Make Way for a Lady is mostly just a headache

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s fluff, maybe. If you hate teenagers who think they know everything, stay away. This movie is essentially a 70-minute headache wrapped in a nice dress. 👗

Anne Shirley is doing the heavy lifting here, playing the daughter who thinks she’s a mastermind. She isn't. The whole premise rests on her trying to set up her widowed dad, Herbert Marshall, with a woman who is essentially a walking disaster. It’s the kind of logic only a movie script could love.

There is this one scene where they are all at dinner, and the tension is so thin you could poke a hole through it with a fork. You can literally see Marshall wondering how he got into this project. He looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. Maybe filming The Westerner instead?

The pacing is… well, it’s fast. Maybe too fast. They rush through the “cupid” phase and land straight into the chaos. I found myself checking my watch, but then suddenly there’s a moment of actual sweetness between the lead and his daughter that almost made me forget the plot was absolute nonsense. Almost.

The side characters are just there to fill space, mostly. I couldn't tell you the names of half the people in the party scene because they just drift in and out like ghosts. It reminds me of the background filler in Heroes in Blue, where nobody seems to have a real job other than standing around looking concerned.

Random thoughts I scribbled down:

• The lighting in the parlor is weirdly bright, like they’re trying to hide the lack of set dressing.
• Why is the dad so passive? Just tell her to stop, man.
• The hats in this movie are aggressively large.
• I swear the butler has the same three lines for the entire film.

It isn't a masterpiece. It isn't even a particularly good comedy. But it’s got that weird, dusty charm that makes you feel like you’re watching something dug out of a basement. Don’t go in looking for depth. Just look for the hats. 🎩

Honestly, the best part is when the movie stops trying to be funny and just lets people talk for two seconds. It happens maybe twice. The rest is just loud, meddling teenagers. If you want something that actually moves, you’re probably better off watching The Girl from 10th Avenue instead. At least that one knows what it wants to be.

I’m still not sure why they picked this specific woman for the dad. It’s like they picked a name out of a hat. Very odd. Very 1930s. 🤷‍♂️