"Cain and Mabel" (1936) Review: Overlooked 1930's Romcom gem

Davies in a 1936 publicity still

Gable in a screenshot from the movie

Marion Davies may be a name unfamiliar to some classic movie fans, and if she is, you must soon become acquainted with her and her work. Davies was infamous for being the mistress of William Randolph Hearst (who produced and/or paid for a lot of her pictures), but her real crowning glory should be her comedic acting chops. Davies had her start in the silents, including the great silent gem Show People in which she plays a bouncy country girl who breaks into movies. Her first talking picture was Marianne in 1929, and it was also released in a silent version. Cain and Mabel came at the end of Davies' career and it is her second to last picture. Davies' talkie career was sprinkled with great leading men, including Leslie Howard (1931's Five and Ten), Robert Montgomery (1932's Blondie of the Follies and her last picture 1937's Ever Since Eve), Bing Crosby (1933's Going Hollywood), and Gary Cooper (1934's Operator 13).  Her co star in Cain and Mabel is Clark Gable, who at this point was a fairly big star because of his role in 1934's It Happened One Night, which Cain and Mabel seems to be in response to. Gable and Davies had appeared together earlier in 1932's Polly of the Circus.

Davies and Gable show off some great romantic tension in "Cain and Mabel".

Cain and Mabel follows two young career people on the rise: Waitress turned hoofer Mabel O'Dare and prizefighter Larry Cain. The pair meet in a typically 'meet cute" romantic comedy way: Mabel has the hotel room above Cain's and is keeping him up with her dance practice, while he is trying to rest up for a fight. Due to this, they at first have a mutual disdain for one another. Mabel's hokey show Words and Music is becoming a flop and Larry's boxing career is on the skids and so Mabel's friend and publicity man Aloysius  Rielly (Roscoe Karns, another holdover from It Happened One Night) cooks up a phony romance for the pair.  The film is a great romantic comedy and has many hilarious moments.

William Collier and Allen Jenkins (both behind) cheer on Clark Gable in a scene from "Cain and Mabel"

In addition to Gable and Davies' solid romantic chemistry, it is greatly strengthened by it's terrific supporting cast, which in addition to Karns, Allen Jenkins, Walter Cattlet, Ruth Donnelly, David Carlyle, and William Collier, Sr. Pert Kelton also has a hilarious bit part as a mouthy chorus girl. The film also includes some outrageously over the top Busby Berkley style musical numbers, choreographed by Bobby Connolly. These are all very grand and silly, with big costumes and outlandishly complicated sets that don't make sense for a stage show, but such is Hollywood. Something should also be said about the screenplay written by Laird Doyle from a story by H.C. Witwer. The dialogue is oftentimes hilariously funny, and some lines take a moment to sink in, which means that  the great supporting cast is well seasoned in comedic timing. The direction by Lloyd Bacon is fast and breezy, much like a great romantic comedy should be. Cain and Mabel is a forgotten 1930's romantic comedy gem and should not be missed!