Strange Affair

This is obviously a sequel to Dangerous Blonds (1943). So why did their names change?

I guess now any male crime solver who is assisted (or hindered, as the case may be) by his wife is a "Thin Man" ripoff. The price of success, I suppose. Does that mean Bringing Up Baby (1938) is a "Thin Man" ripoff? How about A Shot In The Dark (1964)? At least in that one, the crime solver was a cop.

(In case anyone is interested, which I doubt, my favorite "Thin Man rip-off" is There's Always A Woman (1938), which I also reviewed.)

There are a few interesting stars in this one. Nina Foch, who was great in Escape in the Fog (1945), is mostly wasted in a small part. Edgar Buchanan, who played Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction, younger and skinnier (although not actually skinny) and with more hair than I've ever seen him. Shemp Howard in a rehash of a routine that originally was about dividing up money but now is about filling a laundry bag. (If you want to see Shemp in a great role outside The Three Stooges, check out The Bank Dick (1940)).

The humor is a step up from the 3-year-old level of the Three Stooges. More like the 8-year-old level. Enjoyable enough, but I didn't keep it. I did keep Dangerous Blonds, though, which is a shade less juvenile, although still very silly and ridiculous.

"Dangerous Blondes" (1943) was a very good and most agreeable mystery film starring Allyn Joslyn and Evelyn Keyes. So it's not surprising they would return them a year later for a sequel. But here's the odd part....it's NOT a sequel...but it also is! The names are not the same and Joslyn's character is no longer a crime fiction writer but an artist who has a crime comic strip. Why the changes? I have no idea...none. But the feeling and spirit of the films clearly is identical...a sequel! I scored the first film an 8....is "Strange Affair" also that good??

The film, naturally, features a murder and, naturally, the cops are really dumb (particularly the investigator's assistant)...so it takes an amateur to solve the case! This is THE blueprint for this sort of film....and Hollywood might have made 500 or more films like it. In many cases, it's a newspaper reporter (such as Lee Tracy), but it could also be a teach (Edna May Oliver) or any other non-police person who somehow knows more than trained cops!

When the story begins, Bill (Joslyn) meets Mr. Baumler. Oddly, later in a night club, he sees Mr. Baumler again...but it's a different person! Apparently, there is a faux Baumler. But before he can figure out WHY and WHO....the second Baumler dies right there at the table in the club! The police foolishly are quick to assume it's a heart attack that killed him. But Bill, being the know-it-all amateur, assumes he was poisoned...which they soon realize is the case. So what is really going on here and how will Bill and his lady friend (Keyes) get to the bottom of this case?

My feeling is that if you liked the first film, you'll like the second. This is because in both the mystery isn't as important as the interplay between Keyes and Joslyn...which is snappy and funny. Well worth seeing. And the best part...near the end when the dopey cops arrest Keyes. Her reaction is priceless!!

To fully appreciate the brilliant chemistry of Powell and Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, just watch any of the myriad wannabes like this one. They try; some come close; but nobody did it better.

Joslyn and Keyes try almost too hard in a script that's above average for the array of aspirants. It's also fun to see Shemp Howard used so effectively in the early going. Nice try, but easy to see why these characters didn't warrant sequels.

Another in a line of successful comedy/mysteries for Columbia's B-film assembly, starring EVELYN KEYES and ALLYN JOSLYN who get into all kinds of silly business while trying to solve a doctor's murder.

All of it is played for humorous effects and some of it actually works pretty well. Keyes is pert and vivacious as a frisky blonde who is always trailing behind hubby Joslyn (lucky for him) and helps nab the culprits just before the wind-up.

MARGUERITE CHAPMAN does nicely as a sophisticated femme fatale and SHEMP HOWARD has a brief comic routine as a laundry truck driver. HUGO HAAS has a pivotal role as a doorman friend of Joslyn.

It passes the time, a programmer that played the lower half of double bills in the '40s. Keyes almost overdoes the many farcical turns of her role but manages to be charming nevertheless, giving her role the light touch it needs and Joslyn is in fine style as her long-suffering husband.

I haven't actually done any research on this, but I get a sneaky feeling that Strange Affair was an attempt by another studio (Columbia in this case) to cash-in on the success of The Thin Man series. You can't help but notice the similarities - a fairly wealthy, thoroughly urban couple with modern (for its time) sensibilities gets mixed-up in solving a murder. Even the couple's banter and playful jealousy is straight out of the Nick and Nora playbook. Allyn Joslyn and Evelyn Keyes are fine as the would-be sleuths, but William Powell and Myrna Loy they aren't. Joslyn and Keys just don't have the same chemistry that Powell and Loy had.

As for the rest of the film, the murder is okay, but nothing spectacular. It's pretty much impossible to play along with other than the old adage about the least suspicious person being the killer. The comedy can be hit or miss, with the scenes involving Joslyn acting as the doorman being among my favorite. The movie looks great, but most Columbia pictures from the 40s do. The supporting cast is fine. I always love seeing Shemp Howard pop-up in the most unlikely of places. He does a great bit involving counting shirts for the laundry.

As much as I'd like to rate Strange Affair higher, it's really only about average as far as entertainment value goes. Joslyn and Keyes give it their all, but are let down by a fairly routine script.

5/10