It's hard to watch this without comparing it to the 1955 musical directed by Richard Quine (who happens to play Frank in this version) and starring Janet Leigh, Betty Garret, Bob Fosse, and Tommy Rall. The stories are fundamentally similar -- two cheerful and ambitious sisters from Columbus, Ohio, the level-headed Ruth (here, Rosalind Russell) and the gorgeous blond Eileen (here, Janet Blair) come to New York to seek careers. They rent a preposterous basement apartment in Greenwich Village where they are constantly finagled with by a sly landlord (here, George Tobias) who is an artist manque. Their days are punctuated by occasional blasts from the subway that is being built beneath the building. There are an abundance of kooky characters. Their upstairs neighbor is a dopey, unemployed football player supported by his wife. All the men fall under the spell of the would-be actress, Eileen. The less flamboyantly sugary Ruth, who is an aspiring writer, is disregarded by men until one of her editors learns to appreciate her.
The story (or stories) must have great appeal. They first appeared in The New Yorker, I think. Then they were assembled into the play on which this film is based. Then there appeared the Leonard Bernstein musical, under a different name ("Wonderful Town"), then the 1955 musical. There have been several revivals.
Compared to the 1955 musical version, this seems more stage bound, which is not necessarily bad. And without the musical numbers, there's more room for various gags, some funnier than others. This version is so OVERFLOWING with characters that must have seemed colorful to the folks back in Columbus, Ohio, that at times it's crowded with them, all doing and saying kooky things. A hooker or, pardon me, a young woman (June Havoc) who used to "hold séances" and "read fortunes" in the apartment drops in to leave a stack of her new business cards for any former clients who happen to stop by -- and stop, they do. The door lock is broken so people can come and go without warning. There are myriad incidents involving misunderstandings, situationally based wisecracks, mixed identities, drunks, cops, pratfalls, explosions, congas, and dogs chasing cats through the barred window of the basement.
This film is amusing in its own right. It's as if the whole insane cast of "You Can't Take It With You" had been shoved into this little basement apartment. With the jokes abounding, they can't all miss.
Yet, for a couple of reasons, I prefer the 1955 musical, the only other version of this story that I've seen. For one thing, the 1955 plot is less confused. Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall are both ga-ga over Eileen. (In fact, Janet Leigh looks a lot like Janet Blair.) Both Fosse and Rall get more screen time than the same two characters here -- plus, they performances have more charm. Fosse is not the ridiculous goof that his character is in this earlier version. And Tommy Rall gives a better performance as his rival, Chick Clark. Rall was nobody's idea of a great actor but he's splendid as the fast-talking, underhanded suitor. Here, Allyn Joslin seems fagged out and not particularly interested in Eileen. And that's not to mention the hilarious "Give Me a Band" number or a synapse-fusing, blistering "Competition Ballet" between Fosse and Rall. The 1955 version is also more carefully paced, less forced and frenetic. The romance angle is taken a bit more seriously. One has a chance to breathe between manic episodes.
Not that this isn't very amusing, just that it was probably more so in 1942 than it might be today. We're less easily shocked. Odd characters living in Greenwich Village? Oh, yes -- much less easily shocked.
The story (or stories) must have great appeal. They first appeared in The New Yorker, I think. Then they were assembled into the play on which this film is based. Then there appeared the Leonard Bernstein musical, under a different name ("Wonderful Town"), then the 1955 musical. There have been several revivals.
Compared to the 1955 musical version, this seems more stage bound, which is not necessarily bad. And without the musical numbers, there's more room for various gags, some funnier than others. This version is so OVERFLOWING with characters that must have seemed colorful to the folks back in Columbus, Ohio, that at times it's crowded with them, all doing and saying kooky things. A hooker or, pardon me, a young woman (June Havoc) who used to "hold séances" and "read fortunes" in the apartment drops in to leave a stack of her new business cards for any former clients who happen to stop by -- and stop, they do. The door lock is broken so people can come and go without warning. There are myriad incidents involving misunderstandings, situationally based wisecracks, mixed identities, drunks, cops, pratfalls, explosions, congas, and dogs chasing cats through the barred window of the basement.
This film is amusing in its own right. It's as if the whole insane cast of "You Can't Take It With You" had been shoved into this little basement apartment. With the jokes abounding, they can't all miss.
Yet, for a couple of reasons, I prefer the 1955 musical, the only other version of this story that I've seen. For one thing, the 1955 plot is less confused. Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall are both ga-ga over Eileen. (In fact, Janet Leigh looks a lot like Janet Blair.) Both Fosse and Rall get more screen time than the same two characters here -- plus, they performances have more charm. Fosse is not the ridiculous goof that his character is in this earlier version. And Tommy Rall gives a better performance as his rival, Chick Clark. Rall was nobody's idea of a great actor but he's splendid as the fast-talking, underhanded suitor. Here, Allyn Joslin seems fagged out and not particularly interested in Eileen. And that's not to mention the hilarious "Give Me a Band" number or a synapse-fusing, blistering "Competition Ballet" between Fosse and Rall. The 1955 version is also more carefully paced, less forced and frenetic. The romance angle is taken a bit more seriously. One has a chance to breathe between manic episodes.
Not that this isn't very amusing, just that it was probably more so in 1942 than it might be today. We're less easily shocked. Odd characters living in Greenwich Village? Oh, yes -- much less easily shocked.