1941 comedyRating: 13/20
Plot: Bertram Potts is one of eight professors working on an encyclopedia. Potts, who specializes in language, is working on an article about slang, but he doesn't know anything about it. He ventures out to find experts and comes across a nightclub singer who has ties to the mob. She initially refuses his request to help him with his slang article, but once she finds out the police are after her, she decides to hide out with Potts and his colleagues. She disrupts things.
Cute enough but too old-fashioned. There were times I almost wanted to laugh, but I would have had to laugh so politely that my wife would have suspected that I had become a homosexual. The writing isn't bad at all, but it's more clever than funny. Gary Cooper wasn't believable as the studious nerdy type, and none of the gangsters were very believable either. I did like Stanwyck's character, but during the second half of the movie, she either became a prop or just wasn't around much. This also suffers from having that 30s/40s tendency to tidy everything up, and mostly unrealistically make everything turn out happily. My biggest gripe, however is that if you're going to make an updated version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, you've got to include midgets. There's not a midget to be seen in this one.
This was another Cory recommendation.
Dissappointed! I thought you would like this more. Cute, clever, and sweet (now I'm starting to understand), I think this is a great Hawks and Wilder film. I admit it is a slight stretch for Cooper, but he pulls it off, and he and Stanwyk have great chemistry. The gansters are a bit over the top and the end is a bit corny, but it was made in 1940 and "The Lodger" certainly didn't get punished for having 40's style. This movie has a lot of heart and is fun and you should be more secure in your masculinity. I'm sorry it lacks midgets but in spite of that, I give it an 18.
ReplyDeleteI meant disappointed and the previous comment should have been "memorable". Freakin' spelling.
ReplyDeleteI really disagree about 'The Lodger' having a typical 40's style. Only the acting seemed dated to me.
ReplyDeleteMy 13/20 is because it's sort of cute, sort of clever, and sort of sweet. I guess. Didn't you think Stanwyck's character fell for Cooper a little unrealistically and quickly? I'm sticking by my original assessment--the movie is ok.
It's Gary Cooper! You would fall fast for Gary Cooper, at least if you were a 40's bad girl. Fine, stick with your 13 for this minor classic and continue to give strange films I've never heard of superior grades. It keeps me fired up.
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