utgard14 Middling B comedy about a schoolteacher (Heather Angel) who undergoes a makeover which leads to wacky adventures involving gangsters, a corpse in a stolen car, and a man (John 'Dusty' King) she picks up off the side of the road. Never as funny as it desperately wants to be. In fact, it has some boring stretches. Angel and King bring little to the table, leaving the supporting players like Tom Dugan, William B. Davidson, and Constance Collier to pick up the slack. They do an admirable job of that, which helps make this at least watchable. Not a great film by any stretch but worth a look if you're in the mood for a quickie comedy with a few (but only a few) laughs.

scootmandutoo Because of the easygoing and likable acting of the 3 stars (Angel, King and Collier), you likely will find the 1 hour spent goes by rather quickly.However, this movie is riddled with disbelief. Outside of 1 brief scene where Heather Angel initially sprints from the car, neither her nor John King break a sweat over the dead man they are driving around.And, why Angel never just abandons the car in the first place (we later learn why King doesn't) is just one of the film's many idiocies.The chase scenes are mostly interesting for their blatant use of rear projection. The cops on police choppers are hilariously unrealistic.Yet, despite the entire lack of believability, or any sense of tension, this film was a fun little period piece. There is a good free copy on YouTube and elsewhere online.

classicsoncall Well hold on to your hats folks, I think even the Three Stooges might have had a hard time keeping up with Heather Angel in this feisty romp. Twenty five years old and getting older every day, her character Anne Gladden decides to live it up for a day and ends up in a stolen limousine with a dead body in the back seat. It's pretty incomprehensible for most of the story why a young man she picks up along the way gets involved in the escapade, but it's later revealed that the vehicle actually belongs to Larry Cameron (John King).If you're like me, you'll find yourself scratching your head over a number of scenes. Like society matron Mrs. Breckenridge - how is it she was holding a pet dog when a cop pulled her chauffeur over, but didn't have one earlier when she had tea with Anne at the filling station? And how about Cameron bringing Anne into his home - didn't it look like they stepped into a bright and shiny TV commercial for modern kitchen appliances of the day? But the best was the final scene when Anne brings Larry home to meet granny, and even though they're still at the front door, granny greets them from the comfort of her bed. Where exactly was that, in the living room?Yes, movie viewers, this one truly defies classification. Not exactly a murder mystery, and not exactly a comedy, but you'll probably think you've seen elements of both. It's certainly entertaining in an odd sort of way, but you'll have to leave your thinking cap at the door.

John Howard Reid Comedy noir would seem to be a contradiction in terms, but there are in fact movies in this vein that deserve serious attention, particularly The Ladykillers (1951). A much lesser entry, however, is Universal's 1940 release, Half a Sinner, in which a none-too-flatteringly photographed and costumed Heather Angel is pursued not only by comic cops and comic crooks but by smiling bland man, John King. The second last of over 400 films (many of them shorts) directed by comedy giant, Al Christie, this Trouble with Harry/Midnight Manhunt effort is somewhat repetitious but pleasant enough to talk during and even come late for. The players do what they can with their something-borrowed (cf. the overcoat device in Manhattan Melodrama), something-thin material, but only Clem Bevans, Tom Dugan, William B. Davidson and ever-reliable Constance Collier really shine.