A Gentleman at Heart

"A Gentleman at Heart" is a light comedy that is unusual...and I really appreciate a film that is unique!

The story begins with Lucky (Milton Berle) trying to cheat his boss' bookmaking business. Instead, the schmuck ends up owing Tony (Cesar Romero) $5000...a debt he would appear to have no chance of ever repaying. But instead of breaking his legs, Tony agrees to take Lucky's inheritance off his hands...and the inheritance is an art gallery. It's not Tony's love of art behind his decision to take the gallery and it's not really money, as the place seems worthless. No, it's because there's a very pretty lady who works there (Carole Landis) and Tony is smitten.

What makes all this interesting is that at heart, Tony is a bit of a crook. So, when he finds an art forger who is incredibly talented, he decides to start passing off fakes as valuable originals. What's next? See the film.

This is a light-hearted time passer...a pleasant comedy with nice acting that is worth seeing but which won't necessarily change your life. Clever...and quite unique.

A Gentleman At Heart is a mildly amusing comedy from 20th Century Fox's B Picture unit that stars Cesar Romero who steps out of his own racket as a book maker to enter the world of art. Inspired by the good looks of Carole Landis who is one of the curators of an art gallery, Romero learns quick about how this could be exploited, but will it be fast enough?

It all starts when Romero's associate Milton Berle inherits an art gallery from his late uncle. As Berle is in deep to Romero he gives it to him and he's ready to sell even for the small amount the location and building will bring him. But hanging around Landis and then making the acquaintance of a pair of con artists Rose Hobart and J. Carrol Naish, Romero sees all kinds of possibilities, especially from Naish who is a forger and boasts his forgeries are better than the originals.

A Gentleman At Heart still holds up well after over 70 years. Mainly because the subject matter is eternal. There are art galleries and there are con artists looking to take advantage. Philistines as well if you'll recall The Wheeler Dealers James Garner catches on to the art racket rather quickly and learns the economics of the situation.

Cesar and Carole are attractive leads and there's a host of familiar character players who are always a treat. Can't go wrong with this.

"A Gentleman at Heart" is a fair comedy caper that stars Cesar Romero and Milton Berle as the principal sources of the humor. Romero's Tony Miller is a big-time bookie in New York, and Berle's Lucky Cullen is one of his boys. Cullen gets in trouble with his boss by disguising his voice on the phone and impersonating a Southern gentleman who's betting the ponies. But he keeps losing and with a considerable debt, Tony discovers the ruse. But then, Lucky inherits a sizable art gallery in mid-town so Tony takes it over in payment of Lucky's debt.

The fun starts to roll when they go to case the joint and find Carole Landis as "Helen Mason," the manager. The plot soon develops with fake paintings, a hippy young modern artist, and romance developing between Tony and Helen. It's a light but funny and entertaining film.

Here are some favorite lines from this film.

Lucky Cullen, "But Tony, the birds are bloomin' and the flowers are singin' and it's healthy for ya." Tony Miller, "Not for your it isn't - get in."

Tony Miller, "Not bad. How come you never mentioned this uncle of yours?" Lucky Cullen, "The family never talked about him. He was the one who was honest and legitimate."

Tony Miller, "What'd you say they call this place?" Helen Mason "The Hamilton Museum of Art." Tony, "I always ducked this place. I thought it was a federal courthouse."

Tony Miller, "You got a good head on your shoulders. I wonder who's it is."

Milton Berle's Lucky Callan works for the highly successful bookmaker Tony Miller (Caesar Romero). Callan is a gum chewing, fast talking fellow who used a disguise to place bets on the horses with Miller. He is caught out and owes Miller a bundle. The good news (at least for Callan, if not the uncle) is that his uncle has died and left him an art gallery; the bad news is that the art gallery is in dire financial straights. Miller falls for one of the gallery's curators, Helen Mason (Landis) and starts pouring money into the gallery. Mason tries to teach Miller the finer points of art collecting. Miller falls in with forgers and it soon becomes a question of what is real and what is a forgery. In a confused way, it all gets sorted out in the end. The supporting cast is marvelous especially Rose Hobart, J. Carroll Naish (as the forger), Elisha Cook Jr. and Milton Berle. The scenes between Berle and Cook (who plays a starving modern artist) are quite funny. I remember Berle from television and while I liked some of the interviews he gave later in his career, I never cared for his television comedy – in my mind's eye I always see him in a Carmen Miranda type outfit and simply don't understand that a lot of people found that funny. That said, I have much enjoyed the (pre-television fame) movies that I have seen him in and this movie is no exception. I thought he was right on. For me, this was a comedy so the lack of logic in a number of the plot elements is not bothersome. Besides, what's not to like about Caesar Romero?

Cesar Romero stars in another Fox B movie, but not as the Cisco Kid this time. Now he's a Runyonesque bookie who gets entangled with Carole Landis, a failing art gallery and a gang of art forgers.

Ray McCarey fills out the smaller roles with longtime and rising comics, including Dell Henderson, Syd Saylor and Milton Berle as the lead comic; even J. Carrol Naish gets a very funny role as the forger. It looks like Fox was getting ready to move Romero up to leads in the As, but he double-crossed them and joined the Coast Guard for the duration.

The constant shuffling between low comedy and more serious moments occasionally seems a little forced, given the unvarying paces of the secondary leads. Add in the rather low-lit lighting choices cinematographer Charles Clarke makes to emphasize the picture's serio-comic nature and the net effect may seem a touch off-putting to the overly critical. A movie watcher looking for a good time, however, will have no complaints.