deltascorch90 I was literally on the edge of my seat in some bits just taken up by the drama of it all. The father reading the letter in the church--I could almost visualize a Greek villager rallying his countrymen to "spare Greek honor another hour." Then there's the leading lady, whose eyes sparkled and lit up at some of the things Grant did. What reality! There's definitely something magical about this film. I was particularly struck when the "Well this is a pleasant surprise" bit came on from the episode of Band of Brothers. It struck me then how I'm at like the crossroads of it all, watching this film in its proper context and then watching the modern Band of Brothers looking back to this time. I don't know, I really enjoyed the romance between them, I could even feel myself longing for them to be reunited, as if it was something I was experiencing. One of the discussion board subjects reads "ultimate chick flick for me," and I suppose that's the case. This is a film that rightly deserves its happy ending. For my own emotions to be so yanked around by something, it's gotta be a good sort of film.

abcj-2 Cary Grant is my favorite actor. I've had a crush in him since seeing his movies on TV as a little girl. Most of my very favorite movies star the great Cary Grant and his plethora of beautiful leading ladies. So with an almost 40 year crush on Cary Grant and having seen almost all of his films, imagine my surprise when I discovered a new Cary Grant film which jumped near the top of the list of my favorite Grant movies of all time on my first viewing!MR. LUCKY is a delightfully complex film. It has crime, drama, war, con-artists, socialites putting on charity balls, gambling, drama, romance, comedy, knitting, cockney rhyming slang, and most of all, heart. It's a redemption story told against the backdrop of the home front efforts in World War II. The men have a plan and the women have a plan. You'll have to watch to see who prevails, but it is a romantic comedy after all, so the answer is pretty obvious.What isn't so obvious is Mr. Cary Grant. If you think you know Grant from his numerous comedic and occasional tough guy roles, then you're in for a real treat as you experience this film for the first time. It's one of those movies that is so good, I wish I could see it again for the first time. Grant is spot-on perfect as the crooked gambler Joe. Laraine Day is unusually perfect as his leading lady. I wasn't sure how I'd like her paired with Grant, but they have marvelous chemistry and delightful repartee. Two of my favorite character actors are Charles Bickford and Gladys Cooper who shine in their supporting roles. But ultimately, Cary Grant, as he always does, steals the show. He can't help it. He's Cary Grant. However, he's not playing the perfectly suave ladies' man. He's a tough guy who learns through his crooked dealings with some kindhearted women that he has a heart, too.As a drooling admirer, I'm not sure he ever looked as good as he does in this film (especially in his early years as an actor). He also let's a little bit of his Mid-Atlantic accent go and gives us a touch of his British side. It's endearing and unusual for Grant. If anyone ever thought Grant was underrated as an actor, then here is a case for it. You don't even realize you're watching Cary Grant, and that's hard for almost any fan to forget despite his wonderful acting and diverse roles. He's fully transported into the character and he brings us right along for a real surprise.

yourdeadmeat69 Google the title and you get DVD availability for Mr. Lucky for Region 2 PAL players. These days a PAL player, or a multi region and HD capable (Blu-Ray) players means you gotta buy a bunch of players. Someday--one player size fits all but, I didn't want folks to think a DVD wasn't available on planet earth somewhere.How good, the quality of sound and print, is to be determined.Stayed tuned.And I wish I didn't have to put in ten lines of commentary to make a simple notification of availability for DVD.

bkoganbing Along similar lines to Suspicion, dapper Cary Grant plays a gambler confidence man with two problems that he solves in what he thinks is a masterstroke. The army is out to draft him so he has another crook with high blood pressure, Paul Stewart, pose as him at the draft physical. He also takes the name of a dead Greek sailor on a gambling boat that was raided. Of course when it turns out that the sailor had a lengthy criminal record including three felony convictions, that's not so good.On to a big score however. Grant offers his services to a war relief committee that is run by Park Avenue dowagers like Gladys Cooper and Florence Bates with the idea of doing a Las Vegas Night and stealing the take. Of course when pretty Laraine Day who's also involved in the committee comes on the scene, Grant reassesses himself. Especially after he gets a letter for the dead Greek sailor and has Greek Orthodox priest Vladimir Sokoloff translate it.MGM did a similar story about a draft dodger in For Me and My Gal which was Gene Kelly's debut film. That one was a good deal lighter than Mr. Lucky yet the plot line about being redeemed by the love of a good woman is the same.Mr. Lucky was one of RKO's biggest hits that year and it's clear that they knew what they were doing by not letting Cary Grant remain a heel. Try as he may, Grant had a lot of difficulty in getting studios to see him as anything other than the good guy. Eventually he surrendered to studio wishes, whatever studio it was.Besides those mentioned, Mr. Lucky also has good performances by Charles Bickford as the boat captain and amateur surgeon who saves Grant's life and by Alan Carney as Grant's driver and man Friday. It's definitely worth a look when next on TCM.