Is Escapade (1935) worth your time? My honest take.

You should probably watch this if you have a soft spot for those old black-and-white movies where everyone looks like they just stepped out of a perfume ad. It is perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you don't want to think too hard.

If you hate movies where the whole problem could be solved by one person just telling the truth for five seconds, you will hate this. It is one of those misunderstanding plots that just keeps going and going.

The movie is basically a remake of an Austrian film, but it feels very 'Old Hollywood' in a way that’s cozy. William Powell is the main reason to stay in your seat here.

He plays this artist named Heideneck who is just a bit too charming for his own good. He has this way of looking at women that makes you understand why they all get into trouble for him.

The whole mess starts because he draws a picture of a woman wearing a mask and nothing else. Well, she has a muff, but that’s it.

Everyone in Vienna starts guessing who the woman is, and it almost ruins a marriage. To fix it, Powell just makes up a name and says the girl in the picture is a nobody named Leopoldine.

Then he actually meets a real Leopoldine, played by Luise Rainer. This was her first big American role and you can tell the studio was trying really hard to make her a star.

She has these huge, watery eyes that the camera just loves. Sometimes the movie stops just so we can look at her face for a long time.

There is a scene in a garden where she is just being very simple and sweet. It’s a big contrast to all the fancy, lying people at the party.

I noticed that the sets look a bit like they are made of cardboard if you look too closely. The 'Vienna' they built on the studio lot feels very small.

The pacing is a bit weird too. It starts out like a fast comedy, but then it gets kind of serious and slow in the middle.

Frank Morgan is in this too, and he is doing his usual flustered act. It’s funny at first, but after the third time he gets confused, I kind of wanted him to leave the room.

It reminded me a little bit of The Awful Truth because of the divorce talk and the jokes. But it isn't quite as sharp as that one.

One thing that was really strange was a scene at a masquerade ball. There are so many people in masks that it actually gets a bit confusing to keep track of who is who.

I think the movie is about twenty minutes too long. You can feel the energy start to dip right before the big finale.

But then Powell says something clever and you remember why he was such a big deal. He could make a grocery list sound like a romantic poem.

The ending feels a bit rushed, like they realized they only had five minutes of film left. Everything gets tied up in a neat little bow very fast.

It’s not a masterpiece, and it’s definitely not the best thing Powell ever did. But it’s nice.

Sometimes you just want a movie that feels like a warm blanket. 🎬

I’ll probably forget the plot by next week, but I’ll remember how much fun it was to watch those two actors together. It’s a decent little flick.