Irene Dunne Comedy Double Feature

Comedy legend Irene Dunne wasn’t always known for pulling a laugh out of every situation—but once she got the chance to work for guffaws, she never looked back, and we were all the happier for it. This double feature highlights two particular high points in Dunne’s on-screen comedy repertoire. In THEODORA GOES WILD (Melvyn Douglas, Thomas Mitchell. Directed by Richard Boleslawski. 1936/94 min)—Dunne’s first comedy role, and a massive hit—she plays mild-mannered Theodora Lynn, small-town Connecticut schoolteacher and former church organist who, unbeknownst to her good Christian neighbors, writes racy best-selling novels under a pen name that everybody’s secretly reading. In OVER 21 (Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn. Directed by Charles Vidor. 1945/105 min), Dunne stars as Paula "Paulie" Wharton, a would-be screenwriter and wife to the patriotic newspaper editor Max. Max enlists to join the good fight in World War II, and Paulie can’t help but move to a bungalow right down the street from basic training to support her man. Hijinks ensue! B&w/NR/fullscreen.