Man Alive

I knew that something was amiss. Pat O'Brien, in a leading role? No gangsters? Not a police officer. Really!

Here he stars in this pure stinker as a husband who loves his wife but forgets her birthday. The wife, played by Ellen Drew, looked so much like Eve Arden in many scenes.

How coincidental that as he forgot her birthday, her divorced friend from college, enters the movie. Played by Rudy Valee, the guy wants Drew.

O'Brien storms out of the house and to the local bar. There he meets a poor drunkard chap, both get plastered, exchange clothes and papers and go on a drunken ride, ending in death for the other guy and total confusion for the rest of the film.

The film basically becomes slapstick. O'Brien lands on a riverboat and meets Adolph Menjou, who convinces him to act like a ghost.

The two return to the house just as the will is being read. When O'Brien told Drew to continue her life, Valee immediately proposes marriage. O'Brien acts as the ghost to "terrorize" Drew and mayhem and general wackiness ensues.

Rate this *1/2 and be off.

Man Alive (1945)

** (out of 4)

A husband (Pat O'Brien) gets into a fight with his wife (Ellen Drew) when her old flame (Rudy Vallee) comes for a visit. The husband storms off to get drunk and is later that night presumed killed when the car he was riding in crashes into the river. He's actually alive and with the help of a showboat operator (Adolphe Menjou) plans to spy on the wife and torture her because she's about to marry the flame.

MAN ALIVE is played for laughs, although a horror or film noir probably would have made it even better. As is, the film manages to have some mildly interesting moments thanks in large part to the cast but there's no doubt that in the end it's a missed opportunity. The biggest problem is the fact that for a "comedy" there just aren't enough laughs to make it work.

This can be blamed on the screenplay, which was obviously rushed so that they could get anything on the screen. Not only is there a lack of laughs but there are also some very big logical issues that I won't name to prevent spoiling the picture for people. If you're a fan of the cast you might want to check it out but others will probably find very little here to stay entertained on.

Pat O'Brien has been married to Ellen Drew since they graduated from college. When her previous boyfriend, Rudy Vallee shows up, O'Brien is jealous, goes out on a tear, and hooks up with perpetual drunk Jack Norton. Somehow they switch clothes, and Norton is killed and O'Brien winds up on Adolphe Menjou's showboat. When O'Brien is declared dead, Menjou persuades him into various shenanigans to reintroduce himself gradually to Miss Drew.

O'Brien drew this assignment as the first of his five-picture contract with RKO. He certainly seems willing enough to try anything, but his matter-of-fact delivery does not mix well with the increasing hysteria of the situations he gets into, as he impersonates a ghost, his uncle from Ireland, and eventually an amnesiac.

It's one of those comedies that doesn't bear much thinking about. Instead, the thing to do is to enjoy Menjou, his speed and grace as a confident confidence man, fast-talking O'Brien into these dumb ideas. In many ways the energy is that of the first screen version of The Front Page, in which Menjou played Walter Burns and O'Brien Hildy Johnson.

Classic Cast! Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Rudy Vallee. From RKO, Pat O'Brien is Michael McBride. His wife, Connie is played by Ellen Drew. Something happens to Michael, and while he is away, his nemesis "Gordie" (Vallee) makes the moves on Connie. In a classic case of mistaken identity, Michael is taken for a crook, and must figure out who he is and where he belongs. Menjou is "Kismet", sailor on the steamboat where Michael ends up, and he helps Michael find his home again. For some reason, seances were big in the 1930s and 1940s, and they play a BIG part in this film. It's light and fun, but gets pretty silly, if you can stand it. Like an episode of Three's Company, it all could have been straightened out much earlier, but for some reason, it isn't. This one has a great cast, even if the plot is hokey. Even Carl Switzer (Alfafa !) has a bit part. Directed by Ray Enright. After serving in WW I, he worked with Mack Sennett in hollywood. Worth watching, if just to see Vallee, Menjou, and Switzer, some of the greats.

Michael O'Flaherty 'Speed' McBride (Pat O'Brien) forgets about his wife Connie's birthday which causes friction in the marriage. It doesn't help with the arrival of Connie's old admirer Gordon Tolliver (Rudy Vallée). Speed gets drunk at a bar and lets another man drive his car. They drive off a pier. The other man is killed but Michael is mistakenly identified. He is instead rescued by a passing river showboat. The boat leader Kismet (Adolphe Menjou) convinces him to play dead and haunt his wife in an effort to save his marriage.

First, Speed is not that great of a husband. It would be helpful if the marriage is worth saving. I have no evidence either way. Second, the premise is ridiculous. A silly story is not the end of the world. I'm just never fully convinced with the first problem that all the silly screwball antics amount to nothing much. I don't find it funny.