Tall, Dark and Handsome

With "Shep" (Cesar Romero) ruling one side of Chicago and "Pretty Willie" (Sheldon Leonard) the other, a sort of peace prevails amongst the gangsters. This equilibrium is endangered, though, when "Shep" encounters "Judy" (Virginia Gilmore) and to keep her close he offers her a position as his nanny. Nanny to whom, though? He hasn't any children so enter the stroppy young "Harry" (Stanley Clements) who is playing along without knowing the true identity of his "dad". Of course, "Willie" immediately takes a shine to her too, but amidst their brief rutting the latter man discovers something fairly significant about his opposite number. It's so significant that it will change the balance of power - but what can "Shep" do? It's quite a fun comedy drama, this one, but boy are there holes in the plot. To be fair, that isn't a predictable one and there are a few (implausible) twists along the way as we head to the spectre of a conclusion that offers just desserts all round. Romero puts on his usual charm but Gilmore doesn't really make much impact. For that we really need to look at Milton Berle's "Frosty" - the right hand man who likes a bottle or two, and to the engagingly attitudinal Clements who clearly went to the Jimmy Cagney school of mobster lingo. It's all perfectly enjoyable to watch with a solid underlying story, but is really too sloppily put together and I doubt I'll ever remember it.

CESAR ROMERO is the TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME gent in the title role with VIRGINIA GILMORE, MILTON BERLE, SHELDON LEONARD and CHARLOTTE GREENWOOD in good supporting roles.

The story started seeming familiar to me when I realized it was remade in the '50s as LOVE THAT BRUTE with Paul Douglas and Jean Peters.

The real scene stealer here is STANLEY CLEMENTS, the tough little guy whom Romero gets to pose as his son in order to hire Gilmore as the governess for his "children." The story is completely unpredictable with a wacky sense of humor and some clever plot twists.

It's briskly directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and was a surprise hit at the box-office, even nabbing a nomination for Best Original Script. Plenty of humorous lines and situations, even if none of it is quite believable. A fun film to watch around the holidays.

While he is billed sixth, I think the real star of this picture was young Stanley Clements as 'Detroit' Harry! Clements' character was a hilariously terrible little juvenile delinquent and based on this worldy-wise and smart-mouthed character, I can understand why Monogram Studios decided to use him for a replacement when Loe Gorcey left the Bowery Boys late in their run. The series was nearly dead...but Clements did as good a job as he could as a guy much like Gorcey's character. I say watch the film for him alone...though overall it's a fun little gangster comedy.

Cesar Romero is Shep...a gangland boss who is very elegant and nice. How nice? It turns out he simply doesn't have the heart to kill his enemies and he keeps them all in a small jail he's had built in his basement! If his rival, Willie (Sheldon Leonard) finds out he's just a softy down deep, Shep will be pushing up the daisies. But, he might anyway when Willie decides to court Shep's fiancé! What comes of all this? See the film.

The script is funny and clever and the characters memorable. It's among Romero's better films and a nice little sleeper comedy anyone could enjoy.

Sometimes mock turtle soup is better than none, and Tall, Dark and Handsome, while not Damon Runyon, is close enough to the Master to be pretty satisfying in its own right. Cesar Romero plays a kind-hearted gangster who has cultivated a reputation for ruthlessness, but is in reality so nice a guy he won't even execute his rival's henchmen, so he keeps them in the basement of his lakeside mansion. Sheldon Leonard made his first big splash as Romero's rival, and is quite funny. Milton Berle has a small role in this as well. Charlotte Greenwood is also on hand, and does an elaborate dance number. Director Bruce Humberstone keep things moving at a brisk pace. This is at times a quite funny film if one has a taste for old-time gangster movies, of which this is a parody. Cesar Romero handles the lead role beautifully, and gives what may be his best star performance. I'm amazed that his studio didn't capitalize on his work here, and produce a series for him. Always an amiable player, he often seemed oddly cast at times. His mix of outward guile and inner softness has never been so well-used, and he is a delight in this film.

This 1941 film was shown recently at a local cable channel. Not having seen it before, we took a chance that paid off in many surprising ways. H. Bruce Humberstone directed one of his best films in this enjoyable comedy about gangsters in Chicago. The movie was written by Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware. The film has a lot going for it.

Best of all was Cesar Romero, as Shep Morrison, he had one of the best roles of his career. He was a versatile man, as he proves with his take on the Chicago mobster with qualities that endeared to many, even his enemies. Virginia Gilmore plays Shep's love interest. A real surprise was Sheldon Leonard, playing a type for whom he was famous in the film industry. Also on hand the great Charlotte Greenwood and Milton Berle in a small part plus a great supporting cast.

This is a light comedy to enjoy by all ages.