Film

Nothing Sacred

Name: Nothing Sacred
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: 1937
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly, Sig Ruman

Screwball comedy
Light-hearted

A screwball comedy about a small-town girl mistakenly believed to be dying, transformed by a cynical newspaper columnist into a national sensation. It's sharp, fast-talking, and bitingly satirical about celebrity, media manipulation, and the American hunger for manufactured tragedy. For anyone who loves wit served at breakneck speed.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you relish fast, cynical screwball banter, where a sparring romance keeps tripping over the press, the public and its own hypocrisy, and a satire of media hunger lands with a grin.

Skip it if you want a slow build or sentiment that lingers, since this moves at a brisk clip and treats its heroine's predicament mostly as a joke, which can feel brittle.

What it asks of you: Expect a short, brisk runtime of about seventy-seven minutes, with dialogue that tumbles quickly and asks you to keep up, and little pause for feeling.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Twentieth Century1934

Another Carole Lombard vehicle where she trades barbs with a theatrical egomaniac in a confined space. The dialogue crackles, the pace is relentless, and she holds her own against every scenery-chewing impulse.

But It's even more theatrical than Nothing Sacred—the melodrama can feel stage-bound, and the premise (a director trying to woo an actress aboard a train) requires patience with outsize egos.

Bringing Up Baby1938

The gold standard of screwball chaos. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn spin through absurdity with precision timing. If Nothing Sacred made you laugh, this will confirm you love this particular brand of cinema.

But The premise—a leopard, a bone, mistaken identities—is genuinely silly. If you need plot logic over comic momentum, you'll spend the time explaining what doesn't make sense.

His Girl Friday1940

Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in a newspaper world where every sentence overlaps the last. The cynicism about journalism, the rat-tat-tat dialogue, the moral flexibility of the press: it's Nothing Sacred's closest cousin in tone and setting.

But The overlapping dialogue is a feature, not a bug—but it exhausts some viewers. Closed captions help, but you're still decoding rapid-fire banter for two hours.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Nothing Sacred

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

To Be or Not to Be1942

Both use rapid-fire, clever dialogue and constant impersonation as weapons against a world that rewards cynicism. Both say: when the system is corrupt, the con is virtue.

Ernst Lubitsch's film about Polish actors impersonating Nazis in Warsaw, during the occupation. Black comedy about deception and performance as survival, made while the atrocity was happening. The connection is structural: both films argue that lying, manipulation, and roleplay aren't moral failures—they're the only sane response to an insane world.

But It's almost unbearably dark. The farce sits atop real genocide. Audiences in 1942 were horrified. If you need your comedy separated from suffering, this will feel obscene.

It Happened One Night1934

Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable prove chemistry matters more than plot. A runaway heiress, a cynical reporter, the road between. It has the same DNA: romance tangled with deception and the press.

But It's more sentimental than Nothing Sacred, and the Depression-era details feel nostalgic rather than satirical. Some find it too earnest for its own good.

The Front Page1931

Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's original play, adapted when the ink was still wet. It's cruder, faster, and absolutely uninterested in redemption. The newspaper world is a con, and everyone knows it.

But The print is often rough, and the 1931 sound feels creaky. The cynicism never relents—there's no warmth, which some find bleak rather than liberating.

The Lady Eve1941

Barbara Stanwyck at her most mischievous, playing con and counter-con against Henry Fonda. The script spins and reverses itself. Preston Sturges directs deception as an art form.

But The romantic resolution asks you to accept that chaos and manipulation equal love. If that idea bothers you, the third act will aggravate rather than charm.

Midnight1939

Claudette Colbert, again, but this time in Paris, playing a woman who becomes whoever the room needs her to be. Mitchell Leisen directs dialogue like a song. It's sophisticated without being cold.

But It's less interested in satire and more invested in elegance. If you want edge over charm, it softens where Nothing Sacred doubled down.

Libeled Lady1936

Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, William Powell, and Myrna Loy in a newspaper plot where everyone lies, everyone knows they're lying, and somehow it works out. Ensemble screwball at its most assured.

But With four leads, the focus drifts. Some love the ensemble; others miss having a clear center to root for or against.

My Man Godfrey1936

William Powell and Carole Lombard again. A screwball about class, charity as performance, and the con at the heart of high society. It has Nothing Sacred's cynicism with unexpected tenderness.

But It's more sentimental and less biting. If you want satire with teeth, it backs off when it could lean in harder.

The Producers1968

Both celebrate the con as an art form. Both say the American dream runs on manufactured narrative. Both are absolutely convinced that telling the truth is for suckers.

Mel Brooks's film about two men who stage a deliberately terrible Broadway show to con investors. It's Nothing Sacred inverted: instead of creating a false saint, they engineer a false disaster. The energy is pure chaos, the dialogue is rapid-fire, and the moral universe is completely inverted.

But It's gleefully tasteless. The jokes are broad, and some land harder than others. If you want your satire subtle, Brooks's sledgehammer approach will feel heavy-handed.