1938 Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
American multi-millionaire Michael Brandon marries his eighth wife, Nicole, the daughter of a broken French Marquis. But she doesn't want to be only a number in the row of his ex-wives and starts her own strategy to tame him.
Claudette Colbert Gary Cooper Edward Everett Horton David Niven Elizabeth Patterson Herman Bing Warren Hymer Franklin Pangborn Armand Cortes Rolfe Sedan Lawrence Grant Lionel Pape Tyler Brooke Leon Ames Gino Corrado Joseph Crehan George Davis Mariska Aldrich Lenore Aubert Eugene Borden Barlowe Borland Marie Burton Albert D'Arno Dorothy Dayton Jean De Briac Ray De Ravenne Sayre Dearing Paula DeCardo Blanche Franke Show All…
Let it be known that Claudette Colbert is an absolute menace.
“Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife” is less worth watching for the scantly filled promise of a trip to Lubitschland, and more so for the absolute chaos its petite lead actress wreaks on all within its frames.
It’s only too fitting that Gary Cooper’s character in “Bluebeard’s” suffers from insomnia. Colbert is out there kissing men with a mouthful of onions, socking guys point blank in the face, and generally turning director Ernst Lubitsch’s fabled dreamland into a nightmare. Good for her.
Billy Wilder’s first writing credit on a Lubitsch film makes for the meeting of two odd bunk mates. Much as he did for Colbert and director Michell Leisen a year…
“why do you think a woman puts a man into a straight jacket? because she loves him!”
turns out gary cooper reading the taming of the shrew and then immediately spanking claudette colbert is my kink. i live for the chaos and this movie said drink up bitch!
Breaking in my 25th the only way I know how; with good pals Lubitsch, Cooper, Colbert, Brackett and Wilder. The greatest gift this lad could ask for, to feel oh-so delightfully classy in heart with the best of ‘em, while never forgetting that coy wit that has him cheesing like a schoolboy once more. Twinkle in the eye et. al. If only the rest of the year could keep up with such effusively chaotic elegance.
definitely one of lubitsch's wackiest movies about marriage, specifically because of that scene where gary cooper plonks away on the piano and sings "lookie lookie lookie, here comes cookie" and claudette colbert picks up a fistful of WHOLE SCALLIONS and eats them to ruin his experience of kissing her??? ERNST!!!
#Nivarathon No. 1.
'You know, I don't want you to really hurt my husband.'
'Oh, I'll carry him along. Just keep away with the left jab.'
'Uhhh...the left ja...uhh..what does that do exactly?'
'Oh, I might split his lip or cut his eye a little.'
'That sounds terrible!! You mustn't do thaaat!'
'Well, I gotta defend myself.'
'Oh...of course. Ohh, but...split... and cut...? That sounds horrible. Couldn't you do something a little more civilized? You know, just pick him up and throw him in a corner.'
'Oh no, that's wrestling.'
'Oh.'
No one can hold a candle to Ernst Lubitsch when it comes to writing the perfect dialogue, nor to Claudette Colbert when she goes full Jean Arthur and delivers…
Absolutely tremendous Lubitsch film that for the first 45 minutes has you thinking you might be watching the greatest romantic comedy ever made, such is the searing wit, chemistry and sexual tension/innuendo between the two leads (not to mention a young David Niven in an absolutely hilarious supporting role). Towards the middle/ two thirds mark it loses a little bit of steam and perhaps ends too quickly but this is a fantastic film overall.
Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert are tremendous and the film gets darker than you'd expect as they tear each other to pieces in a strange sort of love only they understand. I'm no Lubitsch expert, but it's probably my favourite of the 4 I've seen so…
the 90 seconds that gary cooper had a little pencil mustache in this movie were life-changing to me. happy 120th birthday coop!
Don't call yourselves soulmates if you didn't meet in a department store when one of you wanted to buy only the top of pajamas and the other wanted only the bottom.
Nicole (Claudette Colbert) gets engaged to Michael (Gary Cooper), only to find that this isn't his first time around. Or his second. Or even his third. She's set to become his eighth wife - and he's given sweet sweet payouts to all the others when things fell apart. After the revelation, she becomes understandably concerned and decides to set up a sweet payout plan of her own and to (not so understandably) punish him for his lackadaisical attitude toward marriage in his past.
The first act is a blast. Cooper and Colbert have a decent rapport and the screwball dialogue, odd premise and situational comedy of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder's script (adapted from a play?) is on point. As…
“How did Flash Gordon get out of the burning submarine?”
For years, I wanted to see Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife because of Lubitsch, the cast, and my love of romantic comedies from this period. When I finally got to see it, I found it very disappointing. On this second viewing, it seems a bit better but is still not all it could have been.
The film is moderately entertaining, but there’s something off about it. As for the famous Lubitsch touch, perhaps Ernst burnt his fingers taking strudel out of the oven. The Criterion Channel is presenting the film as part of its screwball-comedy series, and while it has some screwball wackiness, the timing is wrong. Screwball comedies are supposed to…
Gary Cooper is a millionaire visiting in France when he meets Claudette Colbert. They fall in love, but he is so brusque and business-like that she doesn't like him. Her father, Edward Everette Horton is a marques, but he's broke. He wants her to marry him and she finally agrees. Then she finds out he's been married 7 times before! She calls it off and finally agrees with a pre-nup for $100,000 a year (in 1938 dollars!) if they divorce. They marry, but she won't put out, saving herself for her "real" husband in the future.
Very funny and very witty as you'd expect from Lubitsch, with a script by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. There's some very funny things regarding men's pajamas. Almost a 4-star picture, could become one with a few re-watches.
