mark.waltz Review of Sailor's Luck

Sailor's Luck (1933)

A fun wild and wacky comedy that never lets down for a moment.

[6/10 · 31 October 2013]

Sally Eilers and James Dunn make a great pair in this naval comedy in a year when "She Learned About Sailors", "Son of a Sailor" and a variety of other amusing looks at life at sea came out to brighten up the lives of depression era audiences. This is one of the more obscure and grabs you from the get-go, never letting go. Eilers is an innocent young woman down on her luck who is helped by Dunn yet not helped by some misunderstandings concerning a divorced man raising his son alone and the lecherous landlord (Victor Jory) who makes a play for the pretty Ms. Eilers. Esther Muir has some very amusing lines as a hard-boiled dame whom you know is hiding the proverbial heart of gold. The film's one minor flaw is the change in direction at the very beginning (where Eilers is seen as a swimming instructor who can't swim) and switches gears without explanation. But once it does get to the direction which takes up 3/4 of the film's very short running time, everything is fine, and speedy direction by the legendary Raoul Walsh makes for an amusing pre-code comedy with tons of innuendo galore.