Idiot's Delight

1939

Comedy / Drama / Romance

9
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 33% · 6 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 45% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 1939 1.9K

hotel world war ii mountain village blonde song and dance mind reading act

Director

Clarence Brown Photo
Clarence Brown

Top cast

Margaret Bert Photo
Margaret Bert as Nurse #2
Frank Faylen Photo
Frank Faylen as Ed
Edward Arnold Photo
Edward Arnold as Achille Weber
Francis McDonald Photo
Francis McDonald as Flight Captain
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
983.18 MB
1280*934
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds 2
1.78 GB
1480*1080
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by atlasmb 7 / 10

An Interesting Comedy That Is A Mixed Bag

When watching "Idiot's Delight", one needs to remember that it was released in 1939, the year WWII began in Europe and before the U.S. entered the conflict. Audiences did not know how long the war would last or that the U.S. would send its troops or that millions would die including so many civilians targeted by Hitler.The film is adapted by Robert E. Sherwood from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which involves a variety of characters who are forced to wait in a Swiss hotel at the beginning of hostilities until the authorities allow them to cross the borders. The play did not include the portion of the film that precedes the hotel scenes. With the earlier scenes, which include the relationship between Harry Van (Clark Gable) and Irene Fellara (Norma Shearer), the film lacks the central mystery of the play--is the Russian aristocrat Harry meets in the hotel the same woman (Irene) he met in Omaha, as he believes?The other hotel guests include a pacifist activist, a German munitions manufacturer, and a honeymooning British couple. The proclamation of war has certain impacts on all their lives. But still, the future is very uncertain. The author "warns" the audience, through dialogue, that history has taught us war should never be trivialized by predictions of a quick resolution. Despite the dark prospect of impending war, the film is a light-hearted comedy until the ending. The domestic film has a very different ending than the international release. TCM shows both endings, for contrast. The domestic ending seems appropriate, given the date of its release. The international ending seems almost prescient from today's point of view, but to a viewer in 1939, it would feel appropriately solemn.Shearer's performance needs to be recognized as a parody of Garbo to be appreciated. She must have had fun with the accent and affectation.The strength or weakness of the ending, including the lack of drama involved in the verification of the Russian woman's identity, might be points of discussion, but I think it could have been stronger.
Reviewed by auntielynn 7 / 10

artifacts

Reviewed by smithy-8 8 / 10

Last Teaming with Gable and Shearer

"Idiot's Delight" is a good version of the play. Clark Gable and Norma Shearer do their roles with justice. This is their best and last movie together. Today, the movie may seem dated, but it wasn't in 1939. Hollywood made several movies about fascism. Behind the story of a song and dance man (Clark Gable) with his troupe of blond beauties traveling throughout Europe, lies a story of countries fighting over fascism. Like to make a CORRECTION: On my critique of "Escape", I said there were two endings to the movie, I was wrong. I was thinking of this movie. On "Idiot's Delight", they made two endings: one for America and one for the international market (they were already fighting in the pre-WWII war). The international ending makes more sense. You can see the movie with both endings on Turner Classic Movies.
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