Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Robert J. Maxwell Four or five short stories cobbled together by means of a mysterious frock coat that's passed from hand to hand. Some are amusing and some dramatic. The principals are Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Henry Fonda, Ginger Rogers, Charles Laughton, Edward G. Robinson, W. C. Fields, and an ensemble cast of poor black farmers featuring Paul Robeson and his magnificent voice. The plot dynamics include love and money, which seem to go together so often. All of the endings are more or less happy. The less happy one include Boyer as a womanizer who is shot and winds up in hospital, and J. Carrol Naish as a robber who we last see on fire in a smoking airplane.None of the performances fall flat and the direction by Julian Duvivier is functional and suitably light hearted, sometimes perhaps too light hearted, so that in retrospect the movie looks as much like a piece of froth as a morality play. The segment involving Henry Fonda and Ginger Rogers is like spun candy. Not necessarily the best performances, but the most memorable are those of Marion Martin, the blond tart., You may remember her as Gloria the Pom Pom girl who sings "Palsy Walsy" in the Bob Hope comedy, "They Got Me Covered." And then there is Paul Robeson who gives a brief speech that sounds very much like an expression of the ideology that had Winston Churchill so awfully worried around the time of World War II. I suppose, given the picture of blacks that's presented, the segment could be accused of perpetuating a racial stereotype -- all those poor hymn-singing Darkies -- but it could have been far worse. Instead of Paul Robeson, the producers might have given us Stepin Fetchit. And in many ways the blacks are superior to most of the others in the film, despite the Hallelujas and the heavenly choir., After all, instead of merely grasping for money or for love, they share it or give it away.Withal, it's more than two hours long and sometimes seems like it lags behind the clock. After all, the Brits brought in the splendid collection of linked horror stories, "Dead of Night," in a tidy 103 minutes.

dougdoepke The movie's a pretty good look at some of TCF's top stars of the day. The plot amounts to a series of vignettes that follow a dress coat as it gets passed around to a series of new owners. The trouble is the coat is supposed to be cursed so we expect some adversity to befall each new owner. Some vignettes, of course, are better than others. Personally I liked the Rogers- Fonda farcical 20-minutes best. On the other hand, I can see why the WC Fields episode was dropped from many versions since it's not the grouchy comedian at his best. (I also suspect the rather gross anatomical drawing behind his lectern didn't help.)As a movie, it's certainly different, something of a showcase and, my gosh, was Rita Hayworth ever any lovelier than here. Pairing her with a pixie-ish Thomas Mitchell as a cuckolded husband was a masterstroke. Watch how slyly he asserts himself against the over-confident Boyer. Robinson gets the most extended screen time as a down-and-out lawyer trying to impress his old school chums. I'm just sorry we didn't get to hear more of Paul Robeson's wonderful bass voice in the final darktown jubilee section. Nonetheless, it's a sprightly and satisfying way to end the saga of the accursed dress coat. The movie comes across today as an exception to the standard studio product, but is cleverly set up with a dash of humor and a touch of timeless human interest.

moonspinner55 In New York, a man's dress coat, supposedly cursed by a disgruntled tailor, changes the lives of those who come in contact with it. They are: Charles Boyer as a suave actor wooing married Rita Hayworth, Henry Fonda as a nerd who stops Ginger Rogers from marrying skirt-chaser Cesar Romero, Charles Laughton as an aspiring musician, Edward G. Robinson as an unemployed alcoholic about to attend his class reunion, and Paul Robeson and Ethel Waters as poor black farmers (another story starring W.C. Fields was trimmed in 1942 but later became available on home-video--it adds nothing). Short stories told mostly in expert fashion, though some are obviously better than others. Fonda and Rogers are such an odd twosome that the second episode is probably the weakest; the exceptional performances by Laughton and Robinson make their installments the strongest. However, the striking finale, complete with heavenly light and hallelujah chorus, looks so different from the rest (and is filmed like a mini-epic) that it appears to be a reel from another movie altogether. Overall, an entertaining piece for the actors, particularly Robinson as the ultimate underdog, surprisingly vulnerable in an Oscar-worthy turn. **1/2 from ****

browser-4 Okay, 10/10 is supposed to be excellent but I reserve my 9s & 10s for really exceptional movies that far excel "great" movies.I have no problems with most of the other reviewers and agree with MOST of their opinions.The movie has a stellar cast and all seem to handle their roles with ease and aplomb. The fact that the jacket fits so many different frames is the point that requires a tiny bit of suspension of belief but that is for nit-pickers to point out. If the jacket has, indeed, some magical properties that should be considered.What is interesting is that the movie now being shown includes a W.C. Fields that was deleted in the theatrical release.In short, watch and enjoy a large cast of Hollywood notables giving great performances ..... maybe I should give it a 9, but I'll stick with an 8.