Tall, Dark and Handsome

Sometimes mock turtle soup is better than none, and Tall, Dark and Handsome, while not Damon Runyon, is close enough to the Master to be pretty satisfying in its own right. Cesar Romero plays a kind-hearted gangster who has cultivated a reputation for ruthlessness, but is in reality so nice a guy he won't even execute his rival's henchmen, so he keeps them in the basement of his lakeside mansion. Sheldon Leonard made his first big splash as Romero's rival, and is quite funny. Milton Berle has a small role in this as well. Charlotte Greenwood is also on hand, and does an elaborate dance number. Director Bruce Humberstone keep things moving at a brisk pace. This is at times a quite funny film if one has a taste for old-time gangster movies, of which this is a parody. Cesar Romero handles the lead role beautifully, and gives what may be his best star performance. I'm amazed that his studio didn't capitalize on his work here, and produce a series for him. Always an amiable player, he often seemed oddly cast at times. His mix of outward guile and inner softness has never been so well-used, and he is a delight in this film.

This is such a cute movie, and such a sweet story straight out of the silver screen charm. Starring Cesar Romero as a lovable gangster with a heart of gold, it's set in Chicago in the middle of a turf war between Cesar and rival gangster Sheldon Leonard. With dead bodies popping up around every corner, the police can't pin a thing on either mob boss. It's sheer coincidence that Cesar meets daytime nanny Virginia Gilmore at the mall during Christmastime - and after buying lingerie for a string of his girlfriends. He's charmed by her, but quickly sees she's different from his usual fare; she needs a classy approach. So, he thinks up a quick lie: he's a father in desperate need of a nanny. Cesar's funny sidekick, Milton Berle, and his goofy pal, Charlotte Greenwood, are recruited to back up his lie. They find an orphan child, fill a nursery with toys, and hope for the best.

I'm an old movie buff, and before Cesar Romero's time as Star of the Week on Hot Toasty Rag, I'd never heard of this one. It's so cute, and so funny; I highly recommend it. Cesar looks absolutely gorgeous, so it's no wonder Virginia falls for him so quickly. And he's hilarious, as always. "You dance like a professional," a floozy coos after cutting in on him and Virginia. "So do you," Cesar replies, slipping an insult past the censors. It's a laugh a minute, and with a cute twist: nine years later Hollywood made a word-for-word remake starring Paul Douglas in Love That Brute, and Cesar Romero played the Sheldon Leonard part.

From 20th Century Fox's B picture unit comes this little comic gem about a gangster who couldn't kill. Cesar Romero just can't quite bring himself to rub out rival Sheldon Leonard's many torpedoes sent against him. What he has is a private jail in the basement of his large estate where he just keeps them prisoners and treated pretty well at that. No homicides, no bodies.

He's also putting on a big campaign to win Virginia Gilmore complete with housekeeper Charlotte Greenwood and borrowed son Stanley Clements. It goes in fits and starts.

Sadly though Sheldon Leonard does kill rivals, but Romero's policy pays off in the end big time. The henchmen for both get some laughs with Milton Berle as Romero's top non-trigger man and Franks Jenks and Marc Lawrence as a pair of Leonard's hoods who benefit greatly from Romero's no homcide policy.

Tall, Dark, And Handsome got a Best Original Screenplay Oscar and I will say this one is most original.

While he is billed sixth, I think the real star of this picture was young Stanley Clements as 'Detroit' Harry! Clements' character was a hilariously terrible little juvenile delinquent and based on this worldy-wise and smart-mouthed character, I can understand why Monogram Studios decided to use him for a replacement when Loe Gorcey left the Bowery Boys late in their run. The series was nearly dead...but Clements did as good a job as he could as a guy much like Gorcey's character. I say watch the film for him alone...though overall it's a fun little gangster comedy.

Cesar Romero is Shep...a gangland boss who is very elegant and nice. How nice? It turns out he simply doesn't have the heart to kill his enemies and he keeps them all in a small jail he's had built in his basement! If his rival, Willie (Sheldon Leonard) finds out he's just a softy down deep, Shep will be pushing up the daisies. But, he might anyway when Willie decides to court Shep's fiancé! What comes of all this? See the film.

The script is funny and clever and the characters memorable. It's among Romero's better films and a nice little sleeper comedy anyone could enjoy.

This 1941 film was shown recently at a local cable channel. Not having seen it before, we took a chance that paid off in many surprising ways. H. Bruce Humberstone directed one of his best films in this enjoyable comedy about gangsters in Chicago. The movie was written by Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware. The film has a lot going for it.

Best of all was Cesar Romero, as Shep Morrison, he had one of the best roles of his career. He was a versatile man, as he proves with his take on the Chicago mobster with qualities that endeared to many, even his enemies. Virginia Gilmore plays Shep's love interest. A real surprise was Sheldon Leonard, playing a type for whom he was famous in the film industry. Also on hand the great Charlotte Greenwood and Milton Berle in a small part plus a great supporting cast.

This is a light comedy to enjoy by all ages.