Marion, That's Not Nice: A Soap Opera Without the Suds

Is this for you?

Honestly, you’ll probably love Marion, That's Not Nice if you have a soft spot for black-and-white comedies that feel like they were filmed in someone’s living room. If you need pacing that moves faster than a tectonic plate, stay away. This is for people who enjoy seeing the gears of a 1930s scandal turn in real-time.

The whole setup hinges on this biblical painting. Watching the characters freak out over a bit of canvas is honestly the highlight. It feels like everybody in this movie is allergic to common sense.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Marion, That's Not Nice (1932) through its definitive frames.

The Art of the Scandal

Our painter protagonist is the kind of guy who clearly thinks he’s a genius while everyone else is just trying to pay their rent. His decision to paint the soap heiress as Susannah is a masterclass in bad judgment. You can almost see the gears turning in his head, and none of them are clicking into place.

The soap manufacturer is played with such stiff-necked intensity that I kept expecting him to actually burst into bubbles. The way he reacts to the painting is basically the movie’s entire personality: loud, slightly offended, and totally missing the point.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Marion, That's Not Nice (1932) through its definitive frames.

• The dialogue feels like it’s being fired out of a cannon sometimes.
• The painting itself is never quite as scandalous as they want you to think it is.
• Theo Lingen is there, which is always a weird little treat.

There’s a scene about halfway through where they’re arguing in the studio, and it just goes on forever. The silence between the shouting is almost as loud as the dialogue. I actually chuckled because it felt so human—just a bunch of people being stubborn for no reason.

Does it hold up?

It’s a bit like watching His Official Fiancée if you took out the charm and added a lot more soap. It’s not quite as sharp as the best comedies of that era, but it has this strange, jagged rhythm that keeps you from checking your watch too often.

The film is thin, really thin. It doesn't try to be profound. It just wants to show you a bunch of people getting worked up over nothing. In a weird way, it’s refreshing.

Maybe it’s not a masterpiece. But at least it doesn't pretend to be one. Sometimes you just want to see a rich guy get annoyed by an artist, right? 🎨