I think I would have liked this better if some of the players weren't so harsh and ill mannered. I'm thinking mainly of Paul Harvey as brother-in-law Clarence and Sam Levene as the principal kidnapper Patsy. Oh yeah, and that manic guy Frankie, played by Teddy Hart. Watching his character I came up with a description of him as a poor man's Joe Pesci. Fortunately Allen Jenkins was part of the bad guy crew to lighten things up a bit. This would have been more of a comedy if the trio that whisked Erwin Trowbridge (Frank McHugh) away for his knack of picking horse race winners lightened up a bit and played it less seriously.
Say, did anyone else think Joan Blondell might have hurt herself doing that warm-up/dance routine in the hotel room for Erwin? Man, she had twists and turns in there that defied the laws of physical mobility. And think about this one - as a greeting card writer, Erwin was making forty dollars a week! That one really puts the good old days in perspective, doesn't it? When boss Carver (Guy Kibbee) finally caved at the end of the story and raised him to seventy five bucks, the guy could have had a heart attack!
Maybe I missed something, but this was a puzzler. After the recovered verses were put together from the scraps that Patsy tore up, how come they looked like undamaged sheets of paper?
But you know what? Any movie that has Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson in it can't be all bad. I was pretty sure that was him the first time he appeared on the elevator, but the give away was when he first spoke. He's got such a distinctive voice I'd know it without the face. With all that though, you can't convince me that a guy who could pick winning horse races would never place a bet himself.
Say, did anyone else think Joan Blondell might have hurt herself doing that warm-up/dance routine in the hotel room for Erwin? Man, she had twists and turns in there that defied the laws of physical mobility. And think about this one - as a greeting card writer, Erwin was making forty dollars a week! That one really puts the good old days in perspective, doesn't it? When boss Carver (Guy Kibbee) finally caved at the end of the story and raised him to seventy five bucks, the guy could have had a heart attack!
Maybe I missed something, but this was a puzzler. After the recovered verses were put together from the scraps that Patsy tore up, how come they looked like undamaged sheets of paper?
But you know what? Any movie that has Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson in it can't be all bad. I was pretty sure that was him the first time he appeared on the elevator, but the give away was when he first spoke. He's got such a distinctive voice I'd know it without the face. With all that though, you can't convince me that a guy who could pick winning horse races would never place a bet himself.