In this day in age the only audience that would appeal to If You Could Only Cook would be either devoted fans of the two main leads or enjoy the conventions of Screwball Comedy.
I belong to the first category, being as Jean Arthur is a firm favourite of mine who is her usual delightful self in this film even if she has been in better efforts. The plot consists of automobile entrepreneur Jim Buchanan (Herbert Marshall) who unsure about his position in life reflects upon his situation. Along the way he bumps into Joan, played by Arthur, who teams up with Jim as a Butler/Cook working partnership. Their pairing works well for dramatic and comedic purposes, bouncing back from one another's lines to create a few laughs and satisfactory acted scenes along the way. However as a romantic pair in which they are eventually placed comes across as mismatched, there is never really such a spark between them even as the narrative brings them together in a far - fetched finale.
When the attention was not on Jim and Joan's relationship it was on the pairing of the suspicious Mike Rossini and his associate Flash, played by Leo Carrillo and Lionel Stander respectively. They are the employers of Jim and Joan who serve on them in Mike's home where before long things become conflicted with Flash constantly snooping around the pair and Mike being infatuated with Joan, adding slightly to the film's dynamic. Mostly Mike and Flash are around to provide the laughs with Stander's distinctive voice contributing to the comic delivery of his lines, though he is an acquired taste.
Despite the flaws If You Could Only Cook contains, in some ways it is an interesting reminder of the effects of the Great Depression and the film will satisfy those who love the acting abilities of Jean Arthur and/or Herbert Marshall even if the film was not a greatly executed piece of story telling.
I belong to the first category, being as Jean Arthur is a firm favourite of mine who is her usual delightful self in this film even if she has been in better efforts. The plot consists of automobile entrepreneur Jim Buchanan (Herbert Marshall) who unsure about his position in life reflects upon his situation. Along the way he bumps into Joan, played by Arthur, who teams up with Jim as a Butler/Cook working partnership. Their pairing works well for dramatic and comedic purposes, bouncing back from one another's lines to create a few laughs and satisfactory acted scenes along the way. However as a romantic pair in which they are eventually placed comes across as mismatched, there is never really such a spark between them even as the narrative brings them together in a far - fetched finale.
When the attention was not on Jim and Joan's relationship it was on the pairing of the suspicious Mike Rossini and his associate Flash, played by Leo Carrillo and Lionel Stander respectively. They are the employers of Jim and Joan who serve on them in Mike's home where before long things become conflicted with Flash constantly snooping around the pair and Mike being infatuated with Joan, adding slightly to the film's dynamic. Mostly Mike and Flash are around to provide the laughs with Stander's distinctive voice contributing to the comic delivery of his lines, though he is an acquired taste.
Despite the flaws If You Could Only Cook contains, in some ways it is an interesting reminder of the effects of the Great Depression and the film will satisfy those who love the acting abilities of Jean Arthur and/or Herbert Marshall even if the film was not a greatly executed piece of story telling.