The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942)

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Director:

Bernard Vorhaus

Writers:

Paul Armstrong Jr. (story)
Olive Cooper (writer)

Release Date:

27 March 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Mike Jason (Dennis O'Keefe), idea man for the Bullard Advertising Agency, and Cleo Arden (Gloria Dickson)...

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Character Name In Title

Cast

Dennis O'Keefe	...	Mike Jason
Ruth Terry	...	Bonnie Forbes
Gloria Dickson	...	Cleo Arden
Roman Bohnen	...	Tom Forbes aka Jimmy Valentine
George E. Stone	...	Mousey
Spencer Charters	...	Cheevers Snow
William B. Davidson	...	Cyrus Ballard
Roscoe Ates	...	Dan Kady
Bobby Larson	...	Mickey Forbes
Joe Cunningham	...	Charles Stanton
Harry Shannon	...	Pinky
Jed Prouty	...	Maxwell B. Titus
Patsy Parsons	...	Marlene Titus (as Patsy Lee Parsons)
Linda Brent	...	Letitia Hinkle
Wade Boteler	...	Warden Carl Jones

Also Known As:

Find Jimmy Valentine (USA) (working title)
Unforgotten Crime (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

72 min | USA:53 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Return of Jimmy Valentine (1936)

Nifty second-feature

In his landmark tome "B Movies", the normally reserved film historian Don Miller heaps two pages of praise on this small-town comedy-mystery, calling it the apogee of Republic Pictures' output. Unfortunately, it was not a success at the box office, and was cut to a mere 54 minutes for second feature and television distribution under the title "Unforgotten Crime". This is the version in circulation today (if anyone stumbles upon the full version, please inform!) -- obviously, much of the story set-up is missing, causing some of the plot and character motivations to be fuzzy. Nonetheless, it's still a boisterous and clever little programmer, with an infectiously enthusiastic cast of b-movie stalwarts. Much of the pleasure comes from the odd romantic triangle of womanizing (self-) promoter Dennis O'Keefe, the lively but naive teenager (Ruth Terry) who immediately goes gaga over him, and his sophisticated co-worker (Gloria Dickson), who radiates plenty of Eve Ardenish attitude and sarcasm. This was one of noir master John Alton's earliest gigs as cinematographer, and although it's not the most suitable material, he manages to give a striking pulp-magazine-cover aura to the crime scenes. In fact, one scene of mayhem involving a sexy manicurist is quite jarring amid the lighthearted Mayberry-like atmosphere. Director Vorhaus and Alton later teamed up for the more appropriately cynical "Bury Me Dead" and "The Spiritualist".