"Cairo" is clearly a misfire and I my wife and I groaned repeatedly while watching this poor MGM spoof. It suffers in two major areas--there is too much singing (which is odd, as one reviewer thought the opposite) and the comedy is very forced and unfunny.
The film begins with Homer Smith (Robert Young) being sent by his small town newspaper to be a war correspondent. However, his adventure is short-lived when his ship is sunk. While floating about the Mediteranian, he meets up with a spy (Reginald Owen) and they eventually decide to separate. The spy asks Homer to deliver a message to a lady in a bar in Cairo (in case he cannot make it) and this drops dopey Homey into a nest of Nazi spies. Now this is VERY obvious and it's a tribute to how stupid they made his character that he had no indication that they were enemy agents. However, the Nazi lady spy decides to send Homer on a wild goose chase and tells him that a famous American actress who just happens to be in Cairo is a Nazi! So, Homer applies for a job as a butler for Marcia Warren (Jeanette MacDonald) so he can spy on her! There's a lot more to the film, but none of it works well because the film keeps getting interrupted by songs. The MacDonald ones are typical for her--with LOTS of high-pitched operatic stuff that would make most folks ill. I know I found myself using the fast-forward button whenever she began singing. The other problem is that Homer and Marcia seems incredibly stupid--yet, they somehow defeat the Nazis and save the world! Unfunny, forced and dumb. Perhaps my score of 3 is a bit charitable.
The film begins with Homer Smith (Robert Young) being sent by his small town newspaper to be a war correspondent. However, his adventure is short-lived when his ship is sunk. While floating about the Mediteranian, he meets up with a spy (Reginald Owen) and they eventually decide to separate. The spy asks Homer to deliver a message to a lady in a bar in Cairo (in case he cannot make it) and this drops dopey Homey into a nest of Nazi spies. Now this is VERY obvious and it's a tribute to how stupid they made his character that he had no indication that they were enemy agents. However, the Nazi lady spy decides to send Homer on a wild goose chase and tells him that a famous American actress who just happens to be in Cairo is a Nazi! So, Homer applies for a job as a butler for Marcia Warren (Jeanette MacDonald) so he can spy on her! There's a lot more to the film, but none of it works well because the film keeps getting interrupted by songs. The MacDonald ones are typical for her--with LOTS of high-pitched operatic stuff that would make most folks ill. I know I found myself using the fast-forward button whenever she began singing. The other problem is that Homer and Marcia seems incredibly stupid--yet, they somehow defeat the Nazis and save the world! Unfunny, forced and dumb. Perhaps my score of 3 is a bit charitable.