No one has much good to say about the Group 3 films of the early 50s. This is one - it's not much. The novel sold well and was turned into a musical.Maybe it needed songs.
It's about Finch who is an antiques dealer into vases and stuff. It's hard to make that cinematic and this film doesn't manage it - there's not even decent antiques form.
This is the sort of role that needs a breezy star like Kenneth Moore. Finch was more of an actor than a star. I am so ambivalent about him in this movie. I watch him going "he's not bad, his performance is fine... I just don't care." There's a sweet moment where he finds the vase that he loves and smiles and it's solid acting but... the film's not really about that. You don't get the sense he actually truly loves the vase. Maybe I'm just more indifferent to Finch than I realise.
The guts of the plot has him trying to get this vase off Felix Alymer. I didn't follow all the stuff with him selling it and what not. The girl is Adrienne Cori... only she's not because Finch is married. That's dumb. The girl should have been single and it should have been a romance.
Finch's wife seems miserable. They've got two kids - it's weird seeing him play a family man. Maybe the character needed to be more Jewish or something. I dunno. This film just is very underwhelming.
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