Mi svegliai signora

Actor Joseph Cotton, a his 2nd surreal genre film following "Portrait of Jeanie" with another brunette beauty of an Actress. The surreal nature of this film comes from memory recollection scenes, sleep walking premise, extreme sensuality by Actress Loretta Young, and even several odd overdubbed songs that are similar to the 1951 famous hit 'How High the Moon' by Mary Ford and Les Paul. Great supporting acting from Jim Backus, "Mr. Howell". The viewer can only wonder if months after filming 'Key to the City' with her true love Clark Gable, Ms. Young insisted on continuing the feeling with another thoroughly romantic film. Indeed, Actor Joseph Cotton is hardly miscast but does very well, albeit he is among few actors who have filmed with the loveliest leading ladies of his era, like Jennifer Jones, Ms. Young, Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, Jane Russell, and Rita Hayworth. Only Actor Michael Douglas has achieved such a similar feat in today's Hollywood. Lastly, the Long Beach Cyclone Roller coaster scenes are great historical footage and a pleasant surprise.

I really like Loretta Young films. I think she was a great actress in her time. I would like to see more of her films such as Paula, Half Angel, etc. I really hope that some of her rarely seemed films such as Paula and Half Angel...is available on video tapes.

Misshapen piece of fluff, a capricious bit of harmless whimsy that may go down easier at three in the morning when one is apt to be less demanding. Loretta Young is a starchy, spinsterish nurse, about to marry the cloddish man she's been putting off for five years, when suddenly her repressed desire to flirt with a strictly-business attorney takes over her body while she's sleepwalking, leading to a series of romantic confusions. Robert Riskin is responsible for the script, which he adapted from a story by George Carleton Brown; both men are strictly behind-the-times in terms of a saucy bedroom comedy (although Young is certainly attractive dressed in a very sheer negligee!). Joseph Cotten looks rather incredulous at being caught in such a juvenile scenario, and the tone of the picture is wobbly right from the start. Colorful supporting players (Jim Backus, Irene Ryan, and the always-reliable Cecil Kellaway) add some sparkle, however the movie hinges on Young's performance and she's much more annoying than seductive. ** from ****

It's hard for me to imagine that even Production Code audiences of 1951(note the newly- weds' unlikely twin beds) found this silly exercise anything more than occasionally titillating. I guess the movie was intended as a romantic comedy. The premise of a woman (Young) with two distinct personalities depending on whether she's sleepwalking may have sounded promising, but the result plods along in uninspired fashion minus either bounce or charm. Apparently, supporting players like Backus and Max are supposed to provide the chuckles, but it's really only Irene Ryan as nurse Kay who comes through in lively fashion. From his credits, it looks like director Sale was a much better writer than director or comedy coach.

It also looks like Young is having a good time vamping it up in the wanton half of Nora's split personality. The overt sexuality probably comes as welcome change from her typical good girl roles. However, despite the good-humored approach, the result is more ludicrous than funny. Nonetheless, she does get to model 1951's latest fashions, a big thing for Young as her TV show attests. Unfortunately, that fine actor Joseph Cotten is reduced here to little more than a male manikin in a clearly secondary role.

To me, the most intriguing aspect is what blacklisted film-noir and scheduled director Jules Dassin (Brute Force, 1948; Thieves Highway, 1949) would have done with the goofy premise and a very proper Young. If ever there was a mismatched movie pair, this is it. So it's no surprise that one of the two (Dassin) ended up having to leave the project (according to IMDb). Anyway, it's still a curious question what the highly serious Dassin would have done with such frothy material. Whatever the result, it's bound to be more interesting than this unfortunately forgettable 80 minutes.

Loretta Young is a "Half Angel" in this 1951 comedy starring Joseph Cotten, Cecil Kellaway, Jim Backus and Irene Ryan.

The beautiful Miss Young plays Nora, who by day is a very professional-looking nurse and by night a glamorous seductress. Apparently she has a split personality, and when her conscious mind goes to sleep, Nora's other personality wakes up and drops in on an old school chum who is now an important attorney (Cotten).

Her mystique, her allure, her seductiveness make him crazy. Every time he spots the daytime starched nurse Nora, he happily approaches her and throws his arms around her - only to get slapped in the face. Nora is engaged to be married to someone else and besides, she has no memory of these nighttime escapades.

One of the reviewers on this site complained about the holes in the plot. This is the kind of film that doesn't hold up well under much - or any - scrutiny. It's a fantasy and has to be enjoyed as such.

Nitpicking about how fast a trial is docketed and why someone receives a subpoena is like saying that tapping red rhinestone shoes together will never take you back home.

At 38, Loretta Young is absolutely gorgeous, as she always was and remained for the rest of her life. Huge eyes, a face the shape of a cameo, beautiful hair, slim figure - as if any of it is really hidden by a nurse's cap and uniform.

For Nora the wild one, she wears her hair down and a flashy seafoam-colored dress. Which brings me to the film's color. It's very reminiscent of a Better Homes and Garden book from the '50s that I used to look at as a child - very bright colors and lots of them. I found the use of color in the film quite unusual.

A light comedy is strange casting for Joseph Cotten, but for my money, he pulls it off.

This isn't a wildly funny movie, but it is an amusing one, and the psychiatric plot is in line with the post-war interest in the subconscious so prevalent in films of that era.

This film takes the fluff approach, which movies like "The Snake Pit," "The Dark Past" and "Spellbound" did not. Loretta fans will love it.