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Two Smart People (1946)

An odd, charming, crime romance with a series of great locales and a real sense of love triumphs over everything. You might expect this from MGM somehow--it lacks the intensity we think of with Warner Bros. crime flicks--but it has more warmth and aura that critics give it credit for. And when it gets to the crazy Mardi Gras scenes, it's really pretty fun.

The star here is Lucille Ball. Yes, the comic queen of the 1950s in a dramatic role, and she's convincing, despite the fact that she was unhappy to be in the film (she knew it was her last with MGM). Ball actually made a lot of films before television took her to the top, and she's always really good if never quite sizzling or memorable. She (and everyone) blames the weak script for her lackluster appearance here, but I thought the whole mood of the movie took on its own life and it worked well. The cinematography is led by legendary Karl Freund who later filmed 149 "I Love Lucy" episodes and who had already shot classic movies like "Metropolis," "Dracula," and would later do "Key Largo."

Across from Ball in the romantic male lead is John Hodiak, who tries to light up the screen but seems to be slightly trying, as if he knows the kind of charming con man he is meant to be and can't quite "become" it. Still, he's likable, and his chemistry with Ball isn't bad. A third lead has to be mentioned, Lloyd Nolan, because he's the laid back cop who is the most at ease in the film, and who is used to bounce the romance off of.

It's true, the script, both the dialog and plot, are routine stuff. But don't let that worry you. The ploy of the stolen bonds hidden in the book (seen in the first scene) is a little overdone as it goes (with a small twist in the final minutes), but it's really just a way to keep a slight suspense going. As the two leads fall for each other in the most impossible circumstance, there is the feeling that maybe the bonds are really the goal, and not true love. Great character actor Elisha Cook Jr. is creeping around in the background, waiting for the money to turn up.

Like many post-war films, the filming here is intensely moody, sharp, and filled with moving camera. It's a pleasure just to watch. Director Jules Dassin has several truly great films to his credit, and this one is usually brushed off as a failure of sorts, but I wouldn't do that. I enjoyed every minute. Even when there were cracks in the plot, I still wanted to be there, to go along for the ride. And that's good enough!

Anyone coming to Jules Dassin's Two Smart People in expectation of the hard-core noir of his Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves' Highway or Night and the City will have a surprise in store. Here, Dassin betrays his continental roots in fabricating a light if poignant romance between two con-artists. And though the movie has a noir veneer, it's less suggestive of Fritz Lang or Robert Siodmak than of Ernst Lubitch – specifically the Lubitch of Trouble in Paradise, another elegant romance sparked between larcenous lovers.

The pairing here is between Lucille Ball, on the lam from a job she pulled in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and John Hodiak, being escorted back from the west coast to finish a stint at Sing Sing by cop Lloyd Nolan. While trying to sabotage one another's swindles, Ball and Hodiak fall in love, and she joins him on his train journey to that castle on the Hudson. Also in play are half a million in bonds which are tucked away in a fancy cookbook (all ortolans and truffles) that Hodiak, a bit of a gourmet, keeps with him for bedside reading. And the wild card is nasty Elisha Cook, Jr., one of Ball's former partners in crime, who wants the bonds for himself.

Dassin keeps a delicate balance between the intrigue and the romance, but the romance wins out (and who's complaining). Hodiak takes to the lighter, more debonair style with greater conviction than he does the harder-boiled roles he played in Somewhere in the Night and Desert Fury that same year. Ball, in a role that is neither too broad (like The Fuller Brush Girl or Miss Grant Takes Richmond) nor too melodramatic (like The Big Street), delivers a subtle and winning performance – and she looks smashing.

For his finale, Dassin whisks us to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, granting Cook a flamboyant exit. It's a gaudy set-piece crowded with costumed revelers that raises the spirits before they grow subdued at the surprisingly bittersweet ending. If Two Smart People can be counted as part of the noir cycle (and it often is), it's possibly its most effervescent title. If not, who cares? It remains an offbeat delight all its own.

This obscure B-movie was Jules Dassin's last film before embarking on a series of classic noir and crime films--and actually it's the first of his crime films and shows his interest in developing the genre. As another critic reports in a previous post, this film is NOT a comedy (as Maltin's book describes it) about two con artists mixed up "in art forgery." Actually, it's a crime/road movie about stolen bonds, co-written by the creator of "The Saint." True, Lucille Ball co-stars, and she and John Hodiak meet cute in a TROUBLE IN PARADISE manner, blowing each other's cons with a mutual pigeon. But from the first shot, Dassin reveals his interest in crime

Like Dassin's forgettable comedy A LETTER FOR EVIE, this film is shot by the great Karl Freund, in decline from his silent heyday and not yet arrived at his groundbreaking I LOVE LUCY three-camera period. He gives us expressionist shots aplenty, and such privileged moments as a pan shot with window reflection from outside a train, a cactus-by-moonlight scene, and a chiaroscuro moment when Ball is menaced by Elisha Cook Jr lighting a match. The presence of Cook, Lloyd Nolan, and Hugo Haas (on their way to being entrenched noir icons) also counts for something. The road trip plot (on a train) allows stops in Mexico and New Orleans. The last third (set at Mardi Gras) is suspenseful and colorful, with Cook in fool's motley.

In conclusion, if this 1946 film doesn't hold up as well as Dassin's later, truer noirs, we can still see it's an early step in the development of that genre.

In Leonard Maltin's review for this film he complains that "laughs don't come very often." I should hope not since this isn't a comedy. Seriously you have to wonder about people sometimes. This is a romantic drama with some noirish touches to it. It reminds me a little of Angels Over Broadway and Remember the Night. Both are great movies so that's definitely a compliment. John Hodiak isn't my first choice for leading man but he's a good fit for this part, unfortunate mustache notwithstanding. Lucille Ball has never been more beautiful than here and does well with a character more complex than the norm for the time. Fine support from pros like Lloyd Nolan and Elisha Cook, Jr. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. My rating may seem slightly low for the praise but I always struggle getting over the 6 to 7 hump. I'll probably raise my score next time I watch it. That's often how it goes with me. Anyway, good movie check it out. Someone tell Leonard Maltin to do the same.

Some of the reviewers -- and the esteemed Leonard Maltin -- totally miss the point here. This was not, and was not intended to be, a funny flick. It's a caper, a light drama, a romance, a bit of a road movie . . . And the Lucille Ball-John Hodiak pairing is terrific. Ball, at 35, is stunning. The Mardi Gras crowd scenes are wonderfully choreographed. Lloyd Nolan provides just the right amount of tough guy with a twinkle in his eye. White-collar criminal that he is, Hodiak's Ace is fun, commendable, and has created a past that makes the many contacts on the road warm to him. Nothing brilliant here, just a fast-paced film with terse, effective, direction and three A1 performances. Well worth your 90 minutes.