Review of Idiot's Delight (1939) by Kevin M. W — 11 Jan 2019

Gable interestingly (because he's not what you call your first choice for this kind of role) plays a showbiz hoofer, back from WW1 and on the lookout for any job he can tag. Norma Shearer plays vaudeville carny performer. They meet for one night of love and then part, only to meet up again years later in Europe at the outbreak of WW2. Robert Sherwood concocted this basically anti-war message film but it seems to bear the imprint of many other hands and too many cooks...

For instance, Shearer's kooky traveling artist persona grates on the nerves and one wishes Gable, ever a rock, would shut her up just once. Here is a mighty effort, although to no avail. Or in conventional terms: a bomb.