Eine Gruppe von Professoren, die an einer neuen Enzyklopädie arbeitet, trifft auf eine großmäulige Nachtclub-Sängerin, die von der Polizei gesucht wird und helfen ihr, ihren Mafiaboss-Liebha... Alles lesenEine Gruppe von Professoren, die an einer neuen Enzyklopädie arbeitet, trifft auf eine großmäulige Nachtclub-Sängerin, die von der Polizei gesucht wird und helfen ihr, ihren Mafiaboss-Liebhaber zu Fall zu bringen.Eine Gruppe von Professoren, die an einer neuen Enzyklopädie arbeitet, trifft auf eine großmäulige Nachtclub-Sängerin, die von der Polizei gesucht wird und helfen ihr, ihren Mafiaboss-Liebhaber zu Fall zu bringen.
- Für 4 Oscars nominiert
- 4 Gewinne & 4 Nominierungen insgesamt
- Waiter
- (as Elisha Cook)
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The story is pretty silly (inspired by "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs", really): A group of dorky professors are writing an encyclopedia, and English Professor Cooper decides he needs more information on Slang. In his quest for current jive talk he meets Barbara Stanwyck, as a too-lively singer/gang moll. She takes advantage of his invitation to discuss verbiage to use his ivory tower as a hideout, and moves in with the professors. She quickly decides to stay, then to have her way with Coop (who wouldn't), and then falls...
A very funny, sprightly film, fast-paced and full of wonderful performances. Stanwyck is glowingly wonderful, but I still can't get over Cooper's wonderful characterization of a supremely attractive total geek. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, see the movie and you'll realize it's true.
What's more, it's a fun movie, fun to see and especially fun to hear. Stanwyck is her usual fascinating self, but in this movie it's the men - the seven old bachelors and the younger Cooper in the "club" - that are the most entertaining.
When you have directors and writers such as Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder behind the film, you know it's a winner.
Because the story dealt with a bunch of encyclopedia writers trying to find out the latest slang words, the dialog in here is really funny. The expressions of the day are dated and humorous and there are so many you can't count them all. Some are stupid; some are hilarious...which is what you get with most comedies anyway. Not every line hits the mark, but a lot do in this one.
Tack on some action and some romance and it's corny-but-cute film , entertaining all the way.
If, ultimately, it doesn't have the machine-gun energy of His Girl Friday (then again, few movies do), it makes up for it with a fun premise that Hawks and Wilder ride out logically, as far as comedy premises can go. It's about seven professors and their leader professor, played by Cooper, who for years have been writing an encyclopedia and are coming close to the end... except for a snag - slang words. The old guys and intellectuals haven't a clue as to what words like "Boogie" and "sugar-puss" mean, until they get a few people off the street to tell them. That, and a nightclub singer (Stanwyck) on the run from the cops after she gets unwittingly (and unfairly) mixed up in a murder plot with her fiancée. So, she shacks up with Cooper and his fellow profs, and it becomes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with the twist that the girl this time is a lot more wily (and tempting) while the men are... old professor types who know almost everything except the human heart.
But Hawks makes twist on his own premise as he goes along, too. We see the natural progression of the plot, of Cooper quickly falling in love with Stanwyck's advances (all fake at first just so she can stay at the house), and then little by little she falls for him too, or at least feels so guilty about what she's doing to see the old geezers as real people instead of obstacles. There are a few key scenes that break the mold of the comedic antics (some of which, like Stanwyck showing the old men how to dance is hilarious and memorable): one is the bachelor dinner between the professors, when the one professor, played by Richard Haydn, talks about his marriage from many years before, and it becomes genuinely tender and sincere, not played for laughs, certainly not when they're all singing the song Gienevive. The other scene is when Cooper walks into the wrong room (thinking it's a professor and not his future wife) and asks for advice about what to do, as he loves her and isn't sure about himself. It's all shot in dark, with a few specific lighting touches, and it's about perfect.
The ensemble is entertaining- from the old men with their various (sometimes interchangeable) personalities, to the film-noir knockoffs playing the henchmen of Joe Lilac- and there are many lines and moments that, upon a repeat viewing, should become even quotable. It could be said that it's slightly dated in some of its approach to tradition vs. the titillating, but it never loses its sense of humor, all the way up to the climax. Oh, and it also happens to feature one of the best nightclub music scenes in the movies, with Gene Krupa and his band doing "Drum Boogie", first in its usual form (a fantastic drum solo at the end), and then a variation on it with Krupa performing the song in a huddle of people with matchsticks on a matchbox. A small masterpiece of music in the middle of very good romantic comedy.
This is a very enjoyable film. It's got snappy, funny dialogue and while the premise requires suspension of belief it's not so far-fetched as to prevent enjoyment.
While there are film noir qualities it is more in line with the screwball comedies of the period. Big plus for featuring Gene Krupa and Roy Eldridge in the nightclub scene.
Highly recommended.
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesKathleen Howard was left with a fractured jaw when the punch that Barbara Stanwyck threw accidentally made contact. Stanwyck was reportedly mortified by the incident.
- PatzerA cop on the Washington bridge checkpoint says that a professor's driving license was issued in 1903. Driving licenses have existed in the USA only since 1910.
- Zitate
Sugarpuss O'Shea: [needing help with a stubborn zipper] You know, I had this happen one night in the middle of my act. I couldn't get a thing off. Was I embarrassed!
- Crazy CreditsOpening credits prologue: Once upon a time - in 1941 to be exact - there lived in a great, tall forest - called New York - eight men who were writing an encyclopedia.
They were so wise they knew everything: the depth of the oceans, and what makes a glowworm glow, and what tune Nero fiddles while Rome was burning.
But there was one thing about which they knew very little - as you will see . . .
- VerbindungenEdited into Geschichte(n) des Kinos: Une histoire seule (1989)
- SoundtracksSweet Genevieve
(1869) (uncredited)
Music by Henry Tucker
Lyrics by George Cooper
Performed a cappella by the professors
Top-Auswahl
Details
Box Office
- Weltweiter Bruttoertrag
- 630 $
- Laufzeit
- 1 Std. 51 Min.(111 min)
- Farbe
- Seitenverhältnis
- 1.37 : 1