international audiences, Irene asks Harry to play a hymn, something from his childhood. They quietly sing "Abide with Me", their backs turned to the furious air battle behind them. “I've loved you all the time,” he says. “Thanks for telling me, darling,” she replies. The explosions stop. “Look Harry, they've gone away,” Irene cries, and they embrace. In 1999, TCM aired a print that shows both endings. After “The End” a title card says: “You have just seen the original ‘International’ 1939 ending of MGM’s ‘Idiots (sic) Delight’ which is spiritual and optimistic in tone. We now present the original ‘domestic’ theatrical ending that seems to ignore the fact that the rest of the world is at war.” In the domestic (U.S., Canadian) ending, Harry and Irene talk about their plans for the future while the bombs explode outside the lobby window. They rehearse the secret code he used in his mind-reading act. The bombing stops and Irene excitedly describes their future act together while Harry plays the damaged piano. In September 2022, Watch TCM was only showing the international ending. Cast Norma Shearer as Irene Clark Gable as Harry Van Edward Arnold as Achille Weber Charles Coburn as Dr. Waldersee Joseph Schildkraut as Captain Kirvline Burgess Meredith as Quillery Laura Hope Crews as Madame Zuleika Richard "Skeets" Gallagher as Donald Navadel (credited as Skeets Gallagher) Peter Willes as Mr. Cherry Pat Paterson as Mrs. Cherry William Edmunds as Dumptsy Fritz Feld as Pittatek Virginia Grey as Shirley Virginia Dale as Francine Paula Stone as Beulah Bernadene Hayes as Edna Joan Marsh as Elaine Lorraine Krueger as BeBe Emory Parnell as Fifth Avenue Mounted Cop Production In an effort to make the play, staged entirely in the hotel lounge, less wordy and more attractive to watch on the screen, Sherwood wrote the script for MGM with 167 scenes on 42 sets. When Warner Bros. considered filming Sherwood's play, film censor Joseph Breen, predicted it "would be banned widely abroad and might cause reprisals against the American company distributing it. The play is fundamentally anti-war propaganda, and contains numerous diatribes against militarism, fascism, and the munitions ring." MGM tried to address similar concerns, eventually hiring Italy's consul in Los Angeles as adviser. Rome agreed to cooperate on the production. In the end—although the script was supposedly approved by Fascist leader Benito Mussolini—Italy banned the film. “Idiot's delight" refers to one of