Muito Dinheiro Atrapalha

This post-war remake of the George Arliss comedy, THE MILLIONAIRE, tries to do a little too much with a little too by-the-numbers story and, as a result, doesn't give the audience much in the way of laughs. To the basic plot of Greenstreet being a retired magnate who buys a garage in partnership with Dane Clark in order to have something to do, is added daughter Martha Vickers' boyfriend, a hood running a protection racket. This gives Miss Vickers more to do than wait for her scenes with Greenstreet and Clark. However, while they increase the screen time, and makes the plot a bit more interesting -- well, who needs much of a plot in a well-performed comedy?

And that's where this movie fails to shine. Greenstreet is fine in his role -- although I do prefer Arliss' lazy slyness in the role -- but neither Clark nor Vickers seem to have anything in the way of comedy chops. Only Alan Hale manages any laughs in his brief scenes. A waste of time.

From the cast principals (Clark, Vickers, & Greenstreet), I was expecting moody lighting, a stylish snarl, and maybe a .45 slug to the gut. But no. Instead the two guys are humorous and nice, while Vickers is not looking for just anything in pants. Still, it's only a mild comedy, at best. Wealthy old man Alden (Greenstreet) takes a shine to working stiff Wilson (Clark), equipping him with a super modern gas station, except Wilson doesn't know Alden's true identity. Meanwhile, a white-collar gang of extortionists tries to muscle in on the highly profitable set-up. Sounds convoluted because it is, especially when Alden's snappish daughter (Vickers) is added to the mix.

Most of the comedy comes from the mix-up of true identities. Seems poor Wilson doesn't know who anyone really is. Greenstreet's both tough and amiable, which helps create the proper tongue-in-cheek mood, while Clark manages a regular guy attitude to go along with his blue-collar looks. Plus, Vickers is drop-dead beautiful, but has a very waspish attitude. Her barbs with Wilson, however, lend humorous grit to the proceedings. But the movie never really gels as a comedy, while the extortion angle seems an unneeded and unamusing complication. Too bad Alan Hale's typically jovial character doesn't get more screen time. The real problem, however, is with the slack direction. Whatever deCordova's skills as director of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, they don't show here. Instead, there's no needed snap or drive to heighten the slender comedic effect. Thus, the movie unfolds in strictly pedestrian fashion.

All in all, the movie's chief attraction may be in seeing some well-known 40's actors playing outside their usual stereotypes. Certainly, it's a chance to catch the one-&-only Greenstreet doing something besides sitting in a chair and looking gruffly sinister.

This is a very pleasant film and the leads make it worth watching. It isn't a belly laugh comedy. As with a lot if actors that excel at drama, they don't have a flair for comedy or timing. In this case, it doesn't ruin the film.

The usual romance story, with a couple different subplots going on. You have the man vs. female misunderstandings and high-society dame vs. the common man battles, with racketeers and the police sniffing around. Stars Dane Clark and Martha Vickers, who had both been making films for a couple years. Also has big names Sydney Greenstreet with his usual, famous guffaw and Alan Hale, who was in almost every single movie made in the 1930s and 1940s. The story is a bit convoluted, which is probably why they don't show it very often. It's pleasant enough to watch, but they do everything except take a rocket to the moon. The best role in this must have been the costume designer Leah Rhodes, who has Martha Vickers dolled up in exquisite dresses and hats throughout. Rhodes won the 1950 Oscar for costumes in Don Juan, a couple years after this one. Directed by Fred DeCordova, who also produced and directed Johnny Carson all those years.

This flick is a nice little post-war B-movie, with a John Garfield clone and Sidney Greenstreet.

Greg Wilson is a veteran, back and looking for something to do with his life. He meets up with J.P.Alden (Greenstreet), who offers to help him with his dream of owning a service station. In return, Alden only asks that he be allowed to help around the station.

Complications ensue, involving Alden's daughter, as Alden's true identity and situation become clear. Not "funny" complications, but a pleasant, "slice-of-life" sort.

I consider it particularly interesting because of the contrast of women's roles in this film and that of "Mother Is a Freshman" only two years later.

In this film, the female lead is spunky, self-assured, and fully capable... think Joan Crawford without the b**** attitude. Her clothing is loose and flowing, hair down and easy to care for, and her shoes are practical -- you could see her breaking into a run if the situation called for it.

In MIaF, however, we have a woman, played by Loretta Young, who is her polar opposite, and a precursor to 50s housewife "role model" -- helpless without a man, in tight skirts and high heels and with a Kim Novak type hairstyle that you would have to spend 3 days a week at the hairdressers to keep remotely decent looking.

I saw them back to back on a "classics" movie channel many years back, and the contrast made me particularly aware that Women's Lib did not *begin* in the 1960s, in fact it was simply *backpedalling* in the 1950s from where it had been in the 1940s.

The two together are an interesting view of the history of society which does not totally jibe with modern views of the Feminist movement, much as "Cimarron" does not gibe with modern views of Native American and Feminist relationships to society.