BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE

US, 1938, 80 minutes, Black and white.
Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, David Niven, Edward Everett Horton, Elizabeth Patterson, Herman Bing, Franklin Pangborn.
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife is one of very many screwball sophisticated comedies of the '30s. They were a speciality of the time. Their plots are romantic and light. They are generally set amongst the wealthy classes with a touch of
Europe. There are romantic scenes, oneupmanship on the part of hero and heroine. There are a collection of assorted stock characters in support. These appear strongly in this rather light comedy. Gary Cooper does fairly well in the central role but is not a great comedian. Claudette Colbert, on the contrary, is quite at home. She had won her Oscar in 1934 for Frank Capra's It Happened One Night.

David Niven appears in a supporting role, a variation on the types that he was to play for so many decades. Edward Everett Horton and Franklin Pangborn do their usual comic turns. The basic themes of romance, marriage, career, wealth and true love are treated in the usual manner. However, the film is of interest for historical reasons. Besides the teaming of Cooper and Colbert, the direction is by Ernst Lubitsch, a specialist in this kind of comedy. He is best known for such films as the Greta Garbo vehicle Ninotchka. The film was written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. They wrote many screenplays during the '30s and into the 140s, especially when Wilder moved into direction. He had a long career as a director, winning Oscars for The Long Weekend (in 1945) and The Apartment in 1960. The film, though very light in itself, takes its place in the history of the comedies of the '30s.