Tranquil Existence of an Oyster

GOD'S GIFT TO WOMEN (1931)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Sassy, sexy women lining up to be bedmates for a wealthy bachelor may strike some as raunchy by 1930's standards but do remember that films like Michael Curtiz's "God's Gift to Women" existed in the Pre-Code era when you could almost get away with anything. A playful diversion like "God's Gift to Women" will certainly not play to a 2010 audience today but nobody should pass it up - it is a souffle of laughs that kept me smiling. Even a line like, "If you want to live, you must follow the tranquil existence of an oyster" which sums up the lead character's current status, made me do more than chuckle. It is a mild sex farce but with its heart in its sleeve.

Frank Fay is the dapper, charming bachelor Toto Duryea who always has a bevy of women in tow at the local Parisian club. It is there that he sets his eyes on one startling catch - a vivacious blonde named Diane (Laura La Plante). She is tricked into dancing with him, though she will have none of him thanks to the advice of her millionaire father who sees the gent as an amoral lover. You can't keep a wealthy ladies' man down for long as Toto pursues Diane in various disguises, one as a mustachioed janitor of all things and also as a butler. The ruse never lets up and he never backs down. After all, what can one say about a man whose lineage links to the famous Don Juan, keeping a painting of the famous lover in his mansion? When Diane's stern father visits him, an ultimatum is enforced - Toto must consult with the millionaire's doctor and not see any women for six months (that includes the iconic flapper Louise Brooks in one of her first roles post-silent film era). This is no easy task, especially when the doctor tells Toto he has an enlarged aorta and can't get too excited.

Between the running gag of Toto getting tsk-tsked by various characters or the complication of keeping a party of fellow friends in one room or the task of separating three "visiting nurses" who change into lingerie before accompanying the "sick" Toto in bed, "God's Gift to Women" is a fancy treat of a movie with several winsome characters and delectably humorous situations. My major quibble is that Laura La Plante's Diane is practically written out of the movie (originally there were some musical numbers so who knows if she sang a song or two) and she can't quite compete with the casting of the alluring women of Toto's life (who can compete with Louise Brooks?)

Seeing this movie in the same couple of months as "Nothing Sacred" (which Fay also appeared in) and "Dinner at Eight" paints a picture of wealth in the 1930's in varying degrees during the Great Depression (which hit France the same year this film was released). With "God's Gift to Women," Toto lives a carefree existence that has meaning when stricken with the love bug - money is not something he worries about. As the good doctor tells him, he is living life like an oyster.