Over-the-Top Old Pros Enliven Economics Lecture

boblipton

This is a message film, as Dwan's independent post-war work would become increasingly in the 1950s. It struck me as an economics lesson on the velocity of money which I have heard as a one-minute burlesque joke, stretched out to a ninety-minute radio script and then given flawless movie visuals by Allan Dwan and his team. The youngsters play their roles seriously, except for Marsha Hunt, who shows a flair for comedy; I did enjoy the constant abuse of William Lundigan, the most wooden of would-be stars of the 1940s.

The old pros include Charles Winninger, who plays the Cornball Coot; Gene Lockhart, who runs through his apoplectic octuple take several times; Alan Jenkins in full Damon Runyon mode; Roscoe Karns, who reruns his character from IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT; and Florence Bates, who must have ruined many a take bursting out laughing. I know how she felt. I kept giggling, as did the rest of the audience.

score 6/10

boblipton 9 February 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4057195/