If you love Deanna -- and if you don't, what are you doing here? -- you must be dismayed at the dreck Universal threw at her, she who had saved them from bankruptcy and was still the best box-office draw in the country, even with atrocious scripts like this.
The moral is that rich people, however undeserving, get to do whatever they like. For them kidnapping a young woman is everyday business, and keeping her from a major career opportunity through a false arrest is amusing, as she is not in the same species as those rich people, however undeserving (total change at the end is thoroughly unconvincing); and that Universal does not owe even a halfway-decent script to its finest star. Ever.
Oh, and I left out the worst part: This movie makes her fall in love with John Dall -- the dragging-her-kicking-and-screaming part must have been cut out. I reckon Dall is okay for Peggy Cummins, who's mostly interested in his marksmanship. But for Deanna? Look, in his unlovability, this guy is to the 40s what Lawrence Harvey was to the 60s. Inevitably, the chemistry between them here is strictly H2S.
Oh, but I gave it an 8, did I? Well, 6.5 is for Deanna, who has half a dozen great performances of mostly mediocre songs, and manages to remain chipper despite all the indignities, and the other 1.5 for Donald O'Connor, whose hair is too big but still shows off his inimitable brand of comic dancing. I did not deduct for the script.
The moral is that rich people, however undeserving, get to do whatever they like. For them kidnapping a young woman is everyday business, and keeping her from a major career opportunity through a false arrest is amusing, as she is not in the same species as those rich people, however undeserving (total change at the end is thoroughly unconvincing); and that Universal does not owe even a halfway-decent script to its finest star. Ever.
Oh, and I left out the worst part: This movie makes her fall in love with John Dall -- the dragging-her-kicking-and-screaming part must have been cut out. I reckon Dall is okay for Peggy Cummins, who's mostly interested in his marksmanship. But for Deanna? Look, in his unlovability, this guy is to the 40s what Lawrence Harvey was to the 60s. Inevitably, the chemistry between them here is strictly H2S.
Oh, but I gave it an 8, did I? Well, 6.5 is for Deanna, who has half a dozen great performances of mostly mediocre songs, and manages to remain chipper despite all the indignities, and the other 1.5 for Donald O'Connor, whose hair is too big but still shows off his inimitable brand of comic dancing. I did not deduct for the script.