danmccoy

I love showing this film to people. I have yet to find anyone who has seen it before. It's a lovely little treasure out of Korea, at times reminiscent of Castaway, Moon, and Groundhog Day. Give it a try, if you can find it.

This is a nice little part for Stewart, he's the reason to watch it. Stewart's demeanor and delivery are a joy to watch and he delivers some great classic comic moments. The story has that Shakespearean comedy feeling: comedy driven by mistaken identity which ends in marriage. Some good color added by journeyman studio character actors. There's some nicely blended musical numbers which mesh naturally with the story ... then there's the big production number during the radio program which feels like it dropped in from another planet and during the boarding house initiation number, I kept worrying about the stew getting cold. Aside from the musical interludes, the story is tight and never loses its way, delivering comic payoffs all along.

This film doesn't have a very clear picture of what it is or wants to be. There are some good bits when Stewart is on screen and they give him some lines to work with. It works best early on as romantic comedy, but the story keeps heading for more dramatic territory and gets itself lost in the process. By the last fifteen minutes or so, the plot twists are just a series dramatic clichés.

The part with the airplane feels like some leftover footage from another film spliced in.

The main reason I can think of to watch it is if you want be able to say you've seen all of Jimmy Stewart's films.