Pillow to Post

This is about the first comedy film that I have ever seen Ida Lupino appear in and she was fantastic. Always knew Ida was multi-talented as an actress, director and producer. In this film Lupino (Jean Howard), "The Devil's Rain",'75, appears as a young gal who wants to work in her father's oil business and decides to become a traveling sales gal, which at the time was unspeakable in that type of business. Jean has to find a proper place to sleep on her travels, and since it was war time, she decided to get hold of a Lt. in the Army who would have living quarters for wives. This lucky Lt. was portrayed by William Prince, (Lt. Don Mallory), "Nuts",'87, who unwillingly helped Jean make this a reality. Another big shock in this film is the appearance of Sydney Greenstreet,(Col. Michael Otley), "Flamingo Road",'49 and of course, the "Maltese Falcon", with Humphrey Bogart. In this role Col. Otley is Don Mallory's Commanding Officer and they live together in the housing unit. It is a very enjoyable funny film and was probably a big shocker for people in 1945, it sure takes a person way back in the PAST.

Jean Howard (Ida Lupino) is a single 30 year old in L. A living off of her oil tycoon father's money. With all the men away at war, she convinces him to be his new oil well supply salesman despite never working a day in her life. It's not going well but she refuses to come home. With the wartime shortage, she stumbled upon housing near an army base but they only take in army families. Lt. Don Mallory gives her a lift and she recruits him to be her fake husband. He's forced into the situation when his commanding officer Colonel Michael Otley gets involved. In addition, potential client Earl Clark is interested. Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge do some music. Willie Best is the local driver Lucille.

This is a fun rom-com. I like Ida's sassy fake-crying try-hard character. William Prince is fine as the mild-mannered do-gooder. It would work better if he's dumber. He would be easier to manipulate by Jean but he does have good banter with her. I'm still not sure that I buy him going along with her scam but a good rom-com does require some disbelief. This is pretty good. I like these characters. Their sitcom silliness is fun. I actually like this love triangle where all the sides are nice interesting characters. It's not winning any awards but it's still fun.

This film hasn't been put on VHS or DVD. I saw it on the Turner Classic Movie channel in early July, 2007. What starts out to be a rather predictable wartime "B" light comedy, emerges shortly as a full-blown screwball comedy of the most delightful sort. Ida Lupino, of all people,shows that she can do comedy as well as Carol Lombard. After her years at Columbia, Warner Brothers finally discovered her broad acting talent. (Would that Columbia and MGM had discovered the comedic abilities of Lucille Ball decades earlier.) This low-budget gem, based on a play, reveals quite a bit about wartime America's economy and socio-economic structure. But mostly it's about a romantic entanglement and mistaken identity, two much-used devices that need first rate acting to pull off. Here, it happens. Even Sidney Greenstreet manages his atypical role in an impressive way. I don't know why the producers decided to insert a meaningless nightclub scene featuring two minutes of Louis Armstrong "and his orchestra," but perhaps this was just a way to attract more viewers. By the way, this is one of Willy Best's best films. He was finally given something to do in a movie that didn't involve Charlie Chan. Paul Harvey and William Prince also handled their roles admirably. In short, this is a long- forgotten winner.

I enjoyed Ida Lupino in a comedy as much as I ever did in her many dramatic roles;I think her timing is excellent. William Prince is not as skilled, but he makes a good foil for her character in this story.

For its time, the plot was probably considered slightly racy, but was handled so well, you'd never notice. I felt it had just the right touch on an old game, mainly romance, with the added benefit of light comedy that makes it appeal to women and men. The supporting parts were well cast, especially Sydney Greenstreet, who could also do great work in comedy and drama.

I only wish this were available on VHS, or even better, DVD.

Ida Lupino was mostly known for drama but she does well in comedy. Its too bad the script wasn't as good as she was. It has some laughs and cute moments but it misses the mark as a screwball comedy or a farce. It is still enjoyable and worth seeing.

It is fun seeing Greenstreet in a non villainous role.