Review of Comrade X (1940) by Greg W — 29 Jul 2013

Ben Hecht wrote this pre-cold war comedy about newspaperman Clark Gable falling for beautiful communist Hedy Lamarr in this Ninotchka-esque romantic comedy. It's really only a mediocre comedy, but Lamarr is gorgeous and charming and there are certainly some good bits of dialogue from Hecht ("You can't have a revolution in a country where the people love hot dogs and boogie-woogie.

" or "Don't get nervous honey, we're all safe inside this room. We can take our ideals out and play with them.") I've never been that big a fan of Gable, but it's adequate for the role of a brassy American.

Lamarr and the sporadic Hecht zingers are really the only reason to watch this one. It's not a classic, but it's worth checking out if you're run out of great classic comedies to watch. And on a related note, I'm on a quest to find if there was ever a "great" film that Lamarr appeared in, because it is my new theory that she has been somewhat of a forgotten star because she seemed to have appeared only is average films and never any real classics.

So far, of the films I've watched, I'm thinking "Algiers" is the closest she's come to a classic and that one is still really not a classic. It's a shame because she does have some comedy chops, solid screen charisma and is, of course, absolutely gorgeous.