Lucky Partners

Lucky Partners
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Lewis Milestone
Produced by	George Haight
Screenplay by	George Haight Edwin Justus Mayer Lewis Milestone Franz Schulz Allan Scott John Van Druten
Story by	Sacha Guitry
Based on	Bonne chance! by Sacha Guitry
Starring	Ronald Colman Ginger Rogers Jack Carson
Music by	Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography	Robert De Grasse
Editing by	Henry Berman
Studio	RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures C&C Television Corp.
Release date(s)	August 2, 1940 (1940-08-02) (Theatrical)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Lucky Partners is a 1940 comedy romance drama film directed by Lewis Milestone for RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the 1936 Sacha Guitry film Bonne Chance, and stars Ronald Colman and Ginger Rogers marking their first film together, and marks Rogers' eleventh and final film that was written by Allan Scott.

Background

Director Lewis Milestone noted that bit players lacked confidence when placed in scenes with major stars, and so when casting the then-unknown Jack Carson to play opposite Colman and Rogers, he was aware of how working with an unknown might affect the major players and made a point to work with Carson to prevent such: Milestone stated [sic] "Every time he went into a scene, I'd say 'get in there and pitch. They're no better than you are. Steal that scene.' Finally he got the hang of it. He acquired confidence".

Plot

David Grant (Ronald Colman) is an artist in Greenwich Village. One day he passes neighbor Jean Newton (Ginger Rogers) and simply wishes her good luck. Just as he has done so, a passing woman on her way to Reno tosses her a beautiful dress. Believing David to be lucky, she asks him to partner with her on a ticket for the Irish Sweepstakes. When their horse wins, David asks her to accompany him on a trip to Niagara Falls to celebrate. Jean's fiancé, Freddie Harper (Jack Carson) is unhappy with the arrangement and follows them.

Cast

• Ronald Colman as David Grant
• Ginger Rogers as Jean Newton
• Jack Carson as Frederick Harper
• Spring Byington as Aunt Lucy
• Cecilia Loftus as Mrs. Alice Sylvester
• Harry Davenport as Judge
• Leon Belasco as Nick #1
• Walter Kingsford as Wendell
• Lucile Gleason as Ethel's Mother
• Helen Lynd as Ethel
• Hugh O'Connell as Niagara Hotel Clerk
• Brandon Tynan as Mr. Sylvester
• Eddie Conrad as Nick #2

Critical reception

The New York Times noted that screen stories, "like wines, are not always good travelers" in that they can suffer when plot and story is adapted from one language and country to another. They wrote that Lucky Partners "is distinctly not one of those occasions." In furthering their comparison to wine, they wrote "RKO's craftsmen have preserved its bouquet intact—and the result is a comedy that is dry and sparkling and bubbles till the last drop." They wrote that the film "retained the impudent charm and rippling wit of the very Gallic Mr. Guitry", and others reasons for its success are because Allan Scott and John Van Druten treated the script "as neatly as even Mr. Guitry could demand" and that director Lewis Milestone "has punctuated the scenes deftly and never allowed the effervescence to escape in a single explosive laugh". The Evening Independent noted this was the first and screen pairing of Ronald Colman with Ginger Rogers. They wrote "the picture is excellent entertainment despite the rather whimsical plot", and that "Colman does his usual suave job of acting and Ginger Rogers again proves her deft touch for light comedy". Los Angeles Times wrote "it's a stroke of showmanship, teaming the vivacious Miss Rogers with the debonair Ronald Colman". The Age wrote that adapting a Sacha Guitry work could be compared to "doctoring" a play by Noel Coward, but that Lewis Milestone's direction of the adaptation is "entertaining and guves Ginger Rogers scope for her unique talent". Lawrence Journal-World wrote that the film "represents a spectacular merger of Ronald Colman and Ginger Rogers",

Conversely, Craig Butler of Allmovie felt that a film starring such actors as Ronald Colman and Ginger Rogers ought to have turned out better than did Lucky Partners, calling the film "an innocuous but hardly memorable little time filler". He felt that the film had a "ridiculous premise" that "in the right, deft hands could turn into charming, captivating trifle." His opinion was that the right hands did not exist "in either the directing or the writing." He felt that the writers did not seem to agree on what sort of story to tell, and that as a result "the film switches gears rather too often and its parts don't fit together." He felt though, that even Colman, Rogers, and Carson did decent work, writing "Colman and Rogers don't have a great deal of chemistry, but they have panache and know-how to spare, and Carson, along with reliable Spring Byington, make the most of what they have. It's just too bad that nobody had more to work with."

External links

• Lucky Partners at the Internet Movie Database
• Lucky Partners at the TCM Movie Database
• Lucky Partners at AllRovi