(Welcome to
The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The Movie:
Where You Can Stream It: The Criterion Channel
The Pitch: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and a teenaged Shirley Temple find themselves in an unlikely (and totally insane) love triangle.
Why It’s Essential Viewing: Because this movie features one of the most bonkers premises ever committed to film.
Margaret (Myrna Loy) is a judge who, early in the movie, presides over a case against a dashing artist, Richard Nugent (Cary Grant), who is accused of inciting a fight at a nightclub. He charms his way out of the situation and heads to the local high school to give a lecture about art. That’s where Margaret’s 17-year-old sister Susan (Temple) sees him and falls head over heels in love – despite Richard being decades older than her. She throws herself at him, but he’s clearly not interested. But when Richard eventually returns home that night, he finds Susan in his apartment – and chaos breaks out because the judge and the local assistant D.A. think something nefarious might have happened. (It didn’t.)