Um Tenente Amoroso

Most of these reviews mention how Russell was a poor replacement for Loy. I didn't really make that connection as I'm a fan of Russell's from My Girl Friday. She was much better in MGF, I will grant you, but it didn't lessen my enjoyment of Rendezvous just because Loy was not in it.

William Powell plays Bill Gordon, a genius puzzle solver, who gets duped into becoming a code breaker for the Army by Russell's Joel Carter when America enters WWI. She is the niece of the Asst Secretary of War and uses her connections to get Gordon placed at a desk in Washington D.C. to keep him near. Its supposed to be cute and romantic, but it comes off as spoiled and cruel. Gordon then goes on to break an important spy message and leads him to a ring of spies operating in town.

Powell is amazing as usual. The opening scene where Joel mistakes him for a Russian singer and Gordon plays along is vintage Powell. He had great comedic chops and timing. The code breaking scenes are fantastic as Powell conveys wit, genius, and tension as his character goes through the long hours and countless failures trying to crack the code. As I said, Russell has done better work. Her role is is to act as a ditsy foil to Powell and it doesn't work.

The supporting cast is brilliant. While Russell was a the weak link in her first major role, the rest of the cast does great work. Binnie Barnes and The Joker himself, Caesar Romero, as German spies are top notch. Lionel Atwill as Gordon's boss provides a looming presence. With a tighter script and less pratfalls from Russell, this could have been a wonderful spy drama. It seemed they tried too hard to shoehorn in the comedy instead of letting it develop naturally with the plot.

If you are fan of Powell's this is a movie that needs to be part of your viewing library. If not, focus on the code breaking scenes and its still a fun ride.

Not an often shown film, nor a great one, this is worth your time if TCM ever shows it again. The plot is somewhat dated but nevertheless interesting -- code breaking and spy catching -- if you ignore some of the excesses that were probably added by Hollywood. Folding in comedy, drama, and action into what would probably have made an excellent military training film, we are left unsatisfied with the overall effect. Yet there is a hint of the "Thin Man" chemistry between William Powell and Rosalind Russell that brings a smile to your lips. Fair but I am not sorry that I watched it.

This is a so-so movie starring the wonderful William Powell. I swear the man could have brought the phone book to life. It's a film about a spy ring, breaking some codes, and finding the mole. Costars include young, dark-haired Cesar Romero (by the time I knew who he was, he had white hair), Binnie Barnes, Lionel Atwill, and Rosalind Russell in a very early - and very annoying role. Russell is pretty (except for what looked a clown costume turned into a woman's suit), and she was certainly a masterful actress/comedienne of stage and screen. But this was not a good part. In fact, as I was watching it, I thought, I wonder if anyone else found this character - well, not very likable. The character reminded me a little bit of Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby, where Hepburn pursued Grant. But Katharine Hepburn played an airhead, and Russell portrays a down to earth woman. Somehow, her making a nuisance of herself with Powell isn't as fun as seeing Hepburn do it.

Bottom line, it's just not a great script, but it is interesting to watch.

WILLIAM POWELL and ROSALIND RUSSELL have good chemistry here--although Russell gets the short end of the stick with an annoying "comic" character who disrupts everything in sight, including the plot.

The spy ingredients are nicely handled and there's a lot of behind-the-scenes decoding efforts going on in the World War I era that add interest to the storyline.

Nice to see Lionel Atwill on the good side for a change and Binnie Barnes is fine as a femme fatale heavily involved in the spy network. Cesar Romero keeps a poker-face as one of the ring members but is convincing enough in a minor role.

None of it makes for a great movie, but it passes the time quickly with an interesting glimpse of Russell before she perfected her comedy technique and Powell already at the peak of his comic timing. Cast includes Samuel S. Hinds and Charley Grapewin (Dorothy's uncle in 'The Wizard of Oz').

A rather uneasy mixture of comedy and suspense--but a stronger script would have helped considerably.

I think this film is a lot more enjoyable than did almost any of the other reviewers. They say the Russell character is annoying, and some even seem to blame it on the actress, rather than on the script, with one even claiming that she tries to steal the film from Powell. If you don't like it, blame the writer(s), but not the performers. I had never heard of this film before, had no knowledge that Russell was put into it as a Loy substitute or as a possible threat to Loy's status at MGM, yet almost the first thing that hit me about the film while watching it is what an excellent Nora Charles Rosalind Russell would have made. Up to the point of seeing this film, I had never even thought of anyone measuring up to Loy in that role, but Russell might well have done so. The character may be objectionable to some viewers, but the performance is perfect for what is being asked of her. Powell, of course, is standing on the top of Mount Everest in a role like this; nobody could ever touch him. But the whole cast is very good, most especially Binnie Barnes, who even only two years after THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII, has already done a marvelous job of shedding her British accent, but we're so used to her as a fairly high-comedienne that it comes as a surprise to see her here as a somewhat sympathetic-but-still-ruthless villainess, and she's really quite perfect (as she had been as Henry's last choppee!). I thought this a most enjoyable film throughout, mainly for the performances, true, but also for its lightness of touch.