I love old movies--generally more than newer films in fact. So, in light of my adoration of Hollywood's golden age and the preponderance of very favorable reviews here on IMDb, it surprised me that I disliked this film as much as I did. To me, it is a film that comes off as stagy, overly talky and unconvincing.
The film is about a group of losers who all meet in a nightclub one night. One is Charles Engle (John Qualen)--a guy who embezzled some money but who others in the club mistake for a millionaire. Another is a famous but down and out playwright (Thomas Mitchell). And, there's the sharpie (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and a woman he enlists to help him (Rita Hayworth).
While there are some nice moments in the film and some of the acting is pretty good (I particularly liked Qualen), too often the film comes off as a play clumsily brought to film. In other words, it retains its stagy quality and characters tend to bluster and talk too much for a movie. Additionally, while I generally like Fairbanks in films, here he seems a tad miscast and out of place. Overall, a mildly interesting film that definitely gets better as you watch it, but nothing more.
The film is about a group of losers who all meet in a nightclub one night. One is Charles Engle (John Qualen)--a guy who embezzled some money but who others in the club mistake for a millionaire. Another is a famous but down and out playwright (Thomas Mitchell). And, there's the sharpie (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and a woman he enlists to help him (Rita Hayworth).
While there are some nice moments in the film and some of the acting is pretty good (I particularly liked Qualen), too often the film comes off as a play clumsily brought to film. In other words, it retains its stagy quality and characters tend to bluster and talk too much for a movie. Additionally, while I generally like Fairbanks in films, here he seems a tad miscast and out of place. Overall, a mildly interesting film that definitely gets better as you watch it, but nothing more.