Of historical interest because it was an early lead vehicle for Lucille Ball and helped establish the madcap persona she would use on television. RKO hoped to turn this into a series, but they only made one more. They should have been able to - it was a top idea (crazy actress gets up to schemes), very well cast (Ball on expert form and Jack Oakie as a publicist; all the support actors are top notch, too), some lovely dialogue and digs at movie making (Ball signs an autograph during a shoot out, bagging out a script Ball says "that has to be rewritten before moths would eat it").
But the film is a classic example of poor story construction. For starters they never quite get the character of Annabel - OK she's mad, but she's famous... why does she have to go through all these schemes if she's a top $5,000 a week star? (They should have made her an up and coming star.) What does she want? Is she a bitch, a snob, an artiste... what? It's never clear.
Also the story is a bit of a mess - there is a 10 minute scene where Annabel goes to gaol but it's never really paid off again - there is a moment where she gives counterfeit money and the press refer to her prison record, but that's not used. You could have easily exploited it again, have her run into someone she met in prison or something. And when she becomes a maid, they hardly use it - she doesn't get anything out of being a maid, there is no love subplot or urgency, no stakes - they just sort of kill time until the kidnappers conveniently arrive.
It's frustrating because so much of the film is right - bright, fast paced,, well acted. There are good ideas, too - like the movie studio sending actors dressed as police to rescue Ball. But the structure is wonky.
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