Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

csteidler Chester Morris is "Office Boy," a sort of assistant to Nat Pendleton's head gangster. Pendleton has the hots for chorus girl Carole Lombard and is eventually persuaded (not easily!) to marry her.The relationship between Office Boy and Lombard's Mary hovers between unfriendly and hostile for the majority of the picture, and is well summed up by the wedding gift with which Office Boy presents her: a chisel! Yes, Mary is strictly out for the money, and poor boy Morris—a loyal employee but nobody's fool—lets her know that he sees through her phony hysterics and overblown romantic antics. –Well, it's pretty obvious from this point that the situation, shall we say, is bound to develop.The plot isn't much. Lombard's character is unsympathetic, at times downright annoying. The supporting cast frustrates, too: Leo Carillo's Greek gangster butchers English pronunciation but is more irritating than funny or sinister, and Zasu Pitts is only given one good scene in what could have been an ideal role for her as Lombard's friend and confidante. Pendleton is energetic but dumber than you'd think a mob boss could possibly be.So when things really do start to pop, it's difficult to throw your sympathies, much less belief, behind what's happening. However, Carole Lombard successfully pulls it off: her early hamming is only a setup for her excellent late scenes in which her character's genuine warmth pushes aside the cold-hearted faker previously on display. We can almost believe that Morris's character would actually fall for her. Morris, by the way, is excellent throughout—a straight man among caricatures, he holds his own and is never overshadowed. It's kind of a silly movie, certainly uneven and not close to entirely successful in the way it veers back and forth between comedy and melodrama. But as a fan of both Lombard and Morris, I wouldn't want to miss it. Ultimately, neither star disappoints.

MartinHafer This is a seriously flawed movie and I won't try to say it's not. However, it IS, despite its many problems, an enjoyable film--provided you can look past some seriously silly characters.Carole Lombard plays one of the most unlikable characters I have ever seen her play. Her goal in life is to get rich and she is more than willing to marry a mobster (Nat Pendleton) in order to achieve this goal. A flaw in the way her character was written is that it's TOO obvious she could care less about the guy and just wants his money. Some more subtlety about this would have improved the film. Plus, they made her fiancé too dumb--someone that thick-headed would probably never become the boss of any mob (well, perhaps for a very stupid one). She spends tons of his money and socks a lot of it in safety deposit box.During all this time, she is often in the company of Pendleton's body guard (Chester Morris). Now Morris is an odd and inconsistent character. On one hand, he's an important man to Pendleton YET (and I found this hard to believe) he's honest and has nothing to do with the mob's business. He simply is a paid body guard and is able to compartmentalize this part of his life. So, despite working for scum, he feels comfortable looking down on them--and especially looking down on the stone-hearted Lombard. Despite this, you KNOW that according to screen cliché #32 that by the end of the film Lombard and Morris will be head-over-heels in love--this is not in question.When Lombard actually married Pendleton (and this surprised me that the marriage actually took place), it was soon clear that Pendleton was MUCH stupider than you thought! He spends practically everything he has (or, rather, he lets Lombard spend it all) and shows so much weakness that you are sure someone will knock him off sooner or later. The only question is who! Eventually, Daniel Dingle (who?!) kills Pendleton and now Dingle is 100% dead-set on marrying the new widow himself. However, you can also see that Leo Carrillo might just bump off Dingle, as he, too, wants Lombard. Once again, the film is weak here. No one is THAT desirable and it's just too obvious that she is a money-grubber--yet all three men MUST have her. However, even after more killings occur, Lombard, out of the blue, decides she doesn't want this life and announces she's fallen for Morris! This is a surprise based on their interactions throughout the film (where Morris always treats her with contempt) but the cliché demands this. How can Morris and Lombard manage to avoid getting killed or going to jail so that they can eventually marry? Tune in and see for yourself.The film has some oddly unsatisfying characters and an occasionally dumb scene (like a poorly rear-projected chase scene) but despite all these problems the film STILL is fun. I think most of this is because Lombard and Morris were just such good actors that they could make this all work. Plus, their banter was great--I loved hearing them snipe at each other. Plus, although occasionally ludicrous, the film was entertaining and fast-paced. Not great...but fun.

jbacks3 Carole's busy cleaning out her new husband, the always oafish Nat Pendleton, under the watchful but none-too-concerned eye of 'Office Boy' (who makes these names up?) played energetically by Chester Morris. You don't have to be a neurosurgeon to see how this one ends up. Several of her husband's cronies have eyes for her and Chester pretty much sits back and makes with the Jimmy Cagney-type wisecracks until he's inevitably needed to save Carole from the mess she's created. Car nuts will like the scene at the Mercedes dealer where she's buying a 1934 540K Roadster (deliberately paying too much) and cringe over Pendleton testing the bulletproof aspects of his armored limo. Made at the dawn of the infamous Production Code, THE GAY BRIDE is a lot like Warner's pre-code program entries only with MGM's added element of class. Carole's a pro and Chester Morris rates an 'A' for effort.

manxman-1 Easy to see why Lombard was the highest paid actress in Hollywood at one time. Breathtakingly beautiful and with a wonderful sense of humor. That said, The Gay Bride is a fun movie but very much on the modest side. An amusing trifle about a heartless, gold-digging chorus girl bent on marrying one gangster after another, only to see them wiped out before she can get her hands on the cash. Chester Morris, a gangster's book-keeper, the one true love interest - whom of course she despises because he has no money. Amusing sparks struck between the two that provides the main thrust of the comedy. The great Zasu Pitts in a wisecracking supporting role. Not a great movie but a few good laughs - and a chance to see Lombard at her most luminous. Worth the time.