The Sainted Sisters

Sisters Veronica Lake (Letty) and Joan Caulfield (Jane) are bad-ass con merchants who fleece men of their money and then skip town. Weirdly, I had just watched a film called "Larceny" from the same year (1948) a week prior to seeing this film. It has exactly the same premise with John Payne and Dan Duryea as the bad-ass con merchants who fleece victims of their money and skip town. And check this, Joan Caulfield is also in that effort although her role in that film is one of a victim. Here she is part of the bad-girl duo. Another difference is that "Larceny" is a crime thriller whilst "The Sainted Sisters" is a comedy. And both films are as enjoyable as each other. So, the sisters are on the run and take shelter in the house of Barry Fitzgerald (Robbie) who knows what they are up to. Can the girls make it across the Canadian border to freedom?

The film works as a comedy in that the comedy isn't slapstick or dated, tiresome screwball nonsense. It is actually funny and is driven by humerous situations instead of characters shouting over each other or falling over in obvious pratfalls. I was worried when I saw William Demarest in the cast but I have to give him credit in this as he only does one unfunny pratfall that I can remember. Barry Fitzgerald is a bit difficult to understand at times but he drives the film along. The other strong characters are Lake Veronica, the town's wealthy Beulah Bondi (Hester) who is one mean woman dressed in black, and, surprisingly, the usually appalling Demarest as the town's sheriff. You get comedy moments and a morality lesson for the two sisters although the romance thread is a bit difficult to take. No way.