It isn't really a "funny" comedy but rather a pleasant one, an unbelievable story of down-and-out Paulette Goddard and the romance that develops between her and nice-guy lawyer Ray Milland. The two leads are both simply gorgeous. I don't care about Milland but Goddard gets to unroll her stockings and strip down to her full slip, which struck me as a thoroughly sensitive and poetic touch.
It's a romantic comedy with mixed identities and all that but the war seeps in around the edges. The women's hats are spectacles unto themselves.
Released in 1943, the was probably written and shot in 1942 because Mussolini is one of the targets in a shooting gallery. Mussolini stepped down in July of 1943 and Italy surrendered shortly afterward. One of the nice things about the war years -- and there were few nice things -- was that the musical vernacular blossomed. Radios played comprehensible music night and day -- tunes of love and longing, distracting ditties, and nationalistic jingles. (Bebop was in the closet smoking a reefer.)
In the first half hour of "The Crystal Ball" source music gives us "I've Got Spurs that Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," "Tangerine", and "I Remember You." If you ever feel like it, look up the lyrics to "Tangerine" sometime. They're the ne plus ultra of sophistication compared to what we can make out of today's lyrics: "I'm gonna rip off your head, Whee Whee Whee, then I'll pour a canna beer down your neck cavi-TEE." (You know, that's not bad. I wonder if I could make a living at this.)
I'm kind of skipping over the plot, because there's not much to it. Gladys George is great as a down-to-earth faux fortune teller. William Bendix is always likable, even when he's a heavy, because he can't help looking and sounding so endearingly dumb.
All in all, 1943 was a turning point in the war but the good folks back in Haddonfield never knew it. It was a long, painful slog and a lot of windows displayed small flags with gold stars on them. In 1943, being able to go to the movies on Saturday night and watch a slight, buoyant comedy like "The Crystal Ball" must have brought with it an awesome sense of respite.
It's a romantic comedy with mixed identities and all that but the war seeps in around the edges. The women's hats are spectacles unto themselves.
Released in 1943, the was probably written and shot in 1942 because Mussolini is one of the targets in a shooting gallery. Mussolini stepped down in July of 1943 and Italy surrendered shortly afterward. One of the nice things about the war years -- and there were few nice things -- was that the musical vernacular blossomed. Radios played comprehensible music night and day -- tunes of love and longing, distracting ditties, and nationalistic jingles. (Bebop was in the closet smoking a reefer.)
In the first half hour of "The Crystal Ball" source music gives us "I've Got Spurs that Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," "Tangerine", and "I Remember You." If you ever feel like it, look up the lyrics to "Tangerine" sometime. They're the ne plus ultra of sophistication compared to what we can make out of today's lyrics: "I'm gonna rip off your head, Whee Whee Whee, then I'll pour a canna beer down your neck cavi-TEE." (You know, that's not bad. I wonder if I could make a living at this.)
I'm kind of skipping over the plot, because there's not much to it. Gladys George is great as a down-to-earth faux fortune teller. William Bendix is always likable, even when he's a heavy, because he can't help looking and sounding so endearingly dumb.
All in all, 1943 was a turning point in the war but the good folks back in Haddonfield never knew it. It was a long, painful slog and a lot of windows displayed small flags with gold stars on them. In 1943, being able to go to the movies on Saturday night and watch a slight, buoyant comedy like "The Crystal Ball" must have brought with it an awesome sense of respite.