Pas de pitié pour les maris

Rosalind Russell is the Judge in "Tell it to the Judge," a 1949 film also starring Bob Cummings, Marie McDonald and Gig Young. Russell plays Marsha Meredith, a recently divorced woman up for a judgeship, encouraged in her career by her judge grandfather (Harry Davenport). The ex-husband, however, Pete Webb (Cummings) wants her back. The two are still in love. The divorce was basically a misunderstanding - Webb was working with a beautiful blond witness (McDonald) and Marsha mistook it for something else. Even though it puts her career in jeopardy, Marsha remarries Pete. On their wedding night, her grandfather kidnaps Pete so that Marsha thinks he's up to his old tricks. She then takes off and announces to the press that she's married to someone else, and makes up a name. When Alexander (Gig Young), a man she met previously appears, she has him play the part of her husband.

This is a typical screwball comedy centering around the struggle that the independent woman has between being a career person and a wife - and apparently back then, it was one or the other. I thought Russell was fine as Marsha, unlike another reviewer - I've seen her miscast, and I didn't think she was this time - but I agree with another remark the poster made, that Bob Cummings steals the movie. Cummings is thought of as a bland film actor, and perhaps he was. What made him a tremendous television star was his sense of comedy, which he didn't get to use much in films but which was his strength. Here he gets to show it off, and a few years later, he made his mark in television.

A fun movie, not earth-shattering, as films were going through a difficult transition. So apparently were women, and in the '40s, they lost the career battle, only to pick it up again a couple of decades later.

This is absolutely my favorite film of Robert Cummings. He's hysterical and lovable in every scene he is in. Bob plays a lawyer who is newly divorced from Rosalind Russell, and is determined to win her back. She on the other hand is determined to become a federal judge and wants nothing to do with him. A typical setup for the divorce-remorse films that came along in the 40s.

Then there's Gig Young as the rival for Russell's affection, Clem Bevans as Mr. Roogle (it rhymes with bugle) and Marie McDonald adding a funny twist as the witness who keeps stalking Bob. For the most part, the cast is on top of their game and has some great moments. However, be forewarned, this is not Rosalind Russell's best work by a long shot. Despite the fact that she's given some wonderful performances (Auntie Mame, Trouble With Angels, etc) she's not very strong here and this is one situation where I really think another actress should have been cast. (Too bad Carole Lombard was already gone - she would have been PERFECT.) Some time the twists go a bit too far and get rather tedious on repeat watchings, but this is the screwball genre - it's not supposed to be realistic. It's a fun movie that still makes me laugh no matter how many times I see it. What more can you ask for?

Tell It To The Judge finds Rosalind Russell cast once again as career woman, in this case a lawyer about to be made a federal judge through the machinations of her grandfather Harry Davenport. But Senator Thurston Hall is questioning her character on the grounds of a messy divorce. Shows you how old fashioned this film has become and how terribly dated.

Her ex-husband wants her back and Bob Cummings as the ex does get her back, kind of, sort of. But after that it all gets kind of wild as she uses Gig Young as a foil against Cummings and Bob keeps getting in trouble trying to hide witness Marie McDonald in one of his cases because Bob is a lawyer as well.

What director Norman Foster did well with were some great supporting player performances from a cast of seasoned Hollywood professionals. I think the two most memorable are Clem Bevans as a lighthouse keeper with a side contract from Cupid and Douglass Dumbrille as Cummings playboy client. That one was really a case of reverse casting because Dumbrille is best known for playing slick villains, but I wish there had been more of him as the merry making playboy.

Tell It To The Judge is certainly dated, but while it's not Rosalind Russell's best her fans will not be disappointed.

a nice film. seductive for the flavor of "40. and for Robert Cummings. for naive story and the amusing scenes. and, sure, for the unrealistic script. short, a nice film about a love story not original as duel between him and her but for few scenes who are good chances to remain, for long time, memorable. one of the temptations, at first sigh, could be the presence of Rosalind Russell. unfortunately, only at first sigh. because her performance has two sides - too loud, too bizarre in front with the partner work. but , in essence, it could be perceived as a page of history. this is the key of a charming film about the fight in couple.

It is not too difficult to see why Robert Cummings is often cast in light comedic fare such as this. His facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission in Tell It to the Judge. And there's something hysterical about seeing him dressed as a train attendant, though it would also have been fun to see Cary Grant in that get-up.

The only part that drags is the sequence at the lighthouse, which has the film's most unfunny business: something about chopping off the head of a fish. But the film quickly redeems itself, and it reaches its peak with a delightful ski sequence later on. Overall, a fun film with some inspired comic bits by Cummings and costar Rosalind Russell.