Isto Sim é que é Vida

then you should check this movie out. First, it might be the best movie Groucho did without his brothers. I know that's not saying much, but he really does a good job without Chico or Harpo. I thought he would be able to get off more double entendres with Jane Russell. I mean the movie is named Double Dynamite because of her.

Sinatra seems out of place playing a meek bank cashier that can't make a commitment to Russell. He's not a guy that would ever be invited to join the Rat Pack. Heck, Jerry Lewis could take on this Sinatra. And Russell probably would want to marry Lewis instead of Frank. How could he have taken this role? Russell does a pretty good job of playing off Sinatra and Groucho. She had a nice comic side that she didn't get to show often enough.

This was the last movie directed by Irving Cummings. Cummings, who started out as an actor in the silent era, doe a good job of keeping the story moving along. He's no Hitchcock or Ford, but he does a pretty good job with a pretty thin story.

I give it 7 out of 10 stars - a passing grade but not enough to make the honor roll.

One of the funniest parts of Double Dynamite is when someone describes Frank Sinatra and Jane Russell's characters. Jane is described as being "extremely well distributed," and Frank's description is, "Five feet, ten. Wears elevator shoes. Anemic looking. When last seen, was wearing ill-fitted suit. Well padded at shoulders. Resembles Frank Sinatra." If you're not laughing now, you won't like the movie. If you are, you've got a good shot at liking this tongue-in-cheek, cheesy Christmas comedy.

Frank and Jane are poor sweethearts who work together at a bank and can't afford to get married. They have enough funny wisecracks on their own, but for those who need more sarcasm, Groucho Marx joins the cast as their pun-flinging pal. In a pre-Guys and Dolls movie, Frankie gets sucked into the world of gambling and makes a fortune-at the exact same time the bank gets robbed! No one believes he didn't steal the money, so he has to prove his innocence.

Don't worry, it's not nearly as serious as it sounds. This is a very cute romantic comedy, if you agree from the get-go that you're not going to take anything seriously. Frankie and Groucho sing an entire song against a screen pretending to skip down the street, but not actually anywhere near the street. So, if you like your movies silly and funny, where the biggest problem anyone has is that they've just won a bunch of money, rent Double Dynamite this holiday season.

This move is set some time in the 1940s, so plug that in and go along for the ride. Sinatra stars as an honest man, eking out a living as a bank teller but not enough for marriage. By chance, he's captured by the underworld and makes a mint. He can marry Jane Russell, something the wisecracking waiter, Groucho Marx, seems to want. But there has been an apparent embezzlement at the bank where Sinatra works, and its discovery is timed exactly with Sinatra's underworld winnings. He did not embezzle the money, but he can't rightly say he did come by it. But Groucho is there to help him, and we all know what that means.

This is a nifty film with a few good twists and its share of laughs.

There is a scene where "Johnny Dalton" is lying in his bed in his apartment and Mibs Goodhue in her bed in hers, separated by wall. Dalton starts to sing.

"You know," I teased to my wife, "that guy sounds a lot like Sinatra." "It is," she deadpanned in reply.

"Looks too young to be Sinatra." Yeah, 't was 1951. If you want to go back for a spell, this one will take you there.

Think about it. Sinatra, Groucho, and Jane Russell starring in a movie written by Harry Crane and with songs by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Sound great. Well, it's not. Sinatra is a bank clerk who is wrongly accused of stealing money from his bank. His singing is great; it's probably never been better. However, instead of the flip Sinatra character of the 1950s, director Cummings asks Sinatra to play a timid young man, a role that never really suited him well. (Think about "The Kissing Bandit"! Compare that to "Meet Danny Wilson", Sinatra's next film where he gets to play that cocky guy!) Groucho is as funny as usual, but the script is contrived, there are too few sight gags, and the direction is slow. We are even cheated on the musical numbers. The two songs, "It's Only Money" (sung by Frank and Groucho) and "Kisses and Tears" (sung by Frank and Jane, accompanied by the jazzy Phil Moore Four) are good, but I wish there were more. Groucho did better with his brothers and Sinatra did better with Nelson Riddle!

I don't know why this kooky little film hasn't received better notices. As a huge fan of both Groucho Marx and The Voice, "Double Dynamite" was a dream come true. Groucho hasn't been this funny since "Duck Soup," and Ol' Blue Eyes plays off him beautifully. If there's a complaint here, it's that there aren't enough musical numbers. "It's Only Money" (a duet between Frank and Groucho) is a show-stopper.