Out of the Blue

What makes this movie so remarkable is that all the actors are cast against their type. Romantic lead George Brent plays a henpecked hubby in this film. Glamor gal Carole Landis plays a prissy mouse of a housewife. Turhan Bey doesn't wear a turban in this film, but plays a cool and wise-cracking New York man-about-town. And drama queen Ann Dvorak plays a screwball drunk lady with more than one screw loose. It's a gem. Then add to this the remarkable supporting cast, a script with some zingers I can still remember after not seeing this for 40 years. And it gets great Cool Points for having legendary jazz artist Hadda Brooks play the piano and sing in this film (she also performed in the Bogart / Grahame film IN A LONELY PLACE; and had one of the first regular TV shows ever broadcast in Los Angeles in the late 1940s).

"Out of the Blue" is an example of one of those films which result in considered reviews that range from 3 stars to 10 , all of which have credibility and deserve respect. With 18 reviews already registered I would normally not add yet another, but I would like to offer my appreciation and even my admiration for the project.

To begin with, the title is dull and doesn't serve to lather up interest on the part of potential viewers. But one would think the cast would engender interest, as they indeed are composed of participants plying their trade in ways we the viewers are not accustomed to. I believe they all did excellent work and played it the way the director, Leigh Jason, imagined. The writing flows well and naturally, and seldom, if ever, did it occur to me that a line was inappropriate or without logic.

For me the picture is more comfortably placed in the absurdist-droll arena rather than the zany-screwball realm, and really plays more like something akin to movies with dark humor deriving from the late 1950's to mid 1960's. It is a pleasure to see so many veteran hands having fun with something so different from their usual assignments, including Turhan Bey; he looked like a sly so-and-so at the beginning but I came to like his character as the show unfolded.

How they even came to cast Ann Dvorak in this expressively comedic role would be nice to know, and I don't think she overplayed it; if her performance were out of sorts the picture would have been rendered bereft of value. The rest of the players really offered subtle readings compared to what could have been, including George Brent, whose facial expressions were not, as some reviewers have declared, merely mugging. Virginia Mayo might have been the only one who did not have a lot of comedic antics to lend or lines to say, but she too turned in an expert reading, often as the "straight" woman. And her eyes in this film are used to excellent advantage.

I can imagine "Out of the Blue" disappeared pretty fast and without much after-chatter after spending a couple of weeks in neighborhood theaters back in 1947, but I enjoyed spending time with this group of performers and appreciate that the film was created and is here for us to enjoy all these decades later.

This film stars George Brent, Turhan Bey, Virginia Mayo, Ann Dvorak and Carol Landis. The Earthleigh family (Brent and Landis) are a couple very annoying people. Mrs. Earthleigh is highly annoyed by everything and is as much fun as jock itch. Mr. Earthleigh is a wimp and puts up with his wife's bully behavior towards him as well as their neighbor, Mr Galleo (Bey). She insists that Galleo MUST get rid of his dog and sics her husband and their lawyer on the guy.

One day, Mrs. Earthleigh leaves to go on a trip. When she's gone, her husband meets a very strange alcoholic, Olive (Dvorak) and she follows him home and WON'T leave no matter how hard he tries. Eventually, she appears to have died and falls onto Galleo's property! Well, Earthleigh can't find this narcoleptic alcoholic...and later Galleo decides to pretend he found this lady DEAD on his terrace...and enlists Earthleigh to 'dump the body'. Galleo knows there is no body but figures this is a chance to blackmail Earthleigh into dropping his lawsuit and letting him keep his dog. What's next? Well, Olive appears to die several more times and suddenly lots of people are being accused of killing her!

This is a cute little comedy and I might have scored this very original film higher had Dvorak's performance been a bit less broad and silly. Subtle definitely would have worked better...but it still worked and is a cute little situation comedy. Worth seeing.

Ann Dvorak carries the film. The rest of the cast are merely adequate and are not adept at comic timing and delivery.

The film fails as a true screwball comedy because the pace is too slow. Had the pace been a bit more frenetic, it might have succeeded. This was the director's fault more than anything.

Ann Dvorak's career peaked in the 1930s. Some of her best work came after that. Most of it was in dramas. It was a delight seeing her do a comic role. I urge those not familiar with her to do more research and check out some of her 1940s and 1950s performances. One that comes immediately to mind are The Secret of Convict Lake and A Life of Her Own.

This screwball comedy seemed kind of forced and less believable than those from a decade earlier, not sure why. But once I accepted it as such, found it pretty funny and enjoyed all the performances, even Dvorak's one note portrayal of a lush was entertaining.

Most notable is George Brent playing the milquetoast who can't rid himself of Dvorak looking for a drink before his wife comes home. I've never seen him attempting comedy and his Coke bottle glasses help the image. And there are several scenes we get to see his famous wide rear end as he attempts to hide Dvorak in a steamer trunk. (the mic boom makes a few appearances too)

Virginia Mayo is delightful as usual, and between Carole Landis & Ann Dvorak you see several gorgeous costumes.

I had never seen Turhan Bey in a movie before and he reminded me of Orson Welles a bit in looks & demeanor. The high point of Bey's appearance was seeing him in white shorts, socks & sandals looking as if cast from a Village People video as the "Tennis Player"

The story had a few cute running gags about spinster neighbors seeing Dvorak passed out in a drunken stupor and thinking she's been murdered and of course the Brent character trying to get rid of her any way possible.

This under 90 minute romp may be predictable, but because it's perfectly cast & acted and fun to watch.