The Goose and the Gander (1935)

Betty Summers (Genevieve Tobin) is a vivacious young lady, married but not tied down by the ol’ ball and chain. She’s enjoying a weekend at the beach with Bob McNear (George Brent) when the two decide to run away together.

Betty’s husband, Ralph (Ralph Forbes), suspects none of it. When he runs into his ex-wife Georgiana (Kay Francis), whom he divorced just to marry Betty, she begins putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Georgiana hatches a revenge plot, inviting Ralph to visit her at a cabin in the mountains. She alerts the attendants at a nearby gas station that Bob and Betty will be headed in the same direction, and they’re also directed to her cabin. Complications ensue as a runaway couple, a jilted husband, and a scheming ex-wife find themselves all together in the secluded cabin.

Alfred E. Green directs 1935’s The Goose and the Gander. Charles Kenyon is credited with both story and screenplay.

There are quite a few laughs to be had in this film, and the cast is very good. Kay Francis is sneaky and witty; Tobin is adequately self-absorbed; George Brent is charming and sensible; Ken Forbes is smarmy; Claire Dodd and John Eldredge’s characters aren’t quite as smooth or sinister as they’d like to be, or would like to think they are. All fill their roles very well and make the film a nice watch.

*SPOILERS* There’s a little twist to the story involving Dodd and Eldredge. They’re criminals, and their car — carrying a stolen emerald — also shows up at the cabin. They’re very amusing to watch, and this little plot twist adds more interest to the standard scheme-y romantic comedy that makes up the rest of the story. *END SPOILERS*

The Goose and the Gander isn’t exactly the type of film that will send you shouting its praises from the rooftops or recommending it to everyone you know, but it’s a nice little time-passer. The score: 3/5