I read that Jimmy Stewart claimed this was the worst film he ever made. I certainly won't argue the point. In fact, I would go so far as to say this movie is just plain dumb.
The script is dumb. The character played by Charles Winninger is dumb (and he was usually a pretty good comedy-character actor). Many of the songs here were dumb. Jimmy Stewart's character comes off in places as a fool...good-hearted though he may be. And poor Paulette Goddard; what a terrible role for her to suffer through.
It literally took me a week to grudgingly finish this film. I kept thinking that with Jimmy Stewart as the star, there must be some redeeming quality to the film. I found none. Leonard Maltin described the film as a "very minor item". The odd thing is that this film was made in 1941 in the midst of quite a few really good films starring Jimmy Stewart.
This is the kind of film where I sit there saying to myself, 'While they were making this, didn't anyone realize they were making a disaster?' Is there a reason to watch this film? Just one, and my reason, because I've respected and enjoyed Jimmy Stewart (well, almost always).
The script is dumb. The character played by Charles Winninger is dumb (and he was usually a pretty good comedy-character actor). Many of the songs here were dumb. Jimmy Stewart's character comes off in places as a fool...good-hearted though he may be. And poor Paulette Goddard; what a terrible role for her to suffer through.
It literally took me a week to grudgingly finish this film. I kept thinking that with Jimmy Stewart as the star, there must be some redeeming quality to the film. I found none. Leonard Maltin described the film as a "very minor item". The odd thing is that this film was made in 1941 in the midst of quite a few really good films starring Jimmy Stewart.
This is the kind of film where I sit there saying to myself, 'While they were making this, didn't anyone realize they were making a disaster?' Is there a reason to watch this film? Just one, and my reason, because I've respected and enjoyed Jimmy Stewart (well, almost always).