Casanova Brown

Casanova Brown (1944)

A not-so-screwball comedy, but a comedy, based on the solid writing of Nunnally Johnson. The idea is a really 1940s one: can a man raise a baby? Throw in a leading man who is so thrown by his dilemma he marries or almost marries three women (all in the same room at one point), and so on and so on.

Cary Cooper is the superstar, and he's his usual likable but slightly dull (restrained) self, and he might not be the best for the role, but in a way that's the point, that the man is clumsy and awkward about anything maternal. The cast around him is terrific, including Frank Morgan (who was the wizard in The Wizard of Oz). And the third star, Teresa Wright, is her predictably sweet and perky self, once she arrives on the scene.

It's a zany plot, for sure, and if it drags a little sometimes, or is just a bit corny, that's part of it. The convergence of the various people who are at odds with each other without knowing it is almost inevitable, but when it happens it clicks. And Frank Morgan is key, more than anyone. The photography might not seem to matter in a film that is so plot heavy, and so insane, but in fact the cinematography by John Seitz is really superb, and helps make the thing hold together.

If you watch the first twenty minutes you'll know whether to watch the rest. I really think some people will find this too old fashioned in its humor, and a little to contrived and silly, too. But others will be glad for the non-stop absurdity, for the nice filming, and for the almost surreal strangeness of events.