The only reason I watched this film was for William Powell. He's one of my favorite MGM leading men and he usually is so charming and charismatic that he can make any ordinary film shine,...except, perhaps, this one!!! I should have just trusted the Maltin Guide--after all, it said that apart from Powell it was a bad film. But, being a fan, I unfortunately watched this very convoluted and sappy mess.
The film's biggest problem is that the plot just seems to have 1001 loose ends to the plot. Again and again, the film just looks very incomplete and the pieces seem disjoint and there is no overall vision for the film. We have some assorted "mugs" thrown in for comic relief, Powell's character who is sometimes a nice guy and other times a thoughtless jerk, an ultra-sappy plot about some patron saint of thieves (it is PAINFULLY BAD), Esther Williams who is radiant but her part is flat and one-dimensional, we have the other woman (Angela Lansbury) who sings with a voice that isn't even close to being her real voice (I think Louis Armstrong's wouldn't have been any less convincing) and a plot that is just plain dull and meandering. There is no pay-off for all this--just a dull as dishwater film.
The film's biggest problem is that the plot just seems to have 1001 loose ends to the plot. Again and again, the film just looks very incomplete and the pieces seem disjoint and there is no overall vision for the film. We have some assorted "mugs" thrown in for comic relief, Powell's character who is sometimes a nice guy and other times a thoughtless jerk, an ultra-sappy plot about some patron saint of thieves (it is PAINFULLY BAD), Esther Williams who is radiant but her part is flat and one-dimensional, we have the other woman (Angela Lansbury) who sings with a voice that isn't even close to being her real voice (I think Louis Armstrong's wouldn't have been any less convincing) and a plot that is just plain dull and meandering. There is no pay-off for all this--just a dull as dishwater film.