ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

utgard14 Genial small town lawyer (John Wayne) comes to the big city to investigate the murder of his friend and begins to suspect a crooked political boss (Edward Ellis) while dating the boss's daughter (Frances Dee). Curious role for Wayne in this oddball B crime picture from Republic. The script does him no favors. I swear every other line of his seems to begin "back home..." followed by a less-than-funny anecdote about some bumpkin. There's country and then there's an urbanite's impersonation of country. This feels like the latter. Ellis is good as the political boss with a soft spot for his daughter. Frances Dee is fine but has no real chemistry with Duke. Harold Huber is amusing as the arrogant candidate Ellis is pushing. Ward Bond has one of his most embarrassing roles as a simple-minded goon with a pickpocketing habit. He goes full Lenny here. He and Duke have a fight scene among that old Hollywood favorite: stacks of empty cardboard boxes. Wallace Ford is wasted in a small part. It's a strange picture, with an awkward mix of comedy and drama, and a bizarre ending that almost defies the production code as the lawbreaking villain isn't really punished. One final, completely irrelevant (to anyone but me) note: Joseph Crehan plays a newspaper editor with a few scenes. In his final scene, he's gushing over this new farming gadget he's bought. It's a nifty little thing that looks like a child's wagon with some junk added on. I wonder if that was a real device or a prop created for the film?

robert-temple-1 I enjoyed watching this movie, but there is no use pretending that it has any particular merit. It is interesting to watch early John Wayne movies where he is not playing a cowboy and not fiddling with his revolver. The female lead, Frances Dee, was very interesting to watch, lively and attractive. She reminds me of Geena Davis when young as in EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY (1988, see my review). She stopped acting in 1954, aged 55, and had made 56 films by then. The story of this film is so unconvincing and implausible that it is not even worthwhile attempting to describe it. It is nonsense from beginning to end. The Hungarian émigré director John H. Auer directed the film. It is both easy to watch and easy to forget.

mark.waltz Small town attorney John Wayne arrives in a very corrupt big city to find out the truth about the alleged suicide of a local college basketball hero. The dead kid, shot through the lungs right before being struck by lightening, apparently was going to blow the ruthless gambling house "The Inferno" ("Beware all who enter here!" a sign warns) and tie in a local political bigwig up with the mob. This Capra-esque drama with a ton of comic overtones is pretty impressive "A" stuff for Republic, and pairs Wayne with the lovely Frances Dee who gets an entrance usually saved for big MGM stars like Hepburn and Garbo.The Inferno set is like something out of a carnival fun-house and features most of their staff dressed as the devil, including the chorus girls. An election day fight turns comical with Wayne trying to tame the feisty Dee but suddenly turns tragic. It is pretty obvious from the get- go who the bad guys are, but Edward Ellis, as the political boss (and Dee's father) is given many dimensions, making him much like Claude Rains' senator in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". To give one of the "heavies" a name like "T. Amato" indicates the mood of the script which never gets its bearings to really make you take the film seriously. One of Wayne's first non-action/westerns (and set in the present day), this shows him in the same light as James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Gary Cooper and yes, even Ronald Reagen as the simpleton fighting for truth, justice and the American way. The film both benefits and suffers from its comic elements, a plus for the prissy butler Barnett Parker, a definite minus for the brute who lusts for Dee in a seemingly light-hearted manner which turns treacherous, and stunned silence for the slapstick manner of the fight.

Mark Price Going out for the day and seeing the BBC had a John Wayne movie on for the afternoon I left and set the tape running. Later I started to watch it expecting a western, I was disappointed at first and then pleasantly surprised. I have seen very few John Wayne movies that were not westerns and not always good but this I enjoyed. Good storyline and a plot which was well thought out. This is the first time I have seen Frances Dee and she was very convincing in her conflict of emotions in loyalty to her father and love for the "Duke". Edward Ellis was wooden but he was old school so I could put up with that. Ward Bond was unnerving in his role as the simple-minded killer henchman. I shall keep the tape and look for more Frances Dee movies, a good actress easy on the eye - and married for 57 years to the same man - respect!!