I loved this movie when I first saw it at a revival cinema in the 1960s, but looking at it on Grapevine Video's excellent DVD last night, I was not half as impressed. The movie is still pretty funny, but a lot of the humor is forced and Fred Allen monotonously plays his role on just the one note throughout. "So what?" you ask. "So does everyone else!" But all the other players have very small parts or even cameos, whilst Allen is on screen continuously and he actually acts as if he's on radio, pitching all his lines at a monotonous broadcast level instead of availing himself of any movie subtleties. Of the support cast, I thought Benny and Bendix gave the most enjoyable performances. Has anyone noticed there is an odd asymmetry in the major cast line- up? There are two "A" players (Allen and Ameche), no less than four "B" names (Benny, Bendix, Barnes and Benchley), two "C", (Colonna and Carradine), two "P" (Pope and Pious) and three "T" (Terry, Tyler and Toler). Add Victor Moore and Rudy Vallee -- and that's it!
Review of It's in the Bag!
It's in the Bag!
(1945)
Alas, not half as enjoyable as I remembered !
16 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers