SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS (CARELESS)
(director: Wesley Ruggles; screenwriters: Charles Lederer/George Oppenheimer/story by Ian McLellan Hunter & Aileen Hamilton; cinematographer: Harold Rosson; editor: Frank E. Hull; music: Bronislau Kaper; cast: Lana Turner (Peggy Evans), Robert Young (Bob Stuart), Howard Freeman (Mr. Quill), Walter Brennan (Cornelius Burden), Dame May Whitty (Baba), Eugene Pallette (Durstin), Alan Mowbray (English Gentleman), Pamela Blake (Mitzy), Ward Bond (Jimmy), Joe Devlin (Painter); Runtime: 94; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Pandro S. Berman; MGM; 1943-b/w)
“Has a few moments that work.“
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A fluff rags- to- riches comedy/drama, filled with slapstick and some gags contributed without recognition by the director’s old pal Buster Keaton, that has a few moments that work. Director Wesley Ruggles (“Arizona”/”True Confession”) keeps it pleasant. It’s based on a story by Ian McLellan Hunter & Aileen Hamilton, that’s written by George Oppenheimer and Charles Lederer. A young soda fountain jerk from a hick town, Peggy Evans (Lana Turner), is depressed with her dead-end job. Bored with her dull life, on a whim she serves fountain treats blindfolded and is confronted by her new manager Bob Stuart (Robert Young). When he tries to comfort her, she takes it the wrong way and quits. Hoping to get a fresh start on life, she fakes a suicide in the river by leaving a suicide note and flees with her life savings to New York City. When a sign painter accidentally drops a bucket of paint on her when she stands in front of the Morning Star newspaper office, she fakes amnesia to the anguished newspaper boss Durstin (Eugene Pallette). The publisher is afraid of a law suit and tries to help her regain her memory. When a photograph of her is published in the newspaper, Stuart, who was fired for the mess in the store caused by her supposed suicide, recognizes her and comes to the city to restore her memory. But the scheming woman comes across a story about a kidnapped heiress from seventeen years ago, Carol Burden, and poses as her. Peggy then must convince Carol’s gruff tycoon father (Walter Brennan) and the wary nursemaid Baba (Dame May Whitty) she’s their missing heiress. Since the outcome to this dumb film makes no sense, the fun must be in watching how hard Young tries to be funny and can’t get over. The best part is watching Lana look hot in all her costume changes.
REVIEWED ON 2/1/2018 GRADE: C+ https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/