Film Fest - Powell & Loy

After the on(small)screen Moonlighting's Cybil Shepard and Bruce Willis, I was in a mood for chemistry on a bigger screen.  So I'm revisiting Myrna Loy and William Powell - B & W film's most chemical couple.

Double Wedding is a romp.  Its set-up is close to that of Moonlighting: rich, glamorous, control-freak woman meets brash, odd-ball man who shakes up her neat world.  Shepard's character was a model, Loy's designs and retails fashion; Powell's character is an artist, Willis's character is a detective and a dreamer, a con-man, a fantasist...   Chemistry ensues.

Both the TV show and the film are charming.

Double Wedding film still borrowed from Immortal Ephemera

My favorite of the Loy/Powell films is probably still The Thin Man and its sequels - just sooo '30s sophisticated and funny - with Love Crazy in second place.  Double Wedding is interesting mostly because Powell plays a Bohemian, rather than his usual man-about-town.  Frankly, I'll take Loy or Powell in any movie, by themselves, but best of all together.

(The website Immortal Ephemera has a good summary of Double Wedding with more movie stills.)

Retro TV

After hearing about the charm of the '80s show Moonlighting for literally decades, I figured I ought to see for myself.

I only sampled a little of the first season.  Plots were nothing special - though situations got a little more ridiculous and physical-comedy than usual - and evil-doers were not scary by today's standards - the pilot's bleached, Mohawk-haired punk looked silly - but the chemistry between the stars was immediate and charming and obviously The Whole Point.  (Though '80s fashions make a fun side dish.)

Young, young Cybil Shepard and Bruce Willis are worth visiting.

Image borrowed from ShareTV