---
title: 'Idiot''s Delight (1939)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Clarence Brown'
released: '1939-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 104
genres:
  - 'Music'
  - 'Comedy'
countries:
  - 'United States'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/idiots-delight-1939'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031473/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Idiot's Delight (1939)

1939 · 104 min · Music, Comedy · United States


## Synopsis

Idiot's Delight is a 1939 American MGM comedy drama with a screenplay adapted by Robert E. Sherwood from his 1936 Pulitzer-Prize-winning play of the same name. The production reunited director Clarence Brown, Clark Gable and Norma Shearer eight years after they worked together on A Free Soul. The play takes place in a hotel in the Italian Alps during 24 hours at the beginning of a world war. The film begins with the backstory of the two leads and transfers the later action to a fictitious Alpine country rather than Italy, which was the setting for the play. In fact, Europe was on the brink of World War II. Although not a musical, it is notable as the only film in which Gable sings and dances, performing Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz" with a sextette of chorus girls.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Clarence Brown](https://cinepixo.com/people/clarence-brown)
- **Producer:** [Clarence Brown](https://cinepixo.com/people/clarence-brown)
- **Screenplay:** [Vicki Baum](https://cinepixo.com/people/vicki-baum), [Robert E. Sherwood](https://cinepixo.com/people/robert-e-sherwood)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Herbert Stothart](https://cinepixo.com/people/herbert-stothart)
- **Director of Photography:** [William H. Daniels](https://cinepixo.com/people/william-h-daniels)
- **Editor:** [Robert J. Kern](https://cinepixo.com/people/robert-j-kern)

## Cast

- [William Irving](https://cinepixo.com/people/william-irving)
- [Virginia Dale](https://cinepixo.com/people/virginia-dale)
- [Clem Bevans](https://cinepixo.com/people/clem-bevans)
- [Paul Panzer](https://cinepixo.com/people/paul-panzer)
- [Claire McDowell](https://cinepixo.com/people/claire-mcdowell)
- [Clark Gable](https://cinepixo.com/people/clark-gable)
- [Burgess Meredith](https://cinepixo.com/people/burgess-meredith)
- [E. Alyn Warren](https://cinepixo.com/people/e-alyn-warren)
- [Eddie Gribbon](https://cinepixo.com/people/eddie-gribbon)
- [Margaret Bert](https://cinepixo.com/people/margaret-bert)
- [Buddy Messinger](https://cinepixo.com/people/buddy-messinger)
- [Charles Coburn](https://cinepixo.com/people/charles-coburn)
- [Joan Marsh](https://cinepixo.com/people/joan-marsh)
- [Suzanne Kaaren](https://cinepixo.com/people/suzanne-kaaren)
- [Norma Shearer](https://cinepixo.com/people/norma-shearer)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/idiots-delight-1939
Film facts: Wikidata (Q2518053); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.