Angels with Broken Wings (1941) Poster

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5/10
Ambitious But Unfocused
boblipton5 September 2020
Katherine Alexander is supposed to marry John Litel, but the courts have ruled that Mexican divorces don't count. So he's still married to gold-digging Binnie Barnes, who won't let him go. Miss Alexander's three daughters, Jane Frazee, Leni Lynn, and Marilyn Hare, conspire with their associates, including Leo Gorcey, Tom Kennedy, and Billy Gilbert, to invent a South American millionaire to sweep away Miss Barnes.... and then Gilbert Roland shows up. Is he the answer to everyone's dreams?

It's an ambitious movie from Republic Pictures to create a sort of Deanna Durbin crazy comedy, and they loaded director Bernard Vorhaus with a lot of talented comics... too many, it seems, alas, since they compete for screen time to do their routines: so much so that no one gets to do anything, and the story bogs down. It's really a pity, because every once in a while, it seems to be about to take off...and then the movie turns its attention to some one else. The result is watchable, but it's too erratic to hold your attention against competition.
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4/10
There's wind beneath those wings.
mark.waltz23 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This silly comedy with songs is ridiculously plotted but endearing as a combination of "Three Smart Girls" with an Andrews Sisters musical. Widowed Katherine Alexander is engaged to Sidney Blackmer whose estranged wife pops up out of the blue to prevent her husband from remarrying simply because she has refused all along to give him a divorce.

The three daughters joined forces with surrogate Uncle Billy Gilbert and his family to get rid of Barnes, using his nephew Edward Norris to pretend to be a South American millionaire, creating confusion when the real deal (Gilbert Roland) shows up, agreeing to step in to aide these ladies in their time of need. This results in a series of absurd situations, some resulting in laughs but much of it cringeworthy.

The best moments here come from Billy Gilbert (minus his customary bad accent and sneezing) and Leo Gorcey, deliciously screwing up the English language with the type of malapropisms he would later perfect in the Bowery Boys series. As far as the Little Miss fix-its are concerned, they are fine when they are singing, but unmemorable otherwise. This is a mixed bag of comedy, romance and songs (music by Jule Styne) aided by decent character performances, but easily forgettable because of the headache inducing pace.
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