Two Smart People (1946)

Criminal Ace Connors agrees to return to New York and stand trial for stealing $500,000 worth of bonds so he can serve a light five-year sentence and enjoy his loot (safely stowed away in ... See full summary »

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Ethel Hill (screenplay), Leslie Charteris (screenplay)

Stars:

Lucille Ball, John Hodiak, Lloyd Nolan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lucille Ball	...	Ricki Woodner
John Hodiak	...	Ace Connors
Lloyd Nolan	...	Bob Simms
Hugo Haas	...	Señor Rodriquez
Lenore Ulric	...	Señora Maria Ynez
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Fly Feletti
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Dwight Chandwick
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Jacques Dufour
David Cota	...	José
Clarence Muse	...	Porter

Storyline

Criminal Ace Connors agrees to return to New York and stand trial for stealing $500,000 worth of bonds so he can serve a light five-year sentence and enjoy his loot (safely stowed away in the cover of a cook book) when he gets out. Detective Bob Simms is tasked with escorting Connors back to New York. With five days for the cross-country trip, Connors plans for stops in Texas and New Orleans to have a few final days of fun before he goes to prison. Ricki Woodner, a con artist who met Connors at his hotel, is persuaded by Fly Feletti (a bitter colleague of Connors) to get close to Connors and take the bonds. She joins Connors and Simms on the train and Ricki and Ace start falling for each other. Feletti wants the bonds and keeps an eye on Ricki to make sure she doesn't double-cross him. After a romantic detour into Mexico, Ace, Ricki, and Simms head to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras celebration, with Feletti close behind.

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Plot Keywords:

bonds | book | con artist | cook book | texas | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French Latin

Release Date:

4 June 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Time for Two

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film failed at the box office, resulting in a loss to MGM of $252,000 ($3.5M in 2018) according to studio records.

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Goofs

When Ricki, Ace, and Bob walk into the little shop that rents them their costumes for Mardi Gras, they walk past an hourglass (that happens to be the same hourglass used in "The Wizard of Oz"). Although there was no one else in the room, and the proprietor came downstairs apologizing that he had been upstairs watching the Mardi Gras, the sand in the hourglass is all in the top half.

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Connections

Referenced in Forecast (1945)

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Soundtracks

Pop! Goes the Weasel
(uncredited)
Traditional nursery rhyme
[The crowd is singing the song when Fly has Ace at gunpoint at Mardi Gras]

User Reviews

Lucy and Hodiak kind-of-noir from the 1940s

Oil paintings and oil wells. Ricki ( Lucy) and her friend "Ace" are somehow involved in selling things. John Hodiak is "Ace" Connors, and he and Ricki are trying to sell oil wells or paintings, but neither one seems to be authentic, so the buyers back out, and then there are the mysterious missing bonds. Elisha Cook is the dark horse "Feletti". It's all very 1940s noirish, with Lucy all dolled up in fancy costumes, and many things are only partially explained. They all meet on a train when Bob Simms (Lloyd Nolan), is bringing Connors in for justice. Simms tells Ricki why they are on the train, and tries to get her on his side. Then, they end up on the Mexican side of the border. Now, they are all at a Mardi Gras party. Wow, they sure have a lot of adventures for someone on their way to Sing Sing; it's all in good fun as we wait to see if Simms, Feletti, or someone else will find the stolen bonds. You have to really pay attention or you'll miss important details. It's more of a get-away adventure than a who-dunnit. It's okay, but not a lot of meat on the bones of this story. This was a couple years before I Love Lucy. They hardly ever show this one, but her best films were Long Long Trailer, Big Street, Fuller Brush Girl, and Meet the People. Hodiak had just done Hitchcock's Lifeboat, and Harvey Girls.

Directed by Jules Dassin, nominated for two Oscars for "Pote tin Kyriaki" 1960. He had also directed Rififi and Topkapi, and was harassed by the House Unamerican Activities Committee in the 1950s. Looks like this is the only time Dassin and Lucy worked on a project together.