Love Is a Headache

1938 "Roars. Romance. Thrills."
6| 1h13m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 14 January 1938 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A press agent for a Broadway actress whose career is going downhill, attempts to get her some publicity by having her adopt two orphans, without her knowledge.

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Reviews

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring
ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
blanche-2 "Love is a Headache" is from 1938, a short second feature that runs one hour and 15 minutes, and stars Franchot Tone, Gladys George, Mickey Rooney, and Virginia Wiedler.Tone plays Peter Lawrence, a gossip columnist who knew one Broadway star, Carlotta (whom he calls Charlie) Lee back when they were kids. He never lets up on her, and when she takes a role in a flop show, he says the show is no good and she's making a mistake. She's about to sign a contract for another dud and is angry with Peter for writing about her in his column.Peter also has an interest in two young kids, Mike and Jake O'Toole (Rooney and Wielder), who are now orphans after their father is killed. On his latest broadcast, he calls out for anyone who can adopt these children. Carlotta's publicist thinks will be great for her, so he arranges to have the children brought to her apartment. Meanwhile, Peter knows nothing of this, planning to thoroughly investigate anyone interested. When he finds out, he assumes this is a cheap publicity stunt.Entertaining film, with Gladys George giving a wonderful performance as Carlotta, a dedicated performer but a woman with a heart. Rooney as the tough older brother is, as always, excellent, and as his vulnerable little sister Wiedler is excellent as well. Franchot Tone is smooth and sophisticated as Peter Lawrence.Those were the good old days, when columnists were an important part of the Broadway and movie scenes, and many times they would broadcast their programs from nightclubs or high-end restaurants, adding some glamor. There was a fun clip of the old Times Square at the beginning of the film. Wow, times have changed.
MartinHafer Despite being from a great studio, this isn't a particularly distinguished film--in fact, it's pretty poor. The biggest problems are that there really isn't any romantic chemistry and the plot seemed very forced.The film begins with a Broadway actress (Gladys George) having yet another flop on stage. Her agent (Ted Healy) is always trying to think of ways for her to get publicity and a friend (Franchot Tone) is trying to get her to be choosy about her projects and listen to him. In one of his radio broadcasts, Tone talks about some orphans in need of a home (including Mickey Rooney--who was a bit old to be adopted). Healy and George get the bright idea of adopting--or at least PRETENDING to adopt the kids for publicity. Tone is appalled and the rest of the film is spent watching George inexplicably becoming attached to the two kids and Tone somehow marrying George by the end...even though there is zero chemistry between them and the film never shows any indications that romance is in the air.The film is supposed to be a wacky comedy but wacky it seldom is. In fact, things happen repeatedly throughout the film for no apparent reason. As a result, the film is very weak and very skipable.
David (Handlinghandel) This gives the superb Gladys George a good, meaty role. The plot is a bit well-worn. But she is in all her glory as a temperamental grand lady of the stage with a heart of gold. (The plot involves no drinking on her part, which is a nice change from the general typecasting her tough voice and soft manner brought.) Let's get one thing clear: The title means nothing. It seems slapped on out of desperation. What romantic title could not be called "Love Is A Headache"? From "Gone With the Wind" to "Mala Noche," with many stops in between, there could have been hundreds of movies with that title.The supporting cast is fun. Franchot Tone is fine. Mickey Rooney and Virginia Weidler are real pros.Though I liked this primarily because of Ms. George, I have to say that Rooney shines. He had that quality the camera loved that certain big stars had. Marilyn Monroe is one of them. When either of these two appeared in a movie's early scenes, the audience sits up and says "Whoa! Who is THIS?"
Clay Loomis TCM to the rescue again with another little gem from the "You Won't See This Anywhere Else" vault. From 1938, this is one of those films that has nothing to really recommend it, but is not offensive either. It can only be shown on TCM because no advertiser is going to pay money to put commercials on during its showing.Mickey Rooney plays one of the adopted poor kids of a rich actress who only wants them for the good PR it will give her. (Will she come around for a happy ending? Hey, it was the Depression, what do you think?) This is some early Mickey from about the time he started his Andy Hardy phase. He's charming enough, as are the other actors. The writing is OK, as is the direction, but while everyone tries, the movie just plods along trying to make everyone feel good.From late in the Depression, everyone in the film is depicted as either extremely rich, or extremely poor. But everyone has a hat! It was like the law in the 30's that everyone had to wear a hat when outdoors. Men, women, kids, cops, chauffeurs, milkmen, dockworkers, it didn't matter, they had to wear a hat. One line in the film has the rich adoptive Mom asking her new poor kids, "Are those the only clothes you kids have?" And Rooney answers, "No, we have hats!" If you appreciate the old potboiler films of less than 90 minutes duration, you'll certainly be able to sit through this one, as it is better than many of its type. If you were raised on Star Wars films, you'll probably hate it.Well, I have to go. Where's my hat?