St. Benny the Dip

By 1951 the blacklist was in full force. But Lionel Stander got to appear in this film St. Benny The Dip because it was an independent production shot in New York City released by United Artists. In 1951 no Hollywood studio would have employed Stander.

Stander along with Roland Young and Dick Haymes who plays the title role play three confidence men whom the police are hot on the trail of. In eluding the cops the three go into a church basement and take three clerical habits. After that they seek shelter in what turn out to be an old closed up mission.

The police do catch them there, but they think they're clergy come to reopen the place. After that the three are trapped in their roles, but each in his own way works out his salvation.

St. Benny The Dip is one of those old sentimental type films that we never get seen made today save for the Hallmark Channel. All three of the leads fit comfortably into parts that are written for them.

This film marked the farewell big screen performances of Roland Young and Freddie Bartholomew who plays a young minister. Young died two years later and Bartholomew just left the business all together.

A lot of laughs, but also a few moments of pathos characterize St. Benny The Dip. Good family entertainment still.

In his characteristically bemused and half-faltering voice, Roland Young reads the majestic opening of Genesis to a handful of charity cases in a nobly spacious but dilapidated old building still remembered for its better days. He and his comrades, the script reminds us, are just three people in a city of eight million, and the city is visually portrayed in towering terms of expressionism; but the eccentric trio still nurses hopes of turning the game in their favor. It turns out that Man proposes, but God disposes. A wise priest is on hand waxing philosophical and poetic about the situation, and in addition along comes a woman-- Nina Foch-- whose own definition not about fame (which she seized at but lost) or about globetrotting or getting rich quick but about a successful domestic life. A comedic situation arises from the contrasting lures of a quiet, productive lifestyle versus an independent and unrestrained one. Dick Haymes sings an unexpectedly bluesy hymn in one of his last movie roles, and fellow actors Roland Young and Freddie Bartholomew are winding up their big-screen careers as well, adding unintentionally and retroactively to the movie's elegiac quality.

This film is a pleasant surprise from cinema's greatest liar, Edgar G. Ulmer. (His claims for his career in interviews seem now to be regarded as largely preposterous -- many flat out lies, much inflation of his contributions...) But this is a nice, competent little comedy built from crime story elements, and quite enjoyable. Part of the surprise is the far-better-than-just-decent cast: Dick Haymes (ok -- none too great -- in the title role), Nina Foch, excellent as The Girl in The Story; Lionel Stander, as always both lively and believable, and Roland Young, looking sadly worn out. Below the title, there is Oscar Karlweis, a most appealing Viennese actor (and important on Broadway as Jacobowsky in the original production of "Jacobowsky and the Colonel," in the role Danny Kaye played in the film), Jean Casto (her only film role; she originated the role in "Pal Joey" (1940) that made Elaine Stritch a star in the 1952 revival -- which co-starred Lionel Stander!). Uncredited: Dort Clark (of "Bells Are Ringing") and John Lupton (of "Battle Cry"), both in small speaking roles. Lastly, Freddie Bartholomew appears in his final film role -- and, sadly, appears to have completely lost his talent. The role is terrible, and he's awful in it. Smart man to leave the business at this point.

As to the relation of this film to Ulmer's oeuvre -- well, don't make me laugh! But I will say that the absence of Ulmer's musical "genius," that fellow Erdody, is extremely welcome. As always with Ulmer, there is too much score, but this one is not as insufferable as the ones Erdody cranked out.

A sweet, entertaining film.

How is this a parody of "Les Miserables"? I fail to see any similarity other than the fact that both stories deal with sympathetic criminals. There is no chase, no obsessive policeman-the Sgt. isn't really in pursuit of Benny and his gang in the way Javert pursues Valjean. I don't see any true parody here at all but I am willing to listen to counter arguments.

Is it possible that you mean a particular scene? I'm going to go back and watch it again to see if I can catch something I might have missed the first time around.

The movie is pretty lightweight despite its creative team having such a strong pedigree but still, it's pleasant enough. Stander and Roland Young are great as usual and crooner Dick Haymes is likable and believable enough as Benny. It's not "We're No Angels" or "His Girl Friday" but it's not bad.

Considering its a Danziger Brothers poverty row production, St. Benny the Dip is blessed with a marvelous cast. Dick Haymes, Lionel Stander, and Cosmo Topper himself, Roland Young, play a trio of small time hoodlums who disguise themselves as priests to escape a police dragnet. Finding themselves in an abandoned Bowery mission, the threesome take their masquerade to extremes, holding services and feeding the poor. This marvelous tale of redemption also stars a luminous Nina Foch as love interest and Freddie Bartholomew in his final screen appearance. This is perhaps the first and so far only noir-comedy ever made, with some very fine black and white location photography by Don Malkames, whose career took him from Yiddish pictures to 'race' films. John Roeburt's screenplay is consistently intelligent and amusing. The film's low budget is apparent, but its clear everyone involved was working very hard to make a quality picture, and they succeeded.