Woman Wanted

Maureen O'Sullivan was rarely lovelier than she is as Ann Gray, a convicted murderess who goes on the lam and ends up being helped by do-gooder attorney Joel McCrea. McCrea and O'Sullivan make a wonderful team, but Woman Wanted is an all around success, featuring an amusing and sharply written screenplay and terrific and imaginative photography by Charles Clarke. The film is also extremely well lit and features some truly awesome second unit work, most notably in an early scene involving an auto wreck that gains O'Sullivan her freedom. The leads are ably supported by oily Louis Calhern as bad guy Smiley Gordon and Robert Greig as Peedles, McCrea's extremely loyal manservant. Woman Wanted is terrific and well made fun.

Fast-paced, if rather muddled, programmer from MGM. The stars - McCrea & O'Sullivan - prove more likable than