Watched this film last night, and while it may only be the second best film about Barbara Stanwyck conning a professor and then falling in love with him (
The Lady Eve is better—no one can compare with Preston Sturges, at least from 1940-1948), it's an absolute delight. Gary Cooper may be a little awkward in his role as a brain, but Dana Andrews is (obviously) a natural as the evil gangster, the supporting cast of avuncular scholars (above, as the Seven Dwarfs) is charming and hilarious, and Barbara Stanwyck is, well, Barbara Stanwyck. The film features a ferociously, deviously
brilliant script from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett complete with all the racy cleverness that makes me sometimes think we might not be better off (script-wise, at least) going back to the Hays Code. Would Judd Apatow even be funny if innuendo were still considered an art?
Watched this film last night, and while it may only be the second best film about Barbara Stanwyck conning a professor and then falling in love with him (The Lady Eve is better—no one can compare with Preston Sturges, at least from 1940-1948), it's an absolute delight. Gary Cooper may be a little awkward in his role as a brain, but Dana Andrews is (obviously) a natural as the evil gangster, the supporting cast of avuncular scholars (above, as the Seven Dwarfs) is charming and hilarious, and Barbara Stanwyck is, well, Barbara Stanwyck. The film features a ferociously, deviously brilliant script from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett complete with all the racy cleverness that makes me sometimes think we might not be better off (script-wise, at least) going back to the Hays Code. Would Judd Apatow even be funny if innuendo were still considered an art?
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