Reviews

Though the situations and characters are fairly banal, they are mixed together in a sufficiently surprising way that I, at least, felt obliged to stay with it and see how it all turned out. That plus a performance of a certain class from Ally Sheedy, who gets about all there is to be got from a not especially interesting part.

This starts unpromisingly (or was I just in the wrong mood?) with slapstick banana-skin-style gags which, however well done, show their age. Jean Arthur looks unassuming compared with her strong-girl tomboyish appearances in the Capra classics. But come Joel McCrea and the burgeoning love (at first resisted) between him and Arthur, and she shows a vulnerability and a range of expression that round out our knowledge of an already well-loved artist.

Charles Coburn, too, after the comic-strip cackhandedness of the first scenes, grows into an enjoyably human old rascal and Joel McCrea, blasé and hardbitten to begin with, develops into a fine romantic hero. The ending (will they, won't they?)recalls the end of the Cary Grant/Irene Dunne classic "The Awful Truth", and if I say that McCrea and Arthur do not pale by comparison, then I could hardly give higher praise than that.

If you like horror films this one delivers the goods well enough, with plenty of special effects and at least an attempt to rationalise the thing with a psychological basis. Ally Sheedy's low-key performance tends to increase the effect, making her the fulcrum around which everything moves, but is this really the sort of role she wants to play? The other performances are more than acceptable, but I won't be rushing to see it again.

Towards the end of this thriller Ally Sheedy's gaunt latter-day image is used creatively to make up more than one hauntingly evil image. She convinces one that, if a nasty Bette Davis-type role were to come her way, she could carry it off brilliantly. Unfortunately, I can't find many other reasons for seeing this. If you've wondered what Sheedy looks like in a pair of old-fashioned glasses (but why should anyone?) then here's your answer. For the rest, Sally Kirkland's sex-starved crazy woman is really tiresome, and even if you like this sort of thing more than I do you'll have to admit that the tension sags badly during these scenes. Savage's drunken brute of an insurance agent is equally distasteful but at least it's a small role. Of the leading actors, Nicholas Walker inspires no sympathy at all for Paul Keller's plight and his acting is wooden. Dara Tomanovich is better and during her scenes with Sheedy the level rises a little. Sheedy's meticulous, understated performance (though she often seems to be on automatic pilot) is admirable in itself but out of context with the rest. The sets are drab, the camera-work undistinguished.

Mary Astor was seen in any number of supporting roles (for example "Midnight" with Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche, just to stay with La Cava productions)but here shows she could hold the stage effortlessly as leading lady. And "stage" is the word since the film's origins as a play for theatre are rather obvious (the same set does for about 70% of the time). The remaining characters are stereotypes and Ames is somewhat wooden but the script is often very amusing indeed and with Gregory La Cava to mastermind the production everything sweeps along splendidly. Though short (65m) and nearly forgotten (no reference book on my shelves mentions this film) this is worth seeing by anyone with a taste for comedies of the period.

This is "simpatico", as the Italians say, as long as one does not examine it too deeply. The creators have tried to make it too many things at once. Is it a detective story, is it a thriller, is it a sentimental comedy? We see Ally Sheedy as Miss Lonesome, haunted by memories of her father who she never knew properly, as Miss Career Girl who's going to get what she wants come what may, as Miss Detective-who-won't-let-up, as Miss Misunderstood, we see her learn the secrets of her father's photographic art and the relative failure of her own, we see her giving way bit by bit to the charms of the French detective she trailed to Paris. And since she does all this with such naturalness that it somehow adds up into a convincing person we can hardly fail to enjoy, while perhaps regretting that the role had not concentrated on just one or two of these elements and let her really get to grips with them. Sheedy-detractors should note that her mannerisms (nervously flapping hands for instance) are kept to a minimum (though I wish she would learn to run more elegantly), her admirers should be glad to see a film where she is present in virtually every scene even though her potential to charm is exploited at the expense of her potential to move. Gendron, the initially seedy-looking French detective, becomes more likeable as the film proceeds, the shots of Paris cannot fail to exude that city's charm even if we've seen it all before and the whole thing flows well. Lastly, Ken Thorne's musical score. Nobody will remember a note of it after the film has finished, but its mood-painting and sepia colouring are so unobtrusively right at every moment that it makes a real contribution to the film's success. So, the terminally intellectual need not apply but if you're just after a pleasant evening and especially if you like Ally Sheedy, you shouldn't be disappointed.