Libeled Lady

1936 romantic comedy

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 17/20)

Plot: An engaged newspaper man has to postpone his wedding yet again when the titular socialite threatens to sue after the paper publishes a story about her extracurricular activities with married men. He calls former co-worker Bill Chandler to come in and save the day, and the pair devise a plan to turn the story into reality.

It was back in '93, and I went on a date with Jen to see Denace the Menace because going to see movies at the dollar theater was pretty much our thing. It was the first time I ever heard her use the word "cute" to describe a movie. That was the reason she liked it. "It was cute." Later, we saw Son in Law with the great Pauly Shore. I--of course--hated it. She described it as, you guessed it, "cute." So when this little movie that she snuck onto the Netflix queue herself when I wasn't looking finished up and she did that little laugh of hers that I love so much and said, "I liked that. It was cute," it really made me wonder if I liked it at all.

Here's some quick Son in Law trivia, by the way, since I'll more than likely never review that movie on this blog unless I watch every other movie that exists and am left with nothing but Son in Law: Pauly Shore might have been the reason I could not perform sexually when my wife and I tried to give it a go. I've never told Jen that I blame Son in Law for my penis's stage fright, but I'm fairly positive the movie had something to do with it. That was not a problem after Libeled Lady, however, so I had to give this a bonus point. Or, more accurately, a boner point.

If I was saying this to a room full of people, it would be the exact type of situation that I'd want my own trombonist who followed me around and played a little Price Is Right-ish few notes whenever I said something hilarious. My son plays the trombone, but there's something wrong with him and he wouldn't be able to handle the job. I mean, a teenage boy who doesn't find the word "boner" funny? That's not normal.

Of course, I remember exactly where I was when I first heard the word "boner" just like all of you do. I was in the 2nd grade. It was April 23rd at exactly 12:15. I was on the kickball field. Vernon's the one who said "boner," and for several years afterward, he was like a folk hero or something. In fact, I think they might have a statue by the kickball field behind Staunton Elementary. If not, they should erect (no pun intended) one. That or get themselves an obelisk.

So to make a long story short, I liked this movie despite Jennifer thinking it was cute.