It’s Love I’m After │ Warner Archive Collection
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
by CHAD KENNERK
Warner Bros.’ It’s Love I’m After gives Leslie Howard the nifty chance to showcase his Shakespearean chops in a screwball comedy setting. Howard and Bette Davis play tempestuous stage partners Basil Underwood and Joyce Arden, whose mutual devotion is continually derailed by ego, scheming and an overdue wedding. Things are further inflamed when Basil is pressed into service and tasked with dissuading the infatuations of heiress Marcia West (Olivia de Havilland.) Classical training and comedic timing are on display from the opening sequence, where Basil and Joyce covertly spar during a performance as the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. With such a playful prologue, it’s a shame that the theatrical locale isn’t more prominent throughout this lively romantic farce. It’s also a shame that the film itself has taken a backseat to other screwball comedies of the era. Perhaps Warner Archive Collection’s pristine Blu-ray transfer can help give the comedy its flowers.
Adapted from Maurice Hanline’s story Gentlemen After Midnight, the screenplay for It’s Love I’m After is also notable as the first Davis vehicle written by Casey Robinson, who would go on to script several of her most enduring films, including Dark Victory, Now, Voyager, and The Corn is Green. Leslie Howard initially hoped to cast Gertrude Lawrence in the role, but concerns about her screen presence ended that possibility, and filming briefly began without a leading lady. After negotiating rest time and the replacement of cinematographer James Van Trees with Tony Gaudio, Davis ultimately signed on, bringing her characteristic spark to Joyce Arden. The dialogue remains sharp throughout with zingers like “You’re everything a girl should want and doesn’t,” alongside snappy interplay such as “About 104 pounds.” “Oh, English pounds?” “No, my girl.”
This marked the third and final pairing of Howard and Davis after Of Human Bondage (1934) and The Petrified Forest (1936). It also begins Davis’ long screen association with de Havilland. Their five collaborations would stretch to 1964’s Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, a cornerstone of the ‘psycho-biddy’ or ‘hagsploitation’ cycle that Davis helped to popularise with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? — a trend most recently echoed in this year’s Weapons.
The film carries a surprising number of connections to Gone with the Wind, predating it by two years, yet uniting Howard and de Havilland for the first time, referencing Clark Gable (“Who’s Clark Gable?” declares Basil), and recalling the fact that Davis was once considered for Scarlett O’Hara. Co-star Bonita Granville was known for playing bratty roles, but this may very well be her most annoying part, as Marcia West’s snotty younger sister. Granville would go on to become the first screen version of Nancy Drew and eventually graduate from kiddie parts in the 1940s. The rest of the cast is well-suited, with Eric Blore standing out as the much-beleaguered British butler Digges.
Warner Archive’s Blu-ray presentation is remarkably crisp given the material’s vintage. Fine costume textures are revealed, as well as the fame-seeking fly that unintentionally lands on Davis’ forehead during one of the final scenes. Minor speckling and occasional pictorial scratches remain, but nothing distracts from the experience, and the image is faithfully framed in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The supplemental material is modest but appreciated, with two 1937 Porky Pig cartoons — Porky’s Building and Porky’s Badtime Story — offering period-appropriate animated companions.
It’s Love I’m After is available on Blu-ray 25 November from Warner Archive Collection.
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WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION offers thousands of film and TV series direct from Warner’s studio vault. With a particular emphasis on high-quality restorations and remasters on Blu-ray disc, Warner Archive Collection brings rare and hard-to-find classic motion pictures and television series to home video. Often appearing for the first time on Blu-ray, titles are chosen each month from the unparalleled library of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which spans more than 100 years of cinema history.
