You don't need to look at the credits in order to be aware that this movie is based on a stage play. Like "The More the Merrier", it's concerned with the wartime housing shortage. Unfortunately, the movie script often takes refuge in some extremely tedious "comedy" routines such as Ida Lupino's attempts to sleep on two kitchen chairs. Ida is attractively photographed and costumed, but is otherwise sadly wasted. Fortunately, the first half of the film is brisker and more lively than the second half. In fact, in the last 30 minutes or so, the screenwriters give up their attempts to open up the stage play, and are content to let the play's over-verbose dialogue take over. Greenstreet struggles vainly to make something of his role, but without good material to work with, he flounders helplessly. And alas, Louis Armstrong and his orchestra (with vocalist, Dorothy Dandridge) are but briefly glimpsed during a night club interlude. To cap it all off, production values are very moderate and Vincent Sherman's direction totally lifeless and uninteresting.
Review of Pillow to Post
