Ready for Love (1934) review - Ida Lupino gets dunked like a witch

If you are looking for a hidden classic, Ready for Love isn't it. But if you want to see a teenaged Ida Lupino get treated like a medieval witch by a bunch of angry small-town gossips, it is definitely worth a watch.

Fans of weird pre-code era oddities will have a good time. If you want a tight, logical plot, you will probably hate it.

Ida plays Marigold, who runs away from her boring boarding school to live with her retired aunt. The locals instantly decide she is a bad influence.

It is that classic old movie thing where a girl is just slightly too energetic, so the town treats her like a criminal.

The absolute wildest part is when they actually force her into a pool of water during a literal "witchcraft trial."

It feels like a scene dropped in from a completely different film, like The Mystery Box. The crowd just stands around looking mean and wet.

Then Richard Arlen shows up as Julian, a newspaper editor who writes about the dunking. Naturally, this leads to them falling in love, because nothing says romance like public humiliation.

Arlen is fine, but he has that stiff, 1930s leading man energy. He looks like he is constantly trying to remember his blocking.

But Lupino is the real reason to watch. Even here, you can see that sharp, nervous intensity that made her a star later on.

There is a tiny moment where she shrugs at her aunt that feels so modern and alive compared to everyone else's stiff acting.

The whole third act just sort of gives up on the small town and moves to New York. It is incredibly abrupt, almost like the writers ran out of ideas.

It has that same rushed, "we need to wrap this up" feel you get in short comedies like Scrappily Married.

It is a messy, deeply weird little movie, but it has a cozy, rainy-afternoon vibe to it. Just do not expect it to make a lick of sense. 🌧️