 |
| Nina Foch and Dick Haymes |
Benny (Dick Haymes), Monk (Lionel Stander), and Matthew (Roland Young) are three con artists trying to pull a rather mean score when the law intervenes and they take it on the lam. The trio hide out by disguising themselves as priests, and wind up running an abandoned mission for the indigent. Benny has trouble staying in character when he meets pretty illustrator Linda (Nina Foch), and the three men's fates just might turn out differently than expected. The premise might be a bit sappy, but it has possibilities that aren't overly plumbed in this quaint comedy that has some good performances. Haymes [Irish Eyes Are Smiling] is a cast standout, and is given one nice number, "I Believe," which is not to be confused with the more famous song of the same name; he's also in fine voice. Young and Stander are also good, with the latter less gross and tiresome than usual. He has a good scene reuniting with his long-suffering wife, Mary (a notable Jean Casto), late in the picture. Nina Foch [Illegal] is given an odd part, and at times she seems demented in her determination to marry a man she hardly knows. A shockingly bad performance is given by a grown-up Freddie Bartholomew, once a wonderful child actor, who plays a geeky young priest named Wilbur. Bartholomew could give good adult performances, as he did in The Town Went Wild, but in this he just tries too hard to be funny; it was his last picture. The odd thing about this movie is that it has a certain quality and appeal despite the fact that it's really not that good. Robert W. Stringer's interesting score, especially the excellent theme music, may have something to do with that.
Verdict: Oddly interesting comedy with some good performances. **1/2.
Mr. Haymes gets a bad name because of his tumultuous marriage to Rita Hayworth, but he was a very good crooner and a looker to boot. I am also a big fan of Nina Foch, who is a weird kind of method actor hybrid, her performances are always a little quirky and off, even in The Ten Commandments--she's got the 'crazy eyes' going...but decades later she was a very much in demand acting teacher to the stars, until she was in her late 80s or something. One of her last roles was as Sharon Stone's real estate agent in Sliver...
ReplyDeleteI will definitely check out this little-known picture!
-Chris
Thanks for the info on Nina Foch, who I always thought was a good actress, and I think you've put your finger on why she was so distinctive. She wound up in a lot of movies that I think she felt were beneath her, or that were really mindless products, and was was no dope.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Haymes. His reputation plummeted when books said he beat up Rita Hayworth, but who knows what really happened? People tend to exaggerate when they're having a tumultuous relationship. Anyway, he was an excellent singer and unconventionally handsome as well.