"Turnabout" has been included in this year's San Francisco International Film Festival as a prime example of UCLA's Film Preservation work. I saw it yesterday at San Francisco's Castro Cinema and was quite impressed with the quality of the image as well as the sound. It looked as though it had been filmed last week. I didn't know what to expect of the film itself, especially after reading Leonard Maltin's negative review in his annual film guide. I was very pleasantly surprised at how delightfully zany and hilarious it proved to be.
The cast couldn't be better and their ensemble work was spot-on. Even the minor roles by Donald Meek, Franklin Pangborn and Marjorie Main, among others, contributed to the fun. I was not familiar with John Hubbard's work, but he was very funny in his gender switching role and played it to the hilt. Carole Landis, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Astor, Veree Teasdale, William Gargan - all of them were splendid. The situations and the dialog were rather risqué for a 1940 film and I'm surprised that it got past the censors. In fact, the Catholic Legion Of Decency rated it "objectionable in part." Seeing it in these these times, however, one can only smile at what was deemed objectionable 66 years ago.
One of my favorite scenes involved the destruction of a radio by Menjou and Gargan who were trying to shut out the sounds of a program that was sponsored by a client whose account they'd lost. They tore it apart and then began stomping on the assorted parts that were scattered on the floor but the sound continued unabated. Finally, Menjou jumped on the one remaining tube and the sound abruptly came to a stop. The scene was classic Hal Roach and was totally hilarious.
I hope that "Turnabout" is issued on DVD utilizing the beautifully restored print that I witnessed yesterday. This film is definitely one that should be available for people to see and enjoy.
The cast couldn't be better and their ensemble work was spot-on. Even the minor roles by Donald Meek, Franklin Pangborn and Marjorie Main, among others, contributed to the fun. I was not familiar with John Hubbard's work, but he was very funny in his gender switching role and played it to the hilt. Carole Landis, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Astor, Veree Teasdale, William Gargan - all of them were splendid. The situations and the dialog were rather risqué for a 1940 film and I'm surprised that it got past the censors. In fact, the Catholic Legion Of Decency rated it "objectionable in part." Seeing it in these these times, however, one can only smile at what was deemed objectionable 66 years ago.
One of my favorite scenes involved the destruction of a radio by Menjou and Gargan who were trying to shut out the sounds of a program that was sponsored by a client whose account they'd lost. They tore it apart and then began stomping on the assorted parts that were scattered on the floor but the sound continued unabated. Finally, Menjou jumped on the one remaining tube and the sound abruptly came to a stop. The scene was classic Hal Roach and was totally hilarious.
I hope that "Turnabout" is issued on DVD utilizing the beautifully restored print that I witnessed yesterday. This film is definitely one that should be available for people to see and enjoy.