Pillow to Post

I'll be the first to admit that this movie will probably never be regarded as one of the Top 10 Classics. However, this movie continues to captivate me.

The plot while predictable, is engaging and the characters are interesting (especially, Ida Lupino). Ida Lupino is a cutie pie in this movie!

I would highly recommend this movie!

Sweet, silly little trifle is merely an excuse to see Ida Lupino get a chance to put the heavy dramatics aside briefly as a career girl who becomes more pixelated as the complications pile up.

The story addresses the wartime housing shortage and some of the subterfuge that had to be resorted to just to have a decent place to rest your head at times. Of course misunderstandings abound.

Ida is charming and adept at comedy, William Prince is fine but it's a shame that since she rarely did comedy she didn't have a chance to costar with one of the master of the form like Cary Grant or Clark Gable. Sydney Greenstreet is funny as Prince's commanding officer as always relishing a chance to also break from the villain role and play comedy.

All together a cute little ride with nothing important to say but a nice little picture nonetheless.

Jean Howard (Ida Lupino) is a single 30 year old in L. A living off of her oil tycoon father's money. With all the men away at war, she convinces him to be his new oil well supply salesman despite never working a day in her life. It's not going well but she refuses to come home. With the wartime shortage, she stumbled upon housing near an army base but they only take in army families. Lt. Don Mallory gives her a lift and she recruits him to be her fake husband. He's forced into the situation when his commanding officer Colonel Michael Otley gets involved. In addition, potential client Earl Clark is interested. Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge do some music. Willie Best is the local driver Lucille.

This is a fun rom-com. I like Ida's sassy fake-crying try-hard character. William Prince is fine as the mild-mannered do-gooder. It would work better if he's dumber. He would be easier to manipulate by Jean but he does have good banter with her. I'm still not sure that I buy him going along with her scam but a good rom-com does require some disbelief. This is pretty good. I like these characters. Their sitcom silliness is fun. I actually like this love triangle where all the sides are nice interesting characters. It's not winning any awards but it's still fun.

This is about the first comedy film that I have ever seen Ida Lupino appear in and she was fantastic. Always knew Ida was multi-talented as an actress, director and producer. In this film Lupino (Jean Howard), "The Devil's Rain",'75, appears as a young gal who wants to work in her father's oil business and decides to become a traveling sales gal, which at the time was unspeakable in that type of business. Jean has to find a proper place to sleep on her travels, and since it was war time, she decided to get hold of a Lt. in the Army who would have living quarters for wives. This lucky Lt. was portrayed by William Prince, (Lt. Don Mallory), "Nuts",'87, who unwillingly helped Jean make this a reality. Another big shock in this film is the appearance of Sydney Greenstreet,(Col. Michael Otley), "Flamingo Road",'49 and of course, the "Maltese Falcon", with Humphrey Bogart. In this role Col. Otley is Don Mallory's Commanding Officer and they live together in the housing unit. It is a very enjoyable funny film and was probably a big shocker for people in 1945, it sure takes a person way back in the PAST.

Pillow To Post has Ida Lupino working for her dad Paul Harvey's oil drilling supply company because his sales force have all been drafted. She has to sell John Mitchell the company supplies and get a signed order.

But with wartime housing being what it is, the only room she can find is at a motel court built for GIs and their dependents. Fortunately she finds a nice lieutenant in William Prince to take on the role of husband.

I'm sure you know that love will bloom as it always does in these movies. The wartime housing shortage was always a good subject for comedy, the best known being The More The Merrier.

Lupino is quite frazzled in her role, but all to good effect. William Prince is an officer and a gentleman always. Nice supporting cast headed by Sydney Greenstreet as Prince's commanding officer who is on a diet to lose weight so he can go overseas. I'm betting George C. Marshall wants his officers slim and trim for the front.

Pillow To Post is a nice wartime comedy that still holds up well.