SnoopyStyle

Robert Webster - Alias Bat Williams (Bruce Cabot) is up for parole. His wife and baby have shown up to plead his case. He gets released. The wife turns out to be his gun moll and the baby is a rental. He rejoins his gang to rob a milk creamery. It ends with killings. Bat goes home to his family who are clueless to his criminal life. Father (Lewis Stone), mother, sister Mildred (Betty Grable), and ex-girlfriend Letty Graves all treat him like a returning hero.

It's a great start. I love the opening section. After he goes home, it's just not that intense. I don't really care enough about Bat to worry. He could get killed or caught. It doesn't matter to me. I would have like for him to stay with his gang. That's a recipe for a fun cops and robbers gangland confrontation. Something occurs to me when John gets his shocking revelation. This should be John's story. His dilemma is much more compelling. It also needs to have an even darker ending.

New milliner Stella (Ginna Claire Mason) is trying to pitch herself to horse racing socialite Rosalind (Holly Robinson Peete). She manages to sneak in one of her creations and Rosalind happens to pick it. Rosalind's hat-maker Odette (Darla Delgado) is forced to hire her on the spot. Rosalind's son Christian (John Clarence Stewart) is taken with her.

Stella is supposed to be a great up-and-comer. She should have a whole collection of unsold hats. At the very least, she should have her book full of her hat designs. She should know what "Bless your heart" means. She could have worn a simple sundress for the BBQ. She needs to be written smarter and better. This is a Hallmark romance and maybe there is less expectations with the writing. I do like these actors. Both Mason and Stewart have an easy charm and nice chemistry. This is a simple story. There is a small bump in the road. It is what it is. This is fine for Hallmark.

It is 1949 Hong Kong. Dr. Han Suyin (Jennifer Jones) is half Chinese, half English. American journalist Mark Elliott (William Holden) is married but separated. The Chinese civil war is raging.

There were plenty of behind-the-scene conflicts and problems with the morality code. They try their best and there is a bit of pushing the envelope. This movie has both the book and the song. Boy, do they use that song. The opening section has her introduction jam-packed with repeated explanation of her ethnicity and position. It's rather annoying. It breaks the cardinal rule of show it, not explain it to death. Maybe it was needed for the 50's audience. In the same vein, she's not speaking that much Chinese. That is probably expecting way too much. As for the romantic chemistry, Jones and Holden have that 50's melodramatic white-bread connection. Their behind-the-scene conflict stays off-camera. The best aspect is the old Hong Kong. There is nothing quite like its look and energy. I'm not sure that this is a good movie, but there is some good interesting stuff in it.