Tuesday, October 01, 2019

Movie review - "Free for All" (1949) **

Amiable enough comedy helped by the charm of Robert Cummings in the lead as a scientist who invents a pill to turn water into petrol. Cummings really needs a strong film star though - very talented but he wasn't like Cary Grant, he couldn't carry a movie on his own shoulders. Here he's got Ann Blyth who has that china doll prettiness but lacks spunk in a role that requires, I don't know, I'd take Maureen O'Hara or Anne Sheridan.

Percy Kilbridge is always fun and there's other reliable types like Ray Collins. The story is weak because you know it's not a real thing and it's never going to exist and while there's fun satire with the military refusing to believe the thing exists it's depressingly believable the oil company tries to steal it off him. There's a gangster who thinks Cummings is a ganster too but is cute. At the end Cummings gets his memory back and... so what? So they don't need petrol any more? Um...

Maybe colour would have helped. Cummings does well - he just needed a stronger co star. There's location work in Washington.

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