Doubting Thomas

As if the "bad acting" given by an amateur stock company isn't bad enough, the actual performances aren't much better--even when given by such well-known names as WILL ROGERS, BILLIE BURKE, FRANK ALBERTSON and GAIL PATRICK. David Butler was a reliable director of lightweight material in the '30s and '40s but this is one of his weakest efforts.

The only genuine laughs come from the actual first night performance of the amateur theatrical play where everything goes wrong--all in highly exaggerated style, with STERLING HAYDEN missing all his cues and the other actors bumping into each other and the scenery while the highly theatrical diva ALISON SKIPWORTH frets over each mishap while urging them all on to greater heights.

Outside of that, the rest of the film is hurt by dull dialog when it requires wit--even the barbs thrown around by Will Rogers fall flat most of the time. Billie Burke does her standard dotty act and overdoes the "bad acting" to such an extent that it becomes a parody of what's supposed to be funny.

Summing up: Dated farce falls apart long before the third act featuring a supposedly "talented" Will Rogers (in a faux screen test) making a fool out of himself as a Bing Crosby-like crooner. Forget about it!