One of the last films from RKO and one of the last with Dick Powell as an actor and it's of such a quality as to make you not feel too sad about either. There is some colourful Frank Tashlin direction with many of his trademarks beloved by auteurists (satire, dream sequences, cartoony moments), and the initial idea isn't bad but it soon gets yucky and tiresome.
Powell is a comedy screenwriter looking for inspiration on a juvenile delinquent picture so the cops drop off a JD (played by perhaps the most inappropriate actor in Hollywood for the part, Debbie Reynolds)- he winds up marrying her to avoid gaol and they eventually fall in love.
There are some unpleasant supporting characters, both Powell assistants - an alcoholic old maid (alcoholism... ha ha ha ha) and a camp assistant reminiscent of David Wayne in Adam's Rib who is supposed to be straight. Are we meant to be happy that Powell and Reynolds wind up together? It's all a bit too Woody Allen and Soon Yi.
Anne Francis, as Powell's girlfriend, is criminally under-used, Powell looks tired, Reynolds is professional and chirpy but miscast. There are some funny gags about Hollywood.
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