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13 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Absolutely delightful, hilarious., 13 June 2002
Author: dave387 (davey@lightspeed.net) from Bodfish, CA

A very funny, romantic movie. I enjoyed all the little creative pieces of "business" and lines such as "...you rang my gong." I enjoyed the treat of Sidney Toler as Keough.

I enjoyed the beautiful, wonderful cars of the 1930s, and the background scenes of beautiful, wonderful downtown Los Angeles of the '30s and into the 1950s. I was born there in 1934 and remember it well when it was a beautiful place to live. Ah, nostalgia!! This is what it really did look like then.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Crazy film done under sad circumstances, 11 January 2006
7/10
Author: blanche-2 from United States

"Double Wedding" is an enjoyable, albeit dizzying comedy starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. It's really a tribute to the cast that they were able to carry on in such a wacky movie despite being shut down for a time due to Jean Harlow's untimely death. Both Powell, who was involved with Harlow, and Loy, who was a friend of hers, took her death very hard.

Powell and Loy play polar opposites in this film. She is a complete control freak who has her life, her sister's life, and the life of her sister's fiancé, planned down to the millisecond. Along comes Powell, who lives in a trailer and hocks items when he needs money. Once he's in their lives, all bets are off, and chaos reigns supreme.

The cast is great but the whole thing kind of veers off focus from time to time. The writing isn't as strong as in some of the other screwball comedies of the era. But Powell is a treasure and teamed with Loy, even more so.

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Not up to the stars' usual shine, 20 August 2001
Author: wrk6539 from Boston, MA

I have always found this movie more than a little strained and Powell and Loy not up to their usual shine. In fact, Myrna Loy's character seems downright unpleasant!! Much of this may have to do with the death of Powell's fiancee Jean Harlow during production. Myrna Loy, in her autobiography, states that she cannot bear to watch this movie because of the pain they all felt while making it. While the two do their professional best (and the uninformed would never guess that real tragedy was plaguing them) you are much better off watching Powell and Loy in one of their better works...ie The Thin Man Series, Libeled Lady,I Love You Again, etc. FYI: Powell developed colon cancer in the year following Harlow's tragic death and nearly died himself. He recovered and returned to active film work with 1939's Another Thin Man and proceeded to beat the odds and live another 40 years!!!

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Mostly amusing free-for-all..., 28 November 2005
6/10
Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

A screwball romantic comedy...but somebody forgot to tighten the screws. Confusion reigns after a ne'er-do-well man becomes involved with both a would-be actress and her domineering, humorless sister. Funny cast (including the "Thin Man" couple, Myrna Loy and William Powell) have a high time with their eccentric characters and fast, witty dialogue, but the plot is extremely thin, taking everyone around in circles. Too bad this didn't have firmer handling, the potential was here for a comedy classic. Loy's continuous bad temper gets the biggest laughs, however the wild slapstick climax boasts some very amusing sight-gags. **1/2 from ****

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a Masterpiece, Just Delightfully Cracked, 20 June 2006
9/10
Author: petyank from United States

Watching this movie was like looking through a beautiful, whimsical kaleidoscope. So many facets are perfect: Loy at her peak of gorgeous, wry sophistication; the Deco sets; Powell's gentle irony; the relationships of various characters and the consistency of dialog; even the physical pranks were great--and I don't like slapstick all that much! This film reminded me of Shop Around the Corner. It wasn't as good, that's a tall order, but there was something bigger going on in this movie than just the usual romantic farce. I have to admire the writer's and director's ability to pull off a romantic comedy between two such diametrically opposed people. The heroine is the quintessential control freak; the hero, as laid back and tolerant as a hippie of the sixties. No one apologizes for their quirks, which is refreshing, and neither of them had to change all that much to make the ending work. And as far as acting goes, Loy and Powell don't hold back any punches (literally!) whenever the two characters collide. It is amazing to watch them knowing how they were reacting to Harlow's death during shooting. I love finding old movies, and this one is buried treasure.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Mustn't Miss It, 1 December 1999
10/10
Author: Momof3 from Ontario, Canada

