# Libeled Lady
**Libeled Lady** is a 1936 American screwball comedy directed by Jack Conway for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in which a newspaper editor tries to defeat a five-million-dollar libel suit by arranging a fake marriage and a staged seduction[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady) • [2](https://www.tribute.ca/movies/libeled-lady-1936/57800/). It stars [Jean Harlow](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-harlow), William Powell, Myrna Loy, and [Spencer Tracy](https://www.edgepedia.org/spencer-tracy), and it was nominated for the [Academy Award for Best Picture](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-picture)[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/fullcredits/) • [4](https://www.enuffa.com/2025/02/oscar-film-journal-libeled-lady-1936.html?m=1).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | October 9, 1936, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; black and white[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady) • [5](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/libeled-lady-3741/) |
| Director / producer | Jack Conway; Lawrence Weingarten[6](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2363) |
| Writers | Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, and George Oppenheimer, from a story by Wallace Sullivan[6](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2363) |
| Lead cast | Jean Harlow (Gladys Benton), William Powell (Bill Chandler), Myrna Loy (Connie Allenbury), Spencer Tracy (Warren Haggerty)[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/fullcredits/) |
| Runtime | 98 minutes (TCM lists 1h 41m)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady) • [6](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2363) |
| Recognition | Best Picture nominee; 1936 domestic box office rank #13[4](https://www.enuffa.com/2025/02/oscar-film-journal-libeled-lady-1936.html?m=1) • [7](https://classicfilmclub.com/_movies/libeled_lady/libeled_lady.php) |
| Ratings | IMDb 7.8/10 (about 9,800 votes); Rotten Tomatoes 81% Tomatometer, 87% Popcornmeter[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/ratings/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The New York Evening Star's presses stop too late to kill a false story claiming that the heiress Connie Allenbury ([Myrna Loy](https://www.edgepedia.org/myrna-loy)) has broken up another woman's marriage[9](https://phyllislovesclassicmovies.blogspot.com/2015/05/libeled-lady-1936.html). Connie and her father James (Walter Connolly) sue the paper for $5,000,000 in damages[9](https://phyllislovesclassicmovies.blogspot.com/2015/05/libeled-lady-1936.html).
Managing editor Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy), who has a habit of postponing his wedding to his longtime fiancée Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow) whenever a crisis hits the paper, delays the ceremony again to handle the lawsuit[2](https://www.tribute.ca/movies/libeled-lady-1936/57800/) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady/reviews). His counter-scheme is to make the story true after the fact: if Connie actually does break up a marriage, she cannot claim libel[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady/reviews). Haggerty hires Bill Chandler ([William Powell](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-powell)), a former employee, to marry Gladys in name only and then court Connie, so that Gladys can sue Connie for alienation of affections and the two suits can be traded away[2](https://www.tribute.ca/movies/libeled-lady-1936/57800/).
Bill joins Connie and her father on an ocean liner back to the United States and works the con, but the plan misfires twice over: Connie proves a step ahead of him at first, and then the two genuinely fall in love[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady/reviews) • [4](https://www.enuffa.com/2025/02/oscar-film-journal-libeled-lady-1936.html?m=1). In the resolution, Chandler, a clever lawyer, proves that his marriage to Gladys was not legal, Connie agrees to drop the lawsuit, and Haggerty finally marries Gladys[11](https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/film/2074/libeled-lady).
## Cast and production
The four leads are supported by Walter Connolly as James B. Allenbury, [Charley Grapewin](https://www.edgepedia.org/charley-grapewin) as the publisher Mr. Bane, and Cora Witherspoon as the shipboard gossip Mrs. Burns-Norvell; E.E. Clive plays the fishing instructor, and [Hattie McDaniel](https://www.edgepedia.org/hattie-mcdaniel) appears uncredited as a maid in the Grand Plaza Hotel[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/fullcredits/) • [12](https://movie.best-item.co.jp/movie/31773). The screenplay is credited to Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, and George Oppenheimer from Wallace Sullivan's story, with Lawrence Weingarten producing[6](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2363).
