Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

mmallon4 The first 10 minutes of It's a Wonderful World is just rather dull set up for an incomprehensible murder mystery, but when Stewart becomes a fugitive on the run trying to prove his innocence and Claudette Colbert enters the picture it's all smooth sailing even with the largely impossible to understand plot.James Stewart is Guy Johnson, a hardboiled detective who often has a cigarette hanging at the end of his mouth like he's Phillip Marlow. The role is a very different change of pace for Stewart but he pulls it off showing he could have easily slipped into a noir/detective thriller. Stewart even channels Clark Gable at times; with even the way he talks to a dog shouting at it to go away is very Gable-like. On top of that, at one point he admits to Colbert's character that he thinks "all dames are dumb and all men ain't" and how she has changed his philosophy on women; don't tell the feminists. I also have to ask does this movie contain Stewart's only ever black face moment in a film? So yes, the on screen personification of a boy scout is now literally poking fun at boy scouts and even tying them up. Claudette Colbert on the other hand plays an overly trusting eccentric poet who states throughout the film, "I swear by my eyes". What does that even mean?It's a Wonderful World offers a genre mix of screwball comedy, murder mystery and even some elements of Hitchcock with the plot of a fugitive on the run to prove his innocence. Likewise many of the solutions' the character's use throughout the film feel like they could be used in a Hitchcock movie such as Colbert lighting the newspaper on fire to escape from the car. No surprise that the film's co-writer Ben Hecht would be a future Hitchcock writer.

utgard14 Private detective Jimmy Stewart is sentenced to prison for helping a client accused of murder. On the train ride to the slammer, Stewart escapes. He takes poetess Claudette Colbert hostage as he tries to follow a lead that may exonerate his client. She's resistant at first but quickly becomes excited by the adventure and decides to help him.Fun screwball comedy with stars in top form and backed up by wonderful cast. Jimmy Stewart is great and has nice chemistry with Claudette Colbert, who's in her element in this type of movie. Good comedic support from Guy Kibbee, Nat Pendleton, and Edgar Kennedy. Frances Drake and Sidney Blackmer play the villains. The bit where Stewart poses as a scout leader is a hilarious highlight. An underrated gem.

wes-connors Private detective James Stewart (as Guy Johnson) tries to prove a boozy New York millionaire client is not guilty of murder, but finds himself implicated. While serving time for harboring a fugitive, Mr. Stewart happens upon a clue to the real killer's identity. Stewart escapes and kidnaps lady poet Claudette Colbert (as Edwina Corday). She begins to wonder if Stewart could be telling the truth about his attempt to solve the crime. They form an unlikely partnership and Ms. Colbert begins to consider Stewart a romantic prospect. Stewart the sleuth does well posing as a chauffeur, spectacled Boy Scout and actor who wavers from English to "African". Colbert is charming, as usual; possibly, she takes advantage of director W.S. Van Dyke's "one take" reputation by skipping the make-up session which would have given her the bruised face mentioned in the script (by Ben Hecht). Nat Pendleton is very funny as a likable sergeant who can't seem to keep Stewart under arrest, and the dependable Guy Kibbee is fine as Stewart's detective friend.****** It's a Wonderful World (5/19/39) W.S. Van Dyke ~ James Stewart, Claudette Colbert, Guy Kibbee, Nat Pendleton

bkoganbing 1939 was definitely James Stewart's break out year with Destry Rides Again and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington putting him once and for all in the ranks of biggest film stars. Unfortunately he also was in Ice Follies of 1939 which was a dud and It's A Wonderful World which didn't help or hurt his career.In their one and only screen pairing, Stewart gets Claudette Colbert as a leading lady. He's a private detective hired by Ernest Truex who swears he's been framed by an evil woman Frances Drake for murder. Stewart hides out Truex, but they both get caught and Stewart gets sent up for aiding and abetting a fugitive. He escapes the cops and continues his investigation.He also meets up with Claudette Colbert who's doing a pale imitation of her role from It Happened One Night. She's a poetess/heiress also on the run and she's more of a hindrance than a help although her quick thinking does save the situation in the end.It's A Wonderful World is enjoyable however for the presence of three wonderful characters. Guy Kibbee as Stewart's hapless partner in his detective agency who seems always to be around to get clobbered. And the best is Edgar Kennedy and Nat Pendleton as the police pursuing Stewart.Those two really save this film. Thank God these two were such a pair of dim bulbs. Neither of these guys exactly plays Rhodes scholars on the screen, but here they really outdo themselves. They were excellent together, why MGM or other studios didn't team them more is a mystery.