Out of the Blue

This screwball comedy seemed kind of forced and less believable than those from a decade earlier, not sure why. But once I accepted it as such, found it pretty funny and enjoyed all the performances, even Dvorak's one note portrayal of a lush was entertaining.

Most notable is George Brent playing the milquetoast who can't rid himself of Dvorak looking for a drink before his wife comes home. I've never seen him attempting comedy and his Coke bottle glasses help the image. And there are several scenes we get to see his famous wide rear end as he attempts to hide Dvorak in a steamer trunk. (the mic boom makes a few appearances too)

Virginia Mayo is delightful as usual, and between Carole Landis & Ann Dvorak you see several gorgeous costumes.

I had never seen Turhan Bey in a movie before and he reminded me of Orson Welles a bit in looks & demeanor. The high point of Bey's appearance was seeing him in white shorts, socks & sandals looking as if cast from a Village People video as the "Tennis Player"

The story had a few cute running gags about spinster neighbors seeing Dvorak passed out in a drunken stupor and thinking she's been murdered and of course the Brent character trying to get rid of her any way possible.

This under 90 minute romp may be predictable, but because it's perfectly cast & acted and fun to watch.

"Out of the Blue" is an example of one of those films which result in considered reviews that range from 3 stars to 10 , all of which have credibility and deserve respect. With 18 reviews already registered I would normally not add yet another, but I would like to offer my appreciation and even my admiration for the project.

To begin with, the title is dull and doesn't serve to lather up interest on the part of potential viewers. But one would think the cast would engender interest, as they indeed are composed of participants plying their trade in ways we the viewers are not accustomed to. I believe they all did excellent work and played it the way the director, Leigh Jason, imagined. The writing flows well and naturally, and seldom, if ever, did it occur to me that a line was inappropriate or without logic.

For me the picture is more comfortably placed in the absurdist-droll arena rather than the zany-screwball realm, and really plays more like something akin to movies with dark humor deriving from the late 1950's to mid 1960's. It is a pleasure to see so many veteran hands having fun with something so different from their usual assignments, including Turhan Bey; he looked like a sly so-and-so at the beginning but I came to like his character as the show unfolded.

How they even came to cast Ann Dvorak in this expressively comedic role would be nice to know, and I don't think she overplayed it; if her performance were out of sorts the picture would have been rendered bereft of value. The rest of the players really offered subtle readings compared to what could have been, including George Brent, whose facial expressions were not, as some reviewers have declared, merely mugging. Virginia Mayo might have been the only one who did not have a lot of comedic antics to lend or lines to say, but she too turned in an expert reading, often as the "straight" woman. And her eyes in this film are used to excellent advantage.

I can imagine "Out of the Blue" disappeared pretty fast and without much after-chatter after spending a couple of weeks in neighborhood theaters back in 1947, but I enjoyed spending time with this group of performers and appreciate that the film was created and is here for us to enjoy all these decades later.

If any other studio but Eagle Lion had released OUT OF THE BLUE, it would still be listed as one of the best of the zany screwball comedies that still were being produced in the 40's. What is even more interesting is that all of the main stars play AGAINST TYPE, and the result is not only funny but a pleasant and welcome surprise...even today. A madcap comedy, OUT OF THE BLUE focuses on a henpecked husband, the ditzy lady he picks up in a bar, and assorted others who provide ammunition for a comedy of mistaken identity, blackouts, suspicious women and henpecked husbands. The most wonderful surprise of all is the hilarious performance by Ann Dvorak as the tipsy and zonked-out cause of all of the fracas. She is a riot, a shocker for fans who knew her only and always as a DRAMATIC actress. Another key surprise is George Brent as a put-upon hubby of a domineering wife, played expertly by Carole Landis. Add Turhan Bey as a sophisticate (!!!) and Virginia Mayo as his current lady friend. Leigh Jason is the director, and his work, too, is "out of the blue". This film should not be a forgotten little gem... it has been available, briefly, on VHS. Try to catch it.

George brent, in a bedroom farce, about halfway through his film career. He had just finished making a slew of films with miss davis in the 1930s and early 40s. The storyline has a bit in common with rear window. When olive gets stuck in arthur's apartment, he must go to great lengths to keep it secret, and try to get rid of her, or the gossip-y neighbors will all find out. Not to mention his wife. Some big name co-stars ... virginia mayo, ann dvorak. And hadda brooks actually sings "out of the blue" in the bar, about 45 minutes in. And turhan bey looks a lot like brent. That must be why they have brent wear glasses for most of the film. And if the nosy spinster miss patterson looks familiar, she was also miss trumble on "i love lucy", who would frequently babysit for lucy. And probably wore the same dress! It's an okay comedy. During the first half, they are all working so hard, so much bickering and not having fun. Things move a lot faster in the second half. Directed by leigh jason. He had also directed "the bride walks out" and "love on a bet", which are both so much more fun than this one. And both star gene raymond. See those two, if you can find them; they show on tcm now and then.

What makes this movie so remarkable is that all the actors are cast against their type. Romantic lead George Brent plays a henpecked hubby in this film. Glamor gal Carole Landis plays a prissy mouse of a housewife. Turhan Bey doesn't wear a turban in this film, but plays a cool and wise-cracking New York man-about-town. And drama queen Ann Dvorak plays a screwball drunk lady with more than one screw loose. It's a gem. Then add to this the remarkable supporting cast, a script with some zingers I can still remember after not seeing this for 40 years. And it gets great Cool Points for having legendary jazz artist Hadda Brooks play the piano and sing in this film (she also performed in the Bogart / Grahame film IN A LONELY PLACE; and had one of the first regular TV shows ever broadcast in Los Angeles in the late 1940s).