Please Believe Me (1950)

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Nathaniel Curtis (story)
Nathaniel Curtis (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 May 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Alison Kirbe of London, receives a telegram from Texas, that she has inherited a livestock ranch. It...

Plot Keywords:

Gambler | Texas | Fortune | Attorney | Gambling Debt

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Alison Kirbe
Robert Walker	...	Terence Keath
Mark Stevens	...	Matthew Kinston
Peter Lawford	...	Jeremy Taylor
James Whitmore	...	Vincent Maran
J. Carrol Naish	...	'Lucky' Reilly
Spring Byington	...	Mrs. Milwright
Carol Savage	...	Sylvia Rumley
Drue Mallory	...	Beryl Robinson
George Cleveland	...	Mr. Cooper
Ian Wolfe	...	Edward Warrender
Bridget Carr	...	Lily Milwright
Henri Letondal	...	Jacques Carnet
Gaby André	...	Mme. Carnet (as Gaby Andre)
Leon Belasco	...	The Croupier

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Continuity: After their evening of gambling, Matthew goes to Allison's hotel room and she invites him for coffee. Just as he accepts and begins to sit down, the far shot shows her putting her empty coffee cup at his place. The next shot, which is a close shot from her right, shows her again putting the cup in front of him.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (2007) (TV)

Confusing.

What's this movie really about? Who are all those characters? What do they want? This movie truly confuses me.

The movie is filled with many characters who are all after one thing; money. They think they can get it from the British Alison Kirbe (Deborah Kerr) who just inherited a livestock ranch in Texas. They all try to win her love for different reason but all money involved. After a while it starts to get extremely confusing who all those characters are, who is with who and what do they want exactly. Terence, Matthew, Jeremy, Vincent, Lucky Reilly, I mean who are all those people? They all look and act so much alike! Who's good, who's bad and for what man does Alison Kirbe eventually fall for and just why him? This movie gives me an headache just thinking about it! At the end the movie become even more confusing when everybody apparently start to scam each other, for whatever reason. The movie had reached a point at that time that I couldn't even care less what was going on and happening to the characters.

Guess the writer thought he was really being clever by putting as many plot twists as possible in the movie. It just doesn't work and makes things extremely confusing to follow. But also the entire execution of the script is below average. The movie doesn't always flow well and it seemed that director Norman Taurog also had no idea what he was shooting. The sequences are just put together after each other but it doesn't make one big well flowing whole piece.

And apparently this was supposed to be a comedy but for a comedy this movie surely does lack some laughs or even humor for that matter. Are the situations supposed to be funny? Are the characters supposed to be funny? Is the dialog supposed to be humorous? Fact is that the movie only just mildly entertains at points.

The movie gets also restrained by its settings. Its for most part set aboard a ship. It provides the movie with all of the usual sequences and settings and therefor also becomes rather formulaic.

Not a recommendable movie, unless you want an headache.

4/10