Million Dollar Baby

Ronald Reagan is actually marvelous as ne'er-do-well boyfriend. Jeffrey Lynn is quite handsome as his rival for Priscilla Lane's attentions. Priscilla, an underrated actress in serious dramas and light comedies alike, does a very professional turn on an airy, yet pleasing, script. Worth a watch. 6/10

The best thing about this film is its cast of likable characters. Especially noteworthy is May Robson's performance as Cornelia Wheelwright, the strong-willed millionaire who sets out to right an inherited wrong. She is the perfect mix of gruffness and warmth. Jeffrey Lynn, who plays attorney James Armory, is the biggest surprise for me; I don't remember seeing him before, but he shines as one of the men who fall for the main character.

Priscilla Lane is the titular blonde, Pamela McAllister. Ms. Lane turns in a typical, wonderful performance. Her high energy and ready smile light up the screen.

I think the producers were aiming for a screwball comedy, but the script does not rise to that level. The relationship between Jessica and Peter (Ronald Reagan), the struggling pianist, is problematic. His constant negativity and sarcasm undercut any romantic tension.

Jessica has big decisions to make, and you might be guessing until the end which way she will go. Personally, I found her final choices somewhat disappointing. But this is an entertaining film that guarantees smiles, if not belly laughs.

I really wanted to love "Million Dollar Baby". After all, I liked the stars and the film INITIALLY kept my interest. However, as the film progressed I found myself becoming more and more restless and bored...and I couldn't wait until it ended.

Cornelia Wheelwright (May Robson) is a rich old lady. However, when she learns that her father was in fact a crook who cheated his old business partner long ago, she's determined to drop everything and return to America to make things right. The problem is that the only surviving member of the wronged man's family is Pamela (Priscilla Lane)...and eventually you realize that Pamela is an idiot. Why? Well, after she is given a million dollars, instead of doing anything intelligent with it, she reveals her stupidity again and again. First, she doesn't realize that she must pay taxes on it...and argues with the tax man about this! Second, her boyfriend (Ronald Reagan) is a sexist idiot who suddenly hates Pamela now that she's got money. Huh?? And, by the end of the film she comes to the realization that it's best to give away her fortune in order to please her boyfriend's fragile ego! Huh?!

Part of the problem is that times have changed and this plot doesn't work at all today. But a bigger problem is that the film goes on too long and has many scenes that simply don't work. Dull...and not among the best from Warner!

Don't tune this one in if you're expecting the Clint Eastwood classic, someone may try and slip this one by you. Not that this Million Dollar Baby is entirely bad. It's the kind of silliness that an incredibly skilled group of familiar players make palatable so that you can accept the nonsense on some level.

May Robson does her Applie Annie role in reverse, she's the dowager spinster heiress of an old robber baron whom she discovers got his fortune by bilking a partner back in the day who committed suicide. Seeking to right some wrongs Robson discovers the granddaughter and heir of the deceased partner is Priscilla Lane, proud working person where you find Million Dollar Babies, in a five and ten cent store.

Her lawyer, young Jeffrey Lynn is the agent for Robson's largess, quite a dapper fellow himself. Priscilla's got a boyfriend though, struggling composer Ronald Reagan. Given what Reagan's politics were when he became President of the United States it's a bit much to her him railing against the rich, but who would have figured in 1941.

Some of the best character players around fill out the rest of the cast of Million Dollar Baby and they make the incredible story entertaining in its own way. Helen Westley as Lane's landlady, John Qualen as an eccentric scientist, George Barbier as Robson's former attorney, Lee Patrick as a burlesque queen. There isn't a name I've mentioned in that group that doesn't summon up an image and type that old film viewers know exactly what to expect.

That cast gives Million Dollar Baby the vitality it has. As for Priscilla and her new found millions, will she choose lawyer Lynn or composer Reagan. I won't say, but I will tell you that I think she chose wrong.

This isn't a great movie, though Priscilla Lane is (as usual) better than her material.

But, that said, I was struck with the vocal precision of Nan Wynn in "Who Is in Your Dreams Tonight". Her control was exquisite.

It is amazing to me how very, very good even minor singers were in the 1940's. No, she is not a truly great singer, and I am not a huge fan of 1940's singing. Many later singers and many of her contemporaries were more compelling with weaker vocal skills. (I lean toward Peggy Lee, Chris Connor and Susannah McCorkle on the jazz side.)

But, damn! Who among popular singers exhibits this level of technical skills today. It's a bit like the absence of workmanship in modern manufactured goods.