Claudette Colbert. Gary Cooper. Edward Everett Horton. The great Ernst Lubitsch, with one of the most distinctive directing styles of any director that even has its own name as director. Billy Wilder, a terrific director himself, with a writing credit. That the 30s is one of my favourite decades in film and 'Bluebeard's Eighth Wife' in type of story sounded like something that would be enjoyable to me. So the potential was quite large, the potential for it to be great.
'Bluebeard's Eighth Wife', having said all of that, could have been a lot better. Great potential with enough to recommend but for my personal tastebuds it doesn't completely come off and for Lubitsch it is quite a big disappointment, especially considering that it came from a very good period for him. But not because it didn't try, it and everyone involved, very much did try. If anything this was a case of trying too hard. While one can totally see what Colbert's appeal was watching her performance here, this is not a good representation of Cooper.
There are good things. It is beautifully filmed and do love Colbert's wardrobe, she always did look lovely in her films. It is scored with the right amount of energy and lushness. There are signs of brilliance in Lubitsch's direction and his uniquely deft mix of wit and sophisticated elegance. The script does boast some wonderfully witty lines, and as others have said 'Bluebeard's Eighth Wife' has some great moments too. The biggest delights being Colbert's drunk scene and especially the opening sequence. The slapping scene is surprisingly clever and amusing for something that could have easily been distasteful.
Furthermore Colbert is terrific, she radiates on screen, her comic timing is on point. Horton as always steals his scenes, comedy comes so easy to him. Likewise with Herman Bing.
Did think however that there were too many times where the humour could have been sharper and even more subtle. As said, other efforts of Lubitsch and Wilder show off their different styles more. Wilder is usually more consistently wittier than this and Lubitsch's elegant touch is not quite as elegant to usual. As said, there were times where it does feel like 'Bluebeard's Eighth Wife' was trying too hard which made the story particularly later on feel contrived.
Namely towards the end where the material lost its freshness, and actually though that the treatment of David Niven (doing his best in the wrong role)'s character was on the mean-spirited side. Cooper seemed too amiable to me in playing a character meant to be a jerk and he doesn't look at ease. A few nice moments aside, like their first scene, their chemistry doesn't quite gel properly.
Altogether, watchable but disappointing. 5/10
