Hayden Kane
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Haven Kaycee
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
MartinHafer
This very, very insignificant and rather poorly written film apparently helped to launch Lana Turner to stardom. And, as I read through the reviews, I notice that they are all either mediocre or very positive. Well, despite popular opinion, I can't understand any of this as I thought the film was rather stupid and very poorly written. Turner and her co-stars are fine...but the writing was just terrible.When the film begins, a manager in a department store (Robert Young) gets into an argument with an employee (Turner). Soon, when the woman decides inexplicably to disappear and re-invent herself, folks automatically assume she killed herself and HE was responsible. This didn't make sense...and he was soon fired from his job. And, he was determined to track her down and prove to everyone she's alive.In the meantime, through some ridiculous circumstances, she gets into an accident involving paint and she comes up with the idea of pretending she has amnesia. Why? I have no idea whatsoever... Soon, she decides to pretend that she is some long-lost heiress...again, I have no idea why. When her supposed father, the rich guy (Walter Brennan) arrives, she is able to fake her way into getting him to believe she is his long-lost daughter. None of this makes any sense and it also shows Turner's character to be a horrible person...just awful, cruel and conniving.So how is any of this funny or believable?! Well, none of it is and the overall film comes off as very forced and unfunny. And, to make it worse, the ending is god-awful! I have no idea why folks like it...I simply hated it and felt that the average Poverty Row studio made better films than this crappy movie.
mark.waltz
Someone at MGM must have been working overtime to come up with a wild and wacky screwball comedy which is a breath of fresh air when compared to the many mediocre misfires they made. Other than a few Myrna Loy & William Powell/Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy pairings, MGM's strongest suit was not in comedy, but a few, this included, managed to break that streak.Lana Turner, desperate to get out of her small Hudson River Valley town (which seems to be as crowded as Manhattan) fakes a suicide note and ends up faking amnesia due to a hysterical circumstance beyond her control when she tries to place an advertisement in a New York City newspaper. This leads her to getting involved in an old kidnapping case where she convinces brittle Walter Brennan and his long-time nurse Dame May Witty that she is the long lost daughter that was kidnapped as a child. However, her former boss, Robert Young, recognizes her picture in the newspaper, and having been accused of causing her to apparently commit suicide, follows her to the Big Apple, threatening to reveal all and have her jailed on charges of fraud. This creates more confusion and some wacky situations, resulting in of course, that tried and true MGM plot twist: romance.Turner takes on the type of role that Deanna Durbin was doing over at Universal, playing basically a trouble-maker whose schemes somehow seem to work in her favor and fix everybody's problems. Not known for comedy, Turner proves herself to be quite adept, and it is a shame that for the majority of her next decade at MGM, she was cast mainly in glamorous dramas, obviously considered too much of a lady to slip on banana peels or commit other various pratfalls. Young, adept in both comedy and drama, is also very funny, with portly Eugene Palette in fine support as the newspaper magnate who is determined to find out Turner's identity at any cost. Florence Bates and Almira Sessions have nice bits as well.This is memorable for a sequence where Turner makes a banana split blindfolded, and later when Young goes into a Harold Lloyd bit, almost falling off of a balcony at Symphony Hall. I attribute to the comedy here working because of the presence of a rather forgotten master of the genre, Wesley Ruggles, who sets up the zany plot line, builds up the romance, and ends with a bit of drama that is never cloying.
wjksmr
This movie has certainly "grown" on me. There are very few weak parts in it. Even the extras are outstanding. There is both social and moral content. Lana Turner's character grows up and my, what a thinker she is. And so is the persistent Robert Young. Everyone wins. This is what I consider a feel good movie. I also loved both the band music and the opera scene music. If you like Walter Brennan and Dame Mae Witty, you'll have to love them in this movie. Alan Mowbray has a good bit part. I love seeing Eugene Palette manage something without goofing it up. Even he sparkles. And I've become a fan of Jimmy Conlin who plays the role of the bartender.
Neil Doyle
SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS gave 21 year-old LANA TURNER her first big starring break in a film not dominated by a male star. MGM couldn't have chosen a better vehicle to show off her talent as a light comedienne with a gorgeous face and figure. And ROBERT YOUNG does nicely as her leading man in a farce that has elements of screwball comedy.It takes the mistaken identity theme (based on a false case of amnesia) and puts Lana in the clutches of rich relatives--WALTER BRENNAN (in an unusual role for him) and DAME MAY WITTY--who believe she is their long lost daughter. Young knows the real story and spends most of the movie chasing after her to prove to the folks in her hometown that he shouldn't have lost his job over her disappearance.It's all lightweight comedy and Turner never misses a chance to give the role of the scheming girl a sense of fun and innocence with a sexy twist. She goes from brunette salesgirl to blonde heiress in a series of outfits that only MGM's wardrobe department could devise. This is the kind of light escapist entertainment that weary wartime GIs were crazy about--and Lana looks sensational while giving an expert performance.ROBERT YOUNG is no slouch as her leading man. He has some scenes that reveal just what a flair he had for light comedy--and some of it very physical. The big delight is seeing so many well-known names in character roles: Ward Bond, Florence Bates, Alan Mobray, Bobby Blake (as Lana's kid brother), Ray Collins, Frank Faylen, Norma Varden and Howard Freeman, to name a few.Well worth a look--a pure delight from start to finish.
