Las tres noches de Susana

The plot of this movie was a bit silly even when it came out in 1954. But because it features Debbie Reynolds at age 22 (playing a 17 year old) -- when she was very beautiful, vibrant, and also quite sexy -- it's one of my favorite films. Everyone seems to concede that the young Debbie Reynolds was talented and spunky, but because of her girl-next-door persona, few seem to recognize that she had more genuine beauty and sex appeal than many overtly "sultry" or "sexy" actresses of her era -- or, indeed, of any era. The rest of the cast is quite adequate but it's Debbie who makes this movie a lot of fun to watch.

After the lamentably unseen The First Time, the next Frank Tashlin movie showing at my local revival theater was Susan Slept Here. I was sure that SSH could not live up to the high standard set by the first film. But it did, and surpassed it. Personally, I think it's one of my five or ten favorite comedies. Dick Powell (whom I've always loved) stars as Mark Christopher, a Hollywood screenwriter who hasn't had any success after winning an Oscar (which, incidentally, serves as the narrator). He once had an idea to write a serious picture (as opposed to the frivolous comedies that he has specialized in) about a juvenile delinquent, which he mentioned to a policeman friend of his. Well, on Christmas Eve, that policeman, along with his partner, shows up at Mark's door with a 17 year-old juvenile delinquent as a present. Her name is Susan (Debbie Reynolds, whom I also love, almost desperately!), and the policeman proposes that Mark hang around her for a couple of days, you know, for research. He's in a hurry to take his girlfriend (the gorgeous but ferocious Anne Francis, who would star in Forbidden Planet a couple of years later) out on a date, but that comes to an abrupt halt when Susan answers Mark's phone. You know the schtick: Mark starts out annoyed at Susan, but they grow attached. The age difference is brought up frequently enough so it doesn't get too creepy. Mark is 35 ([laugh] - maybe when Powell was dancing with Busby Berkeley) and Susan is 17 (Reynolds was 22 at the time, but she is probably the only actress who could get away with playing a teenager until she was in her 40s). For a very long time Mark doesn't respond to Susan's crush. The only major flaw in the film - and even it's acceptable - is Mark's motivation in marrying Susan. He does it, he says, to save her from six months jail time (she has been arrested for assault on a sailor and vagrancy). It's not very believable, but it's also not that big a deal.

The two leads are exceptional. This was Powell's last movie. After it, he retired to television, although I only call it retirement as a movie snob; he was enormously, enormously successful in the new medium. He's more or less the straight man here. He has a particularly great scene where he watches a 20 year-old movie for which he wrote the dialogue on television. As the actors speak their horrendous dialogue, we watch Powell as he mouths their words, both a man's and a woman's (it's a break-up scene), with an embarrassed look in his eyes. If Powell is good, Reynolds is masterful. She's such an odd actress, not conventional in any way. She had her own niche in Hollywood. Her acting is doll-like with its jerky movements and huge facial expressions. That isn't a criticism whatsoever. I have never seen her in a straight drama (the closest is How the West Was Won); I'd imagine she acts differently, or she never made one. In comedies like this and Singin' in the Rain, she's absolutely perfect. There is not a moment when she's on screen during which I was not laughing myself to tears. The film also has one of the greatest supporting casts ever. Anne Francis I've already mentioned. I very much appreciate the fact that the writers didn't make her character abominable; Susan Slept Here, although it's not a musical, is very much a direct descendent of An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain. One criticism I have of Singin' is that Jean Hagan's villain is too cartoonish (or at least I would have that criticism if Hagan weren't so damn funny in that movie). Francis in SSH is played sympathetically for the most part. Glenda Farrell plays Mark's secretary, Maude, an alcoholic who answers the telephone on Christmas morning: "You talk, I can't." Alvy Moore is Mark's friend and assistant, Virgil, who can crack wise with the best of them. Horace McMahon and Herb Vigran play the two cops, and Les Tremayne plays Mark's lawyer, who is obsessive about his therapy sessions. Red Skeleton has a wordless but amusing cameo as Maude's teenage sweetheart. 10/10.

I confess to a soft spot for this candy-box confection. Ordinarily 10 minutes of Debbie- Reynolds-spunk is enough to last me for 2 hours. But I've got to admit she brings genuine verve and sparkle to the role. Never mind that Dick Powell is closer to 50 than the movie- claimed 35, and at least twice as old as the juvenile Reynolds. Fortunately their clinches are kept to a minimum, even as the under-age innuendo is exploited to the hilt for titillated 1950's audiences. If the plot skirts the bounds of good taste, director Tashlin keeps things from straying with a speeded-up pace that allows little pause for contemplation. I would love to have been in on the meetings where studio exec's kicked this premise around for the censors.

Anyway, Powell is appropriately dour as the sober-sided screenwriter, while Glenda Farrell gets the kind of caustic role that would later suit Thelma Ritter to the proverbial T. And, of course, there's Alvy Moore looking like a college freshman and getting all the clever wisecracks, even if in real life he was a veteran of the bloody WWII battle for Iwo Jima! Too bad Anne Francis doesn't get more screen time as "the other woman". But then she does show why she deserved that drop-dead sexy outfit she wore in Forbidden Planet (1956). Cult director Tashlin manages a few of trademark effects from his cartoonist past--- note Reynolds cooling off her libido with a swinging freezer door, and, of course, the fantasy sequences that fit in perfectly.

All in all, I think RKO got away with one-- had the movie been handled less deftly, someone might have landed in 1954's county clink.

What would a confirmed bachelor, of a certain age, do with the unexpected arrival of a lively 17 years old girl into his life? Reason would indicate to run away from the situation! But have no fear, in the theater, as well as in the movies, these two unmatched people get to grow fond of one another and eventually they get married. That seems to be the premise of "Susan Slept Here", a movie that proves irresistible because of the two leading stars.

Under the direction of Frank Tashlin, this movie, although reflecting a naivete not in synch with the present times, is good fun to watch. The film is done with an impeccable good taste and there is never anything tawdry, or out of place with what one is watching.

Dick Powell was at his best when he took the part of Mark Christopher a thirty-something man in the plot, but looking older than that. Debbie Reynolds, as Susan Landis, brought her winning personality and charm to this rebel girl that begins a total transformation as she discovers she is attracted to Mark.

The supporting cast is also up to task under Mr. Tashlin's guidance. Anne Francis is seen as Isabella, Mark's present love interest. Glenda Farrell, Horace McMahon, Herb Vigran and Alvy Moore, among others make this delightful film into a winner.

Mr. Tashlin includes a dance sequence that plays as a dream in which Mr. Powell, Ms. Francis and Ms. Reynolds are seen as the players. The film is festive and it will delight any viewer looking for an easy time at the movies.

Yet another Frank Tashlin (a former cartoonist) farce, set in LA on Christmas Eve with juvenile delinquent Debbie Reynolds (as perky and as cute as ever) consigned to old Oscar-winner Dick Powell--with the late Alvy Moore as his kookie sidekick, Virgil. Dated now with early 1950s song and look (dig that crazy sports car Powell drives), "real nervous" dialogue, etc. but something still comfy and fun about it--especially to watch on Christmas Eve. Look for great cameo at end by Red Skelton. Oh yes, and *I* like dill pickles and peanut butter!!