PARIS MODEL

Eva Gabor and Tom Conway 

PARIS MODEL (1953). Director: Alfred E.  Green.

Four women who pick out a fancy dress -- a "Paris model" or a cheaper copy of it -- want to wow their men but wind up getting their comeuppance, except in the last instance. Gogo (Eva Gabor) hopes to hook the wealthy Maharajah of Kim-Kepore (Tom Conway) but her billing the dress to another man may cause a problem -- not to mention the appearance of a gorgeous brunette (Laurette Luez). Betty Barnes (Paulette Goddard) is in love with her boss (Leif Erickson), but his wife, Cora (Gloria Christian), may out-do the grasping secretary in the fancy dress sweepstakes. Marion Parmalee (Marilyn Maxwell) pulls out all of the stops with her husband's flirty boss Sullivan (Cecil Kellaway) in the hopes of getting hubby (Robert Bice of Invasion U.S.A.) the new presidency when the boss retires, but she doesn't reckon with Sullivan's formidable wife (Florence Bates). Marta (Barbara Lawrence) hopes that boyfriend Charlie (Robert Hutton) will propose to her for her 21st birthday dinner at Romanoff's and she may get a little help from "prince" Michael Romanoff [Arch of Triumph] himself.

Secretary vs wife: Paulette Goddard and Gloria Christian

I confess I nearly dumped Paris Model in my latest collection of "Films I Just Couldn't Finish" because the first episode with Gabor and Conway is so lame -- aside from a modestly amusing wind-up -- that I couldn't see spending much more time on it. (One can't imagine either of the Gabor sisters being crazy about having their thunder stolen by another woman.) But once I understood the point of the film, that it dealt with the dress and the stymied manipulations of its wearers -- not to mention that the later segments were more entertaining -- I found this quite enjoyable. The performances are generally good (although Eva Gabor is just plain weird, like a dopey showgirl from another dimension), with Kellaway and Bates taking the acting honors. The film comes full circle with a very funny ending when Tom Conway shows up again as the horny Maharajah. Alfred E. Green directed everything from science fiction (the aforementioned Invasion U.S.A.) to old Bette Davis movies [Dangerous] to Copacabana and everything in-between. Tom Conway's brother, George Sanders, was married to both Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, but somehow he never got around to Eva.

Verdict: More fun than you first imagine it will be. ***.

THE BIG BLUFF

John Bromfield

THE BIG BLUFF (1955). Director: W. Lee Wilder.

Valerie Bancroft (Martha Vickers) doesn't know that her doctor (whom I wouldn't trust to diagnose a dog!)  has told her secretary-companion, Marsha (Eve Miller), that she has a weak heart and only a few months to live. While Marsha bonds with Valerie's new doctor, Peter Kirk (Robert Hutton), Valerie is quite taken with a sexy dark-haired fellow named Ricardo De Villa (John Bromfield), who is already involved with an attractive dancer named Fritzie (Rosemarie Stack). Ric romances the very wealthy widow Valerie even as he keeps time with Fritzie and tries to avoid the latter's jealous husband, Don (Eddie Bee). Then he cooks up a scheme to get his hands on all that loot with a smitten Fritzie's help ... The Big Bluff is not a world-beater but it holds the attention and Bromfield and Stack give flavorful performances. Vickers' performance is mediocre, but Miller and Hutton are better. The ending is ironic if unconvincing. Robert Bice is the original doctor who makes the fatal diagnosis. Handsome Bromfield usually starred in movies like this and Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, but he also appeared in The Furies with Barbara Stanwyck and other better-known films in smaller roles. Stack, originally known as Rosemarie Bowe (as she's billed in this picture), married Robert Stack the following year, but she didn't use his last name professionally until the 70's. Vickers was better in Alimony.

Verdict: Like an extended TV mystery but it's fun. **1/2.