Symphonie en 6.35

From RKO, this minor rom-com starring Farley Granger and Shelley Winters is quite entertaining, thanks to the pleasant lead players but especially filled with great character actors, mocking the format of a crime movie. And with Archie the dog stealing scenes throughout, it represents the type of innocuous entertainment that kept fans happy during 1950s Hollywood.

One could easily imagine a straight, serious film noir with this cast, and Granger/Winters playing tough guy and femme fatale, but here they are ably involved in crazy comedy situations, intentionally goofy as sets of criminals all compete to find the cute doggy who has attached itself to Granger. Murders keep occurring and Granger's little white lie (he pretended the pooch was an anniversary present for his wife Shelley) ends up getting him into big trouble.

Elisha Cook Junior, Hans Conried and Lon Chaney Junior are among the familiar faces who are so much fun to see, even seven decades later when such obscure films show up regularly on YouTube. Influence of producer Norman Krasna is obvious here, while obscure writer-director George Beck (this was the only movie he ever directed) does a fine job keeping things moving at a brisk pace.

Pretty funny movie combining gangsters with domestic life with a cute dog thrown in. Some good jokes and one liners, some a little risqué. Lots of familiar character actors. Shelley Winters does a great job, actually seeming a lot LUCY RICARDO-ish, which is unusual as I LOVE LUCY actually premiered the same year. Don't miss the clever, closing credits "In order of their disappearance" showing some characters after they've been murdered.

Behave Yourself!

Not sure why the film is titled the way it was. I did want to watch it as I have not seen an early Shelly Winters film. I could only imagine an older, larger Shelly from the film "Poseidon Adventure."

The film is a situation comedy of sorts. The early 50s version of situation comedy includes lots of misunderstandings, a mother-in-law doing Dianetics classes in the evenings, and an innocent man who (a) forgot his wife's anniversary; (b) had a run-in with a dog who is trained in finding drop-off points for smugglers and (c) is always at the scene of a murder or three!

Sorry but the overacting was just too much. The comedy was not that funny to the modern viewer and the cops not really understanding what was going on as the stumbled through the scenes and the equally dumb gangsters with pratfalls and further misunderstandings – well!

Stars: Fun to see William Demerist in something other than his "My Three Sons" TV series (from the Sixties). And Lon Chaney Jr. as a heavy was a sight to see.

Shelly Winters acted as a clueless woman who faints more than she babbles on about her husband. The mother-in-law was a gem, how she accuses her son-in-law of murder and says "it figures" several times throughout the film.

Unless you're a big Shelly Winters fan, probably not the style for you. Lucille Ball played this theme so much better.

DVD: My DVD was from Alpha Video and did not have any features other than scene selections.

Cast & Crew:

Director: George Beck Writers: George Beck (screenplay), George Beck (story),» Stars: Farley Granger, Shelley Winters and William Demarest

Farley Granger and Shelley Winters form an unlikely couple in this screwball caper. The script was supposedly written in four days, and quite frankly, it shows. But there are some genuinely uproarious events, most of them involving William Demarest as a homicide chief. Hans Conreid appears in a heavy British accent, but he isn't nearly as funny as Demarest, though he certainly tries to be.

In fact, they all try to be funny in this offering from RKO, perhaps a bit too much. The energy, though, is good, and there is an adorable pooch named Archie whose presence is central to the plot. Near the end of the film, Granger bites Archie in an attempt to elicit laughs, proving there is such a thing as bad taste in movies. Obviously, Granger's character does not see the value in behaving himself.

The plot's something about a go-between dog that gets lost from its two smuggler gangs and finds a home, sort of, with a young couple.

Granger strives mightily to put the mad in madcap, but unfortunately it's too mightily. His incessant mugging in the latter half not only gets tiresome but amounts to unfunny desperation. Actually, the real problem with this misfire--as others point out--lies with director-writer Beck. In short, the screenplay is much too congested, probably to insert the many first-rate supporting players who could have provided real laughs if properly directed and defined. Instead, the likes of Leonard, Conreid, Cook, Jenkins, are largely wasted by a turgid screenplay. Only grouchy Demarest and sarcastic Gillmore manage to register. Winters' comedic talents are also largely wasted as the neglected wife, a role a hundred lesser actresses could have filled.

Looks like the producers were intent on promoting Granger's career since he monopolizes the screen time. Looks also like he was trying to expand his range into comedy. Too bad the package doesn't work. At the same time, judging by his credits, the actor quickly returned to drama, and being the bobby-sox idol he was so good at. Anyway, I hope they gave Archie triple treats for his lively tail-wagging turn. He may not be a glamorous Lassie, but he'll sure do.