Up in Mabel's Room

Newly-wed Gary (Dennis O'Keefe) tries to steal a neglige that he previously gave to Mabel (Gail Patrick) as a present. He tries to steal it coz the bitch is threatening to show it to his wife Geraldine (Marjorie Reynolds) at a weekend party that she is hosting. A few other characters are involved but the film mainly follows Gary's attempt to destroy the evidence....if he can find it....

The film has a few funny moments and the story could have been wrapped up after 2 minutes if Gary had just explained the situation to Geraldine at the beginning. There is no reason why he shouldn't have done precisely that. But, despite Mabel being a despicable monster for her actions, and Geraldine, at times, being an annoying drip of a woman, the film is lightweight fluff that passes the time. The dialogue is funny but the story drags on a bit and I got bored with it.

"Up in Mabel's Room" is a comedy from Small Productions and it really left me frustrated...mostly because the leading lady is so easy to hate. To me, this was a deal-breaker...and I had a hard time enjoying this one.

When the film begins, Geraldine Ainsworth (Marjorie Reynolds) is upset that her brand new husband, Gary (Dennis O'Keefe), doesn't realize it's their 30 day anniversary. Obviously, this lady is tough to please...and as the film progresses you realize that Gary is married to a really awful lady! Why? Because although he seems like a nice guy, she's painfully jealous of him...so much so that she begins accusing him of being unfaithful to her. This is fed, in part, by her never seen mother--a woman who constantly phones Geraldine to tell her how much she hates Gary and how she KNOWS he's cheating on her. And, as a result, Gary jumps through many hoops in order to please this impossible to please lady. At this point, I guess I was thinking too much but it seemed to me Gary was married to an emotionally abusive woman...so much so I was rooting for him to leave and never come back. There's more to the film than that...but it had already lost me and I really hated the movie. The actors seemed to try hard...but the script really, really annoyed me and I couldn't wait for the film to end.

Why use a door when crawling through a window is so much sneakier. In fact, this movie must hold the all-time record of Hollywood crawl-throughs. But more than that, the movie's still pretty darn funny, a bedroom farce that I'll bet packed wartime theatres everywhere. After all, what better way to escape the grimness than this kind of whirlwind nonsense.

So, Gary (O'Keefe) better retrieve that autographed undergarment from ornery Mabel (Patrick) before wifey Geraldine (Reynolds) finds out, otherwise he's headed for divorce court. But then there're two other married couples in the same house and somehow their pairings keep getting mixed-up in funny fashion. Worse for Gary, his bug-eyed helper, Boris (Auer), is no help at all, while everything he does just digs poor Gary in deeper. Good thing there's always a bed to hide under when a window isn't handy, otherwise Gary's goose would have been served up long ago.

Veteran director Dwan keeps things rolling in expert fashion. However, I couldn't help wondering if today's audiences would even know what a slip is since girls traded in dresses for pants years ago. And, to think, all that fuss over whose name is on the slip. But never mind, it's just a gimmick to get the madcap ball rolling.

Anyhow, the movie's still a lot of light-hearted fun, with an expert cast and a lot of snappy one-liners. I especially like the very last scene where Boris finds out more than one person can cuss in Russian and from the unlikeliest sources. All in all, the movie is still an engaging delight despite the changing mores.

This is an overlooked movie from Hollywood's Golden Age. A cute and funny movie about a newly wed couple, the husband, Dennis O'Keefe who has a guilty secret he feels he must keep from his new bride, who, by-the-way, is still attached to her Mother. Mable, the husband's ex-girlfriend, insists that the secret be out in the open, much to O'Keefe's dismay. They all end up spending a weekend together and the sparks and laughs fly. A real treat for fans of old movies. Gail Patrick is wonderful as Mable. Highly recommend this movies. It is available only in VHS, but hopefully in DVD soon. Charlotte Greenwood is great as the old maid hostess for the weekend. Enjoy!

Gail Patrick is just delightful as Mabel, who sets this story rolling when she calls up old friend Dennis O'Keefe and tells him she has a "souvenir" she's going to bring over. O'Keefe is preparing to celebrate his 30-day wedding anniversary with lovey-dovey wife Marjorie Reynolds, so he tells her instead to "take it to the office."

We quickly learn that Mabel's souvenir is an embarrassing garment that O'Keefe once gave her, embroidered with name and all; and that while he is eager to retrieve said gift, O'Keefe is too dumb just to explain the whole thing to his wife and instead resorts to secrecy—which, of course, backfires.

O'Keefe is funny as the flustered husband whose various stratagems involve a good deal of climbing through windows and hiding under beds. Reynolds' character is awfully silly but sweet enough. Their relationship features a fair number of emotional cloudbursts (Reynolds: "I hope you're happy—ruining the best years of my life!" O'Keefe: "We've only been married 30 days!") but is never really in doubt.

Most of the action takes place at a country house where our main characters spend the weekend with a colorful group of friends and relatives. The great cast includes Mischa Auer as a servant whom O'Keefe enlists to help him search Mabel's room; Lee Bowman as O'Keefe's business partner who is also Mabel's fiancé; and Charlotte Greenwood as the wickedly clever hostess.

Binnie Barnes is hilarious as a house guest who at one point picks up what she thinks is a secret about O'Keefe. "I can't tell you, I gave my word of honor," she tells Greenwood and Patrick. "But…if you'll give me your word of honor, I'll tell you."

Gail Patrick's Mabel is clearly the sharpest character here and it's great fun watching her amusement (and sometimes exasperation) as all those around her generally make fools of themselves. And it's nice to see Patrick—who frequently got stuck playing the snooty "other woman"—come out looking good for once.