Casanova Brown

This "screwy comedy" seems very forced. Indeed, the actors TRY very hard to make a go of an essentially unfunny script. And, as a result it doesn't really go anywhere. The idea of a woman finding out she was pregnant after getting a quickie divorce just isn't all that funny. And then, when Cooper sneaks off with the baby because he doesn't want it put up for adoption just seems terribly unfunny and it's really pushing hard to turn this into a comedy. It's really a shame, too, as the actors were more capable than the script and I found myself just bored by the whole mess. Considering that Cooper made so many GOOD comedies, I recommend you see them instead.

For a lighthearted comedy as described, the subjects are quite serious, a man sees his short intense relationship with his fiancée end very suddenly because the introduction to his future mother-in-law does not exactly go smoothly, to put it mildly.

That is a kind of flashback by the way because in the meantime he already has a new relationship, one in which he is going to get married tomorrow.

But when he finds out that his ex has just given birth to a daughter and that she wants to give the child up for adoption, he more or less kidnaps the child.

His current girlfriend is very easily pushed aside as filler and that results in a strangely unbalanced film, it is also strange to see how fathers then were already seen at that time as people who actually had little right to their child while mothers were already considered to be the rightful owners for the upbringing .

What a waste of time. There is absolutely nothing funny in this so-called comedy. The plot, or lack of it, is is pretty stupid and corny. Gary Cooper was much better in Ball of fire and Meet john doe and Teresa Wright didn't do many comedies. Don't waste your time.

A man named Casanova becomes involved with a number of women and a cute baby. This attempt at screwball comedy has a few amusing moments but much of the humor is forced. Despite the efforts of veteran screenwriter Johnson and director Woods, the film takes a while to get going and soon runs out of steam. Cooper tries hard but can't overcome the weak script. Morgan comes off best, playing Cooper's would-be father-in-law. Wright is perky as Cooper's wife, but seems too young for him; there was an age difference of over 17 years between them. Interestingly, the baby girl is played by a fellow named Billy Chapin, who went on to have a brief acting career before retiring at age 16.

This one gets a lot of flak for being simply ridiculous--and I can see why--but if you come with a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief you will enjoy it.

A case in point--a cigarette butt ends up burning an entire house--which some viewers might see as over-the-top but I thought was simply laugh-out-loud hilarious. There are other laugh-out-loud moments for me too, but the movie nosedives when the Gary Cooper character kidnaps his own baby: he's a college professor and is unable to understand the rate of growth of a newborn baby? Seriously stretches credulity, but watch it for Gary Cooper and the earnest Teresa Wright.