (Douglas) and Farnham (Astor), and Farnham's daughter are the only guests in a hotel locked in by snow. SO much talking.. this one MUST have started out as a play. According to IMDb, the snow scenes were done at Donner Pass. That is just west of Reno, about 7 hours north of Burbank, so that would have made for a fun winter outing for the actors. Mr. Snirley and Miss Peabody are hotel employees, determined to accompany the only two guests every second, much to their (and OUR !) annoyance. Then Blake's son shows up, and the rest of the film is about the plotting between the two children. Kind of a fun note to hear them talk about esperanto, which has actually been around since 1887. It's okay. No big surprises. Mildly entertaining. Pretty whitewashed and bland for the film code. Astor and Douglas would also make "There's always a Woman" together, as well as a couple television episodes. Directed by Elliott Nugent.

wes-connors Los Angeles divorcée Mary Astor (as Edith Farnham) and mature nine-year-old daughter Edith Fellows (as Brenda) arrive at the mountainous "Snowcrest Lodge" for Christmas week. Both shun male companionship, due to Ms. Astor's marital track record. Also arriving are widower Melvyn Douglas (as Stephen Blake) and, when school lets out, his ten-year-old son Jackie Moran (as Tommy). Due to weather conditions, Mr. Douglas and Ms. Astor are two of the lodge's few guests. It's definitely not love at first sight, but Douglas and Astor become mutually attracted. Their children react by fiendishly trying to prevent the inevitable marriage. It's not smooth sailing for the couple. Things go south when Douglas mistakes Astor's daughter for his son and gives him (her) a spanking. Astor is not amused. Then, the children try to bring their feuding parents together...***** And So They Were Married (5/10/36) Elliott Nugent ~ Melvyn Douglas, Mary Astor, Edith Fellows, Jackie Moran

mark.waltz Jackie Moran and Edith Fellowes are two bratty adolescents who fight like a dog and a cat and utilize their antagonism to prevent their single parents (widowed father Melvyn Douglas and divorced mother Mary Astor) from getting married. But each scheme they concoct only serves to bring the adults closer together and of course create an understanding between the children who, like a dog and cat, really adore each other, just too stubborn to admit it. Some of the funniest situations involve a soap-consuming dog who makes the entire ski resort lobby think he's "mad" and Moran's use of bee-bee spitwads in a crowded dining room. This is so sitcomish that I am surprised that Columbia didn't do a sequel, "And So They Were Siblings".

vincentlynch-moonoi This has to be one of the most contrived movies I have ever watched. It just seems way too "set-up" to be anything approaching real (even Hollywood's sense of what "real" is).If that isn't enough, despite being made in 1936, by which time there were more modern approaches to movie making, this film seems much older...perhaps from the 1930-1933 time period.In fact, there is only one good thing I have to say about this film -- there's quite a bit of real outdoor photography, and it's quite good, particularly during winter in the mountains. Unfortunately, the portion of the film inside the lodge (most of the movie) seems staged...in fact it has that feeling of a stilted stage play.The two leads are fine actors -- Melvyn Douglas and Mary Astor. But neither could save this dead fish, and in fact, their performances here are -- in my view -- perhaps the worst of their careers. During the first part of the film, the two take an instant and intense dislike of each other, but it's so excessive that I actually found it annoying. It was very difficult to not simply turn the film off, but I finally decided to continue watching for the most wrong reason there is to watch a movie -- to see just how lousy it really is. The two not only warm up to each other after a while, but fall in love. But it just seems so totally fake! He had a son, she a daughter, and here the female couple are all the more annoying since they have both become man-haters. Unfortunately, the children remained annoying far longer than the adults.I am giving this film one of the very lowest ratings I've posted on this site. Stay away! It's poison!