Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

LeonLouisRicci Your Enjoyment of this Movie will Depend on Your Tolerance for Blending very Serious Subject matters with Dated, Cringe Inducing Humor and Slapstick, all delivered at a Dizzying Pace. It can Work with Black Comedy, become Successful with Sophisticated Construction and not this Type of Silliness. The Three Stooges can pull it off because Their Outrageous Offerings are Not Obfuscated by Dramatizing.The Superstar Cast was probably ready to lend Their Talents to the Propaganda effort and They all seem to be "on" and give it Their All. But, the above mentioned Mix is a Bitter Sweet Dish of an Uncomfortable Union of a Cheer-Leading Chorus of Patriotism and a "Concentration Camp" Reality that was a Contemporary Suffering. It's a Worthy effort but as Entertainment it is best looked at as a Curio-So and a Manufactured Manifestation of Artistic Angst. The Reality was a Horror and a Nightmare that, at the time, was being Painfully Endured by Enemies of Fascism.

samhill5215 Even for the supercharged, ultra-patriotic atmosphere of WWII this film had to have been an embarrassment to all concerned. It's hard to believe Bogart was in it this far into his career. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be, a spy-caper, a spy-spoof, a mixture? Everyone comes off bad, especially the cops who in their utter incompetence actually help the spies. These last ones come off a bit better but one is left wondering how they managed to recruit such a sizable stable of agents. As for the good guys, Bogart's gang, they're not much better, relying on unfounded guesswork, Ma's hunches, and blind luck to thwart the bad guys. And speaking of Bogart, what exactly was he? He's described as a promoter but of what we're never told. He seems to gamble a lot and has a large retinue but what's his racket? And how come none of them were drafted? This one would be a total bust were it not for Jackie Gleason as one of Bogart's henchmen, Judith Anderson in a reliably evil role, Frank McHugh who's always a hoot, and the lovely Kaaren Verne who we don't see enough.

gazzo-2 Great cast here-Bogie,Lorre, Veidt, Anderson, Phil Silvers(!) Jackie Gleason(!!) in early roles, character guys galore-Demarest, Frank Herbert, Barton Maclane, etc heck even the little bald hotel clerk, the chunky Santa like guy in the Auction audience and the varied Nazis all were in literally 100's of movies back when. You know'em all when you see'em.I saw this back to back w/ another similar propaganda flick from that era-Across the Pacific. Bogie nails the Nazis this time around, stopping a spy ring from blowing up a battle ship in NYC w/ a pack of dese, dem and dose type guys. You never Quite know how seriously to take this-what w/ the rather stereotyped Guido types on one hand and the Hitler salutes on the other. Much of this was tongue in cheek but noooooooot quite crossing into satire-land. There was a war on, after all.Couple of parts that make you cringe-the blonde gal is hit two or three times in the face, once for laughs(!) and they had a black valet shining Bogie's shoes and actually say, w/ a straight face-Things ain't as black as they seem-more or less. That-well it was hard to sit thru. You'd like to think they knew better.Do check it out though-it's (mostly) in fun and does move along quickly save for the last third, where it begins to wear out it's welcome. Bogie and Veidt esp. are worth the price of admission.*** outta ****

silverscreen888 This wartime film is many things, I suggest: a crackling good mystery caper; a delightful comedy; an effective propaganda piece again Nazis; and a delightful comedy all rolled into one. The heart of the story is Alfred "Gloves" Donahue, played by Humphrey Bogart. He and his small mob of Damon Runyonesque holdovers from the 1930s are living on Bogart's brain as a smart gambler. He has a house, a servant, cuddly mobsters played by William Demarest, Frank McHugh and Jackie Gleason, and a mother in the person of Jane Darwell. Her 'feeling" that something is wrong involves him in the murder of his friend Miller, maker of his daily cheesecake, and in the pursuit of a girl played by Kaaren Verne implicated in the man's death. He tracks her to a nightclub owned by another veteran of Prohibition, Barton MacLane and his second Edward Brophy as "Joe". Bogart questions Verne who seems troubled, and argues with her pianist, Pepi, played by Peter Lorre. Suspecting something is wrong, after agreeing under pressure to leave the place, Bogart returns and finds Joe dying; the man holds up one open hand--then expires. Bogart forgets a glove and is fingered as Joe's killer by an angry MacLane. Deciding to avoid the cops, whom he hears on the radio are after him, Bogart takes Demarest with him to search a suspect building instead. Demarest is kidnapped; and searching for him, Bogart has to kill a man who tries to murder him; the assassin falls to his death. Bogart continues his search of the building while his assistant, McHugh waits in an auction gallery. Bogart has met the leader of the bad guys, and his assistant, played by Conrad Veidt and Judith Anderson. He tries to rescue Verne, but she clobbers him to save him from being shot by Pepi from behind. McHugh is thrown out of the gallery, but when Verne returns, she helps a tied up Bogart and Demarest to escape. Instead, he rifles a desk then goes after Ebbing (Veidt), knocks him out and forces Verne to go with them as they escape. The three fugitives race into Central Park, pursued by a car filled with villains. While Bogart dispatches one of them, Verne--who has revealed she's only been helping the bad guys' scheme to save her father--finds a paper Bogart had picked up, along with an address book earlier, revealing that her father is dead. Bogart and Verne book a room and then send for the police; but Ebbing captures them first and turns them over to the police, before vanishing. Bogart and Verne try to explain what's going on to Lt. Forbes, played by James Burke; they go back to the building--but the evidence has all been removed. So Bogart escapes, in a hail of bullets. Back at Bogart's house, MacLane breaks in on Donahue's people, to take him in for having killed his partner. Bogart has arrived, just in time to tell him he's found "fifth columnists"--"five" was what a dying Joe tried to warn him about with his upraised hand. Finding the place to which Ebbing has moved a big meeting he talked about earlier, Bogart and Demarest replace two men they slug and end up addressing that meeting as "munitions experts" from out of town, after Ebbing had spoken of the group's glorious coming 'action'. Bogart figures out the action--mines planted in the way of a US destroyer in the harbor. MacLane and Bogart's men arrive just then to overwhelm the pro-Nazis; but Bogart follows Ebbing who runs out--and is captured and forced to drive a powerboat Ebbing has prepared to ram into the destroyer, now that the original plan has been stopped, in a suicidal act of defiance. This synopsis may sound like an adventure; but the film is handled with verve and style as a comedy by all concerned. Vincent Sherman directed, admirably, from a literate script by Leo Rosten, Leonard Spigelgass and Edwin Gilbert. Bogart is very good as Gloves, with Veidt, Ludwig Stossell, Peter Lorre and Burke taking second honors. Kaaren Verne, Wallace Ford, Phil Silvers, William Demarest, Frank McHugh and Jackie Gleason are all fine. Martin Kosleck, Jean Ames, Irene Seidner, Emory Parnell, Ben Welden, Sam McDaniel and Jane Darwell and Judith Anderson round out the main cast. Jerry Wald produced with Hal B. Wallis; Sindey Hickox did a sterling job as director photography, in a film eerily presaging "the Untouchables" TV show. Max Parker did the art direction, with gowns by Howard Shoup. This is a surprising, inventive and entertaining film, I argue, one whose dialogue is played to the hilt by all concerned. The gag lines hold up surprisingly well, it is an attractively mounted and a thoroughgoing sleeper as an entertainment piece. I recommend it highly.