To Gladys Benton's (Jean Harlow) frustration, editor Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) cancels their wedding to attend to an emergency at his newspaper. The New York Evening Star published a false story by their drunken reporter about socialite Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) being a husband stealer. The paper's owner Bane is an old rival to Mr. Allenbury and his daughter Connie vows to sue for $5 million. Haggerty recruits rascal Bill Chandler (William Powell) to solve the problem. Chandler comes up with a scheme to make the story a reality. Chandler marries Gladys and then tricks Connie into stealing him.The start is a lot of ridiculous fun. The manic energy is infectious. Jean Harlow is a ball of energy and has great fun with Tracy. They're a great combative couple. The real life couple of Powell and Harlow isn't that bad either. The main couple is yet another Powell and Loy affair. Powell does some slapstick fishing. Their romance is tough to get into since Chandler is suppose to be faking. It's a bit murky at the start. Harlow keeps it wacky. This is generally a load of fun.

In the best movies of the thirties, the stars are glib (in the best way) and glamorous. Libeled Lady is blessed with a clever script that serves up fastballs that the cast handles adroitly. And I have to credit the amazing wardrobe by Dolly Tree, made all the more remarkable as she was responsible for the wardrobes of 23 films in 1936. Loy's wardrobe, in particular, is impeccable.This was the 5th in the series of William Powell/Myrna Loy pairings. They were cranking them out at a rate of about 2 per year during this period, so you might think that the chemistry between them would be stale or formulaic. But in Libeled Lady, the chemistry is fresh and the relationship between their characters is not just another Thin Man performance.Then there are Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow. Tracy is adept at the machine-gun delivery required by this (screwball) comedy, and Harlow just shines, showing more depth of character and emotion than she is sometimes given credit for. After Libeled Lady, she only acted in two films, so the screen never saw what greater depths of performance she might have achieved. (She died of uremic poisoning during the filming of Saratoga Trunk)The plot involves a newspaperman (Powell), good at the con, who ingratiates himself to a wealthy young woman (Loy) and her father in order to set her up for a blackmail situation. She suspects his motives, but he manages to pull her in. Plenty of plot curves ensue, adding humor and more character development.I particularly liked the fishing scene. Without much dialogue it advances the plot, provides some laughs and shows that Dolly Tree can even make Myrna Loy look sexy in fishing gear.

Four stars at their best in this classic directed by Jack Conway. Warren Haggerty(Spenser Tracy)is a hard working dedicated newspaper man, who has put off his wedding to Gladys(Jean Harlow)probably one time too many. His paper has ran an erroneous article accusing an international society playgirl Connie Allenbury(Myrna Loy)of being a home-wrecker; she threatens to sue the newspaper for five million dollars. Haggerty connives a scheme to stop the lawsuit, by talking a former colleague Bill Chandler(William Powell)into temporarily marrying his fiancée Gladys and trapping Miss Allenbury in a "real" scandal...thus hoping to force her into dropping her lawsuit. This movie is fast paced and funny. Most of the best lines go to Ms. Harlow, who actually steals the show. The funniest sequence is watching non-outdoors sportsman Chandler trying to fish for trout. Trust me...this is a comedic gem. Also in the cast: Walter Connolly, Charley Grapewin, Charles Trowbridge and Cora Witherspoon.

This movie is over 70 years old but is far better than what mostly comes out of the film industry these days. The picture is genuinely funny and all the performers are excellent. In brief a newspaper who have libeled a lady need to get her legal action against them stopped to prevent the newspaper going out of business so they devise a plot to set up their victim. There are all sorts of comical twists and turns and plenty of good gags and amusing moments. The movie is very well directed, has an excellent script and the voters here on IMDb have got the high mark exactly right. Well done to Turner Classic Movies for showing this on their channel:8/10