Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

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.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

SimonJack What starts off looking fairly formulaic for movies of the period, turns into an interesting flick with some different twists. I won't say more because much of the enjoyment is seeing the twists unfold. While Paramount was part producer and distributor of this film, it's obviously of a lesser grade – B or something else. The cast doesn't have any big names. The technical quality is low-grade, and the writing and directing could have been much better. But, the acting is mostly quite good with a plot that soon develops beyond the usual fare. So, I'm surprised that Paramount couldn't build this one up a bit more. Still, it was the middle of World War II and many of the top actors, writers and technicians were off at war. There was a lot of interest about this time in stories about the war, so the studios can be excused for not putting their all in many of their smaller films. I do think that labeling this a comedy as well as a crime film is misleading. The comedy is so little and quickly overshadowed by the mystery. But, it's fine as a drama and crime or mystery flick. The quote in my heading is a line from the film.

JohnHowardReid By the humble standards of the Two Dollar Bills (i.e. producers Bill Pine and Bill Thomas), this is a really entertaining little offering in which an able cast led by Chester Morris (the magazine editor), Nancy Kelly (the freelance photographer), Richard Gaines (the exercise-conscious publisher), Philip Terry (the freelance's boyfriend) and Charles Arnt (a millionaire of the marrying kind) mix comedy, romance and a murder mystery with most entertaining results. The bright screenplay by Winston Miller and Maxwell Shane only takes one wrong turn that is a bit hard to swallow. Fortunately, it occurs near the end of the movie. If it disturbs them at all, most viewers will regard it as nothing more than a momentary lapse. The direction by William Berke consistently rates far above his usual pedestrian standard. The pace and timing of his players – particularly in the comedy scenes with Richard Gaines – are especially effective. Some viewers may feel that the murder mystery plot has been short-changed in the interests of comedy and romance, but I felt that aside from the overly dramatic plot twist I mentioned earlier, the movie offered consistently bright entertainment. Available on many DVDs. Alpha's print is excellent.

Alex da Silva Larry (Chester Morris) hires photographer Pat (Nancy Kelly) for his magazine. They fall in love but there is a problem - her boyfriend Ben (Phillip Terry) back home. At first, as an excuse to fend off any advance from Larry, Pat pretends that Ben is her brother and that he is staying with her. The situation is made worse when Ben actually turns up and is forced to go along with the charade for the sake of Pat's job. This makes for a good comedy scene at a nightclub where Ben is given another date, Mavis (Roma Aldrich) to whom he shows absolutely no interest. Larry discovers the deceit just as a murder is committed and Pat is to stand trial for the crime. It's all in Larry's hands.....This is a quick moving comedy that throws us a mystery towards the end. There are many good scenes and the dialogue is funny. The whole cast perform well in this enjoyable, tongue-in-cheek story and it is worth keeping onto to watch again. One criticism is the quality of the film. It's a story about the publishing business and it's no surprise to learn that photos were being faked to sell newspapers in those days just as they are today (especially on the fashion pages!). In this instance, they are even faked to solve a crime.

MartinHafer One thing about this film I found rather interesting. The photographer, Pat (Nancy Kelly), was hired sight unseen. When they find out she is NOT a man, this is accepted pretty quickly--without the usual sexist drivel such as "this is no job for a woman" and the like. Perhaps this was because during the war years, more and more women were in the workplace and it was not so unusual to see lady cabbies or salespeople or even factory workers. So, seeing a lady photographer wasn't so terribly unusual.So, as I've already said, Pat is hired when the film begins. The job is for a magazine run by a health fanatic, though the magazine is of a more mundane nature. Her job is to get sensational photos that aren't faked--a problem they had with the last photographer. It's obvious from the start that although Pat has a boyfriend, she is absolutely destined to be with her new boss, Larry, by the end of the film. That's because Larry was played by popular B-actor Chester Morris who was a very hot commodity during this era. He was the leading man, so you know he had to get the leading lady eventually.However, Larry and Pat have a complication. For some bizarre reason, Pat pretends that her brother is living with her. I think it's to keep Larry from trying to come in her apartment. And, when Pat's old boyfriend from back home arrives on the scene, Larry assumes this is her brother. So far so good. But, later, when Larry realizes he's falling for her, he also feels betrayed because he then finds out that this man is NOT her brother. What's Larry to do? See the film and find out for yourself--it's worth it and where it goes next is NOT at all where you'd expect.As usual, Chester Morris does a nice job--just the sort of effortless performance he so often gave in his B-films--though this time it's for Pine-Thomas Productions, not his usual studio (Columbia Pictures). And, while the plot has a few holes, it is an enjoyable and breezy little comedy.