Double Wedding is a wonderful comedy loaded with great dialogue and wit. This was just one of the 14 movies Powell and Loy teamed up for. It was during the filming of this movie that Powell's fiancee Jean Harlow died. Filming was halted for six weeks and Powell returned to finish the movie. He then went to Europe for a year before teaming with Loy again in 37 for another Thin Man movie.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Double Fun, 7 July 2008
8/10
Author: kenjha

Powell is an artist, a free spirit who disrupts the well-made plans of Loy, who controls the lives of her kid sister (Rice) and the latter's fiancé with an iron fist. Like the dozen other teamings of Powell and Loy, it is fun to watch the two pros match wits. Beal is funny as Rice's milquetoast fiancé, whom Powell tries to make a man out of. Powell is an aspiring writer/director who coaches Beal and Rice in acting out a love story; unable to arouse passion out of Beal, Powell demonstrates by passionately kissing the lovely Rice, who falls in love with him. Of course, Powell falls in love with Rice's sister, Loy, setting the stage for comic situations.

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Filmed during Jean Harlow's death, 12 September 2009
6/10
Author: CCsito from United States

Another one of the film pairings between William Powell and Myrna Loy that was halted in production because of the death of Jean Harlow who was very close to William Powell. The movie deals with a woman character portrayed by Myrna Loy who controls her sister and fiancée's daily life. William Powell is a trailer living man who does stage acting rehearsals with Myrna's sister and her fiancée. There are a few amusing comedic sequences between Myrna and William and the other supporting cast members. Given the tragic incident that occurred during filming, there appeared to lack a spark in this movie from the other collaborations between Myrna and William. A somewhat surprise scene in the movie was the use of the phrase "take dope" by Myrna when she was questioning William on his living habits.

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Taming of the Shrew 1930's Style, 27 October 2007
8/10
Author: Mae East from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If you've enjoyed any of The Thin Man movies, then you'll most likely enjoy Double Wedding, too. (Of course, if you've never seen The Thin Man, you can certainly enjoy this movie. Then, hie thyself off to The Thin Man.) Powell and Loy are delightful, as always. The plot appears to be very loosely based upon The Taming of The Shrew (which should not be a spoiler but I'm not taking any chances.) I enjoy the cars, the wardrobes, the sets, and most everything in movies of this era. Not only entertaining for the fabulous writing, but a glimpse into history and current events of that time. The upper-class lifestyle portrayed here is certainly an interesting contrast to Depression era newsreel footage and movies like The Grapes of Wrath. (And if anyone can enlighten me about the Oscar that topples off the table near the end of the film, I would appreciate it.)

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0 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Wacky screwball comedy is perfect for Powell and Loy..., 9 October 2008
6/10
Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

WILLIAM POWELL and MYRNA LOY rise above a thin script and Richard Thorpe's uninspired direction to make DOUBLE WEDDING an unmitigated delight.

Powell plays a lazy, laid-back hippie before it was fashionable to become one, living in a cluttered trailer and getting involved romantically with Loy and FLORENCE RICE. Rice does a nice job as Loy's flighty sister in love with JOHN BEAL, who plays a spineless character that Powell has to coach to show some spunk. Beal plays the weak character so effortlessly that he almost disappears, even when he has dialog.

But the movie belongs to Powell and Loy who demonstrate why they had so much chemistry together. She's a rather bossy type who tries to manipulate Powell out of his obsession with her sister. Naturally, she ends up falling in love with the drifter herself.

The frenetic last fifteen minutes are a bit much with the slapstick scenes all out of proportion to the rest of the film. But the majority of the scenes (especially those between Loy and Powell) are a prime example of comic flair as performed by professionals.

If screwball comedy is your thing, this is the ticket.

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