Repent at Leisure

Though this is hardly original, I think that maybe the fact that there's a consistent grade of B-listers taking part just about gets it over the finish line in one piece. With "Emily" (Wendy Barrie) jilting "Prince Paul" (Rafael Storm) at the altar - with the full support of her doting and wealthy father "Baldwin" (George Barbier), she bumps into the charming "Hughes" (Kent Taylor) on the top of a bus - in full wedding regalia - and the ensuing whirlwind romance results in marriage. She tells her father only to discover that he is one of his employees. Much to the chagrin of his colleagues, "Hughes" suddenly starts to move up through the department store in which he works, but he is confident it's all based on merit. He has no idea that he's the boss's son-in-law! That state of affairs cannot continue and in fit of pique, the man leaves job and marriage to work for a competitor. The battles lines are drawn as the two stores battle to out-sale each other. It's all about brollies in the end as the rather predicable outcome hoves into view. The cast put a little entertaining effort into their characters and the writing does enough to keep this moving along making an amiable watch for an hour.

"Repent at Leisure" is a light comedy romance and drama with a supporting cast that's probably better known by most movie mavens than the leads And George Barbier, Thurston Hall and Charles Lane give better performances as R.C. Baldwin, Jay Buckingham and Clarence Morgan.

Kent Taylor and Wendy Barrie aren't bad, but their roles are much less natural than those of the three mature and accomplished actors. Taylor's Richard Hughes is probably meant to seem standoffish, but he comes across as wooden at times. And, there's little to no spark between the two who are supposed to be in love.

The plot is simple and the story is okay. The addition of a baby gives some depth to an otherwise bland story, but that still can't elevate this story much above average. Five stars are generous, but the supporting cast deserve that much. Only the most stalwart of old film buffs would likely be able to stay with this film.

The script doesn't have much memorable in it. Here are the two best lines in the film. Emily, "For two cents, I'd marry a truck driver." J.C. Baldwin, 'And I'd much rather see you give up this heel-clicker now than I would see your heart broken with a divorce at the end of the year."

Wendy Barrie and Kent Taylor star in "Repent at Leisure" from 1941.

Barrie plays Emily Baldwin, the daughter of a department store magnet who is about to marry a prince and runs out on him. She hops on a bus and meets a man, Richard Hughes (Kent Taylor) who gives her a dime for the bus. Naturally he's curious as to what she's doing in a wedding gown. She tells him she was a model at a store and quit abruptly.

She is interested in meeting a different kind of man from what she has in the past, and he's it; they also have similar goals. She has nowhere to go so he offers her a separate part of his apartment.

It turns out he works at her father's department store - she doesn't mention it's owned by her family - and the next day, all the single men are fired. They have to cut employees and they don't want children to suffer. Try pulling something like that today.

Richard says he's married and has been for the past year. His boss then invites Richard and his wife over to play bridge.

Emily offers to be his wife for the evening. They not only wind up getting married for real, but they go to a foundling home and adopt a beautiful baby boy. All goes well for a while.

This is a good film with a nice performance by Wendy Barrie and the rest of the cast. Charles Lane, who died at 102 in 2007, is Richard's curmudgeon boss and gives his usual nasty performance; and George Barbier is Emily's kind and helpful father.

Enjoyable.

This is a variation on the runaway bride plot. Wendy Barrie, generally not a favorite of mine, is likable as said lady. She runs out on her would-be groom as the movie is opening. Her goal is to meet a man not interested in her department store-owner father's money. Enter Kent Taylor.

Taylor is rather wooden. But his character is meant to be stolid, though honorable. They make a cute couple, through ups and downs.

The supporting cast is uniformly good. And the plot doesn't seem forced. It has plenty of variations on the standard theme and is a nice way to pass some time.

"Repent at Leisure" (1941) is about as logical a title for this little 66-minute B-grade film as the sequence of events depicted in it flow from plausible logic. However, that's not to say the film isn't enjoyable, because it actually is, up to a point. And that point is the drawn-out final scene, which to me was as much without merit as it was without defensible premise. It just isn't good when the final scene leaves one heading for the exit in a disagreeable state of mind.

But the movie is light and airy and pretty much a feel-good flick in general, with the department store owner (George Barbier) and his daughter (Wendy Barrie) involved in a series of comical concealed and mistaken identity concerns. How things came to this compounding familial difficulty requires the viewer to take a few leaps of faith along the way, which is acceptable because there is some fun to be had here. Kent Taylor as the leading man chosen by Wendy really has nothing going for him in the way of charisma, and it is hard to see why we should find him appealing, let alone Wendy. It is obvious this film was very cheaply done but does pass along some enjoyable moments, but please... just don't expect too much from it.