The film reunited William Powell and Myrna Loy two years after *The Thin Man* (1934), though their dynamic is reversed: instead of the married allies Nick and Nora Charles, Loy plays an uptight heiress set against Powell's schemer[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady/reviews). Off screen, Powell and Jean Harlow were engaged, and Harlow died of illness about a year after the film's release, a fact that has colored much of the film's later reception[13](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/libeled-lady/).
## Reception
Contemporary reviews were favorable. The New York Times (October 31, 1936) called it a thoroughly agreeable sardonic comedy and singled out "the perfect light-comedy foursome" of Harlow, Loy, Powell, and Tracy; Variety (December 31, 1935) called it a sockeroo comedy despite an overloaded plot[14](https://film.one/film/libeled-lady). Later assessments have been more mixed: a Slant Magazine review found the plot familiar and the climax rushed, while still praising the cast's chemistry[13](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/libeled-lady/).
The film was one of the year's successes, ranking #13 at the 1936 domestic box office, and it received a Best Picture nomination, though it was not nominated in any other category[7](https://classicfilmclub.com/_movies/libeled_lady/libeled_lady.php) • [4](https://www.enuffa.com/2025/02/oscar-film-journal-libeled-lady-1936.html?m=1). Modern aggregate scores remain strong: 7.8/10 on IMDb and 81 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/ratings/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady).
## Place among screwball comedies
Libeled Lady is a late entry in the first wave of Hollywood screwball comedy, standing alongside films such as *It Happened One Night* (1934), *My Man Godfrey* (1936), and *His Girl Friday* (1940)[15](https://cineramafilm.com/2020/10/29/libeled-lady-1936/). Unlike many of these, it is noted for prioritizing plot mechanics over one-liners: the comedy grows out of the tangle of fake marriages, alienation suits, and a con job that keeps going wrong[15](https://cineramafilm.com/2020/10/29/libeled-lady-1936/). Its famous fishing sequence, in which the inexpert Chandler is schooled by a fishing instructor while Connie watches, is a frequently cited comic highlight[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/fullcredits/) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady/reviews).
Comparisons with *The Thin Man* recur in criticism. Reviewers generally place Libeled Lady a rung below that film, finding the plot more contrived and the Tracy-Harlow engagement subplot weaker than the Powell-Loy material, while crediting the same easy rapport between Powell and Loy[14](https://film.one/film/libeled-lady) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady/reviews).
## Availability
The film is out of circulation on subscription streaming in some regions but remains widely available for digital rental or purchase; as of late 2026 listings, it rents from $3.99 and sells from $4.99 on platforms including Amazon Video and Apple TV[16](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/libeled-lady/20001801/where-to-watch/).
## References
1. [Libeled Lady, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady)
2. [Libeled Lady (1936), Tribute.ca synopsis](https://www.tribute.ca/movies/libeled-lady-1936/57800/)
3. [Libeled Lady (1936) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/fullcredits/)
4. [Oscar Film Journal: Libeled Lady (1936), Enuffa.com](https://www.enuffa.com/2025/02/oscar-film-journal-libeled-lady-1936.html?m=1)
5. [Libeled Lady, Répertoire des films classés (Quebec)](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/libeled-lady-3741/)
6. [Libeled Lady, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2363)
7. [Libeled Lady 1936, Classic Film Club](https://classicfilmclub.com/_movies/libeled_lady/libeled_lady.php)
8. [Libeled Lady (1936) ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/ratings/)
9. [Libeled Lady (1936), Phyllis Loves Classic Movies](https://phyllislovesclassicmovies.blogspot.com/2015/05/libeled-lady-1936.html)
10. [Libeled Lady audience reviews, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libeled_lady/reviews)
11. [Libeled Lady (1936) plot summary, Virtual History](https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/film/2074/libeled-lady)
12. [Libeled Lady, Best Item Movie (Japan)](https://movie.best-item.co.jp/movie/31773)
13. [Review: Libeled Lady, Slant Magazine (Jeremiah Kipp, 2005)](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/libeled-lady/)
14. [Libeled Lady review, Fi1m](https://film.one/film/libeled-lady)
15. [Libeled Lady (1936), Cinéorama](https://cineramafilm.com/2020/10/29/libeled-lady-1936/)
16. [Libeled Lady where to watch, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/libeled-lady/20001801/where-to-watch/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1940s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license