Double Dynamite (1951)An innocent bank teller, suspected of embezzlement, is aided by an eccentric, wisecracking waiter. Director:Irving Cummings |
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Double Dynamite (1951)An innocent bank teller, suspected of embezzlement, is aided by an eccentric, wisecracking waiter. Director:Irving Cummings |
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| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Jane Russell | ... |
Mildred 'Mibs' Goodhue
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| Groucho Marx | ... | ||
| Frank Sinatra | ... |
Johnny Dalton
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Don McGuire | ... |
R.B. 'Bob' Pulsifer Jr.
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| Howard Freeman | ... |
R.B. Pulsifer Sr.
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Nestor Paiva | ... |
'Hot Horse' Harris, the Bookie
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Frank Orth | ... |
Mr. Kofer
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Harry Hayden | ... |
J.L. McKissack
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William Edmunds | ... |
Mr. Baganucci
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Russell Thorson | ... |
IRS Tailman
(as Russ Thorson)
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Bank teller Johnny Dalton, too poor to marry his sweetheart 'Mibs' Goodhug, saves a big-time bookie from a beating and receives a munificent reward...which just happens to match a mysterious shortage at the bank! Will Johnny's pal, eccentric waiter Emile, get him out of trouble...or in so deep he'll never get out? Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Think about it. Sinatra, Groucho, and Jane Russell starring in a movie written by Harry Crane and with songs by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Sound great. Well, it's not. Sinatra is a bank clerk who is wrongly accused of stealing money from his bank. His singing is great; it's probably never been better. However, instead of the flip Sinatra character of the 1950s, director Cummings asks Sinatra to play a timid young man, a role that never really suited him well. (Think about "The Kissing Bandit"! Compare that to "Meet Danny Wilson", Sinatra's next film where he gets to play that cocky guy!) Groucho is as funny as usual, but the script is contrived, there are too few sight gags, and the direction is slow. We are even cheated on the musical numbers. The two songs, "It's Only Money" (sung by Frank and Groucho) and "Kisses and Tears" (sung by Frank and Jane, accompanied by the jazzy Phil Moore Four) are good, but I wish there were more. Groucho did better with his brothers and Sinatra did better with Nelson Riddle!