Une rousse obstinée

Pleasant little comedy about politics with Dick Powell the reformer and June Allyson the spunky redhead. He's running for mayor and ties in with the crooked Ray Collins until he uncovers some dirt about him and exposes him. She's the daughter of a zoo director (Cecil Kellaway) who gets fired for crossing Collins. Not quite a screwball comedy since the politics angle anchors this one in a sense of reality.

Allyson and Powell are terrific together, with an easy-going charm and banter that probably reflects their married life together. Also on the plus side are funny supporting turns by David Wayne and Marvin Kaplan (who's still with us) as Powell's office associates. Robert Keith plays a gruff reporter, and the always-watchable Kathleen Freeman has a cat fight scene with Allyson. In bits, Mae Clarke as a cashier and John Hamilton as the police captain.

Oh and the animals are good too.

"The Reformer and the Redhead" is a rare opportunity to see Dick Powell co-starring with his wife, June Allyson. And, while it's not a great film, it is breezy and enjoyable.

The film begins with Andrew Hale deciding to run for mayor of his town on the Reform ticket. After all, he sees the existing power structure as wicked and in need of change. At about the same time, a kooky woman who helps her father run the local zoo comes to him for help--they have been victims of the town's crooked politics. He agrees to help them and makes their case one of his rallying points for the election. In exchange, the kooky woman (Allyson) works hard at getting him elected. Imagine her shock, then, when her new hero agrees to work with the local political machine! What's next? See the film.

The repartee between Allyson and Powell is very nice and the film never takes itself very seriously---which makes it easy viewing. No serious problems with the film but it's not exactly deep or life-changing--though sometimes this is all you really want from a film.

By the way, if you do see the film, look for Tor Johnson at the Finnish Society meeting. He's a familiar Ed Wood Jr. actor and was a professional wrestler before entering such notable films as "The Beast of Yucca Flats" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space". He was, by the way, Swedish, not Finnish.

The Reformer and the Redhead is a fun film to watch because it stars a real life Hollywood couple: Dick Powell and June Allyson. The two are wonderful together, sweet and funny.

The film is about a zoo-keeper's daughter and a man running for mayor. When the girl's father is at risk of losing his job for a phony reason supplied by a corrupt power over the city, she enlists the help of the man, hoping for him to stay true to his pledge of being a reformer and to help her. The two become involved in a relationship along with many funny events, several including a sweet lion a la Bringing up Baby.

The movie is very enjoyable, but nothing special. It is a breezy film with a good cast, a great choice for a bad day.

Just another TCM time-passer. June Allyson brings her usual earnest charm to a movie that just didn't have much to it. The essential weakness is that the screenplay cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a "look at all those crazy animals" comedy or a political "the honest man will win" film. When the movie finally makes its decision at the end, it just made me wonder why it spent all that time on the other thread. I've also been fairly suspicious of movies that have more than one credited director. Maybe that played a role here too.

The high point for me was the performance of Cecil Kellaway as the father. TCM and IMDb make a great combination for learning about the wonderful character actors of Hollywood history.

The Reformer and the Redhead is a poor man's version of a combination of State of the Union and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on a more local level. Dick Powell is an ambitious attorney who was raised in an orphanage and now aspires to be mayor of his small California town. On the campaign trail he meets June Allyson, redheaded daughter of Cecil Kellaway who was fired from his job as zookeeper.

Through them he learns some interesting facts about the creation of the zoo and after some research he uses his knowledge to blackjack the local boss, Ray Collins, to support his candidacy. Of course when that comes to the attention of June Allyson it throws a great big shadow on their relationship.

My guess is that Mr. and Mrs. Powell got this one because Tracy and Hepburn turned it down. As well they should have because I don't think that even their presence could have made it a classic. Politics has and always will be the art of compromise. Powell has certain goals in mind for his community and he can achieve them with Collins' support. In the real world, Powell's silence should have satisfied all concerned. It's like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in that just why was it so important for James Stewart to have his national boys camp at that location where it was interfering with some pet graft scheme of Edward Arnold. It's the weakness of that film and it's an even more glaring weakness in this film.

In a way The Reformer and the Redhead is also a looking glass version of an aspect of All the King's Men. In that one an upright judge who is now the Attorney General of that state through some diligent research by John Ireland is blackmailed by Broderick Crawford and kills himself. Just what is the role of blackmail in our political system.

The more serious questions The Reformer and the Redhead raises are smothered over with some comedy concerning June and Cecil's bizarre collection of ailing zoo animals, including a lion named Herman they keep as a house cat. I can't really blame Powell for that, I have a neighbor who has kept an alligator for one for years. I've seen Albert the Alligator from a very discreet distance.

The Reformer and the Redhead is good, not great, but entertaining enough in the comedy department. But it leaves more questions unanswered when dealing with the more serious aspects of the film.