Blonde Fever

This is a real misfire of a film. The score and background music is light and goofy, indicating this is a comedy, but to me it is a tragedy as a good woman (Mary Astor as Delilah) sticks by her rotter of a husband, Peter (Philip Dorn), whose lying, infidelity in mind if not deed, gambling, and greed make Daffy Duck look like a profile in virtue. She even plans an elaborate ruse at the end of the film to try and keep him. Why? Peter has the hots for a worker at their restaurant, Sally (Gloria Grahame), who is all of 19. Peter does not want so much to get rid of his wife as he wants to fool around with Sally and then probably discard her, in spite of the fact that Sally has a fiancé who just does not have enough money with his job at a filling station to get married. If everybody would steer clear Peter would clear the field of the fiancé, corrupt the girl, and then go back to his wife leaving Sally a sadder but wiser girl.

The film is basically an hour long story about all of the impediments that stand in his way. Maybe a more talented actor than Dorn could have pulled this part off, although the part is written with such a lack of humanity and a bounty of foolishness and weakness of character that I wonder if even Cary Grant could have made it work. Grahame is very good in her first film role as the confused but greedy girl in the middle. Astor shines in this film with great dialogue delivered like a true pro. She saves it from being a total bomb along with Felix Bressart in a supporting role as the restaurant bar tender with his old world ways.

Philip Dorn and Mary Astor are a couple running a pricey roadhouse. Marshall Thompson and Gloria Grahame (in her screen debut) work for them and hope to get married. Then Dorn wins $40,000 in a sweepstakes, develops a passion for Miss Grahame, and she for him.

On paper it looks like a good set-up, with credited writers like Ferenc Molnar and George Oppenheimer. On the screen, alas, it works only intermittently, when Felix Bressart is speaking as the mlld-mannered bartender, and there are occasional sparks of witty dialogue between Dorn and Miss Astor. Otherwise, it's another Code-compliant, sexless sex comedy, with most of its budget spent pre-production, musical cues are lifted from the Andy Hardy series, and the main pleasure is playing spot-the-players in the crowd. Yes, that's Elisabeth Risdon on a motorcycle on the start. Yes, that's Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy at a table. It's not that there are any issues with the production. It's that there's no real issue in the movie, and we know from the beginning that everything will turn out all right.

There may be a laugh or two buried somewhere in this leaden comedy, but the 70-minutes are now of interest mainly to fans of noir icon Gloria Grahame. Looks like someone tried to adapt sophisticated European comedy to the popular American screen, and it might have worked with a different male lead. Unfortunately, Dutch-born Phillip Dorn makes a very good Nazi but a very poor Cary Grant. His efforts at mugging or delivering romantic dialogue are almost painful to sit through, and bring down the whole effort. Nor does it help that director (Whorf) is a first- timer with no apparent feel for the challenging material. Youngsters Thompson and Grahame do provide lively relief, but are facing what is ultimately a brick wall. And poor Mary Astor, she deserves so much better, but is now apparently on the MGM downgrade. In fact, it's hard to believe this is an MGM production, with its two or three cheap-jack sets that more resemble Monogram than the so-called Tiffany of studios. My guess is that the production was slapped together to meet eager wartime demand for escapist entertainment. This one may fall flat, but at least there's Grahame's special brand of pouty-lipped vamping.

I made it a point to watch this film because I read that it was Gloria Grahame's first film and I am a huge Grahame fan. Like most people I am most familiar with her work in the noir genre. I had assumed that "It's a Wonderful Life "was her first film, since that is where she actually garnered her first public attention, but clearly I was wrong. At any rate it wasn't bad for a first effort from her.

Mary Astor is good as the long suffering wife of a philandering husband with a gambling problem as well. Astor always rose above whatever material she was given and here is no exception. This film is lightweight wartime fluff. I would think that most people forgot about it the minute they left the theater.

Marshall Thompson, who is also making his film debut is appropriately goofy and yet charming as the boyfriend competing for the wandering attentions of Ms. Grahame's Sally.

Phillip Dorn is not an actor I'm that familiar with, but he's okay here as the husband , Mr.Donay, with the wandering eye (and lips, hands, etc.).

This is no masterpiece of fine film craftsmanship, but it is harmless if dated, as most women today wouldn't put up with Mr.Donay's nonsense and Ms. Grahame's character would have been looking for another job.

One other thing. People always talk about what a superior studio MGM was, but realistically they put out as much junk as the others. The difference was that they spent a ton of money on their huge musicals and big star vehicles, but their "B" pictures were as crappy as everybody else's.

Philip Dorn plays Peter Donay, a co-owner of a very fancy restaurant. However, his wife (the other owner) realizes she's married to a handsome pig. Throughout the film, Peter tries to have his way with the pretty young waitress, Sally (Gloria Graham)...and his wife (Mary Astor) knows her hubby is a philanderer. But instead of divorcing him or even confronting him about this, she tries to manipulate Sally's young boyfriend into coming between her and Peter.

The film is supposed to be funny, though at least for me this was a tough order, as I just kept thinking Peter was a jerk and his wife way too longsuffering. Perhaps such a guy might have been seen as funny back in 1944, but today I think most viewers would just dislike him too much to make this a film to recommend to others. The film does have some good acting and the nice MGM polish....but the story just doesn't work out well due to the script.