Warner Bros were known for their fast-talking tough guy stars: Lee Tracey, Robinson, Bogart, Pat O’Brien. The smooth-talking Warren William doesn’t quite seem to fit, though he tries. Although a B picture (running under 60 minutes) it was directed by Robert Florey and has Guy Kibee in the cast.
Williams plays a Broadway bookie who moves into the insurance business. He takes an insurance policy from an eccentric Southerner (Guy Kibee) against said Southern’ers daughter (Claire Dodds) from being married – the sort of silly plot that works well enough to pass the time, eg One Night in the Tropics. But they stuff it – they don’t get Williams to romance her until the film is half way over; Claire finds out about it and romances Williams back – but she tells Kibee? How come? Who cares?
The film is best known (if it is known at all) for featuring Errol Flynn in a support role as one of Dodd’s suitors. He’s handsome though moustache-less and is a lot more comfortable in front of the camera than he was during In the Wake of the Bounty – though of course he’d been to Northampton Rep during the mean time. He has two scenes, one chatting with Dodd at a golf course, and another one out to dinner with William’s minions trying to stuff up his romance with Dodd.
The main faults of the film are the wonky structure, William’s flat performance in the lead, and the lack of chemistry between Williams and Dodd. It’s an okay idea for a screwball comedy – it’s kind of a shame in a way that Errol Flynn didn’t get the chance to play the lead, he would have been a lot better.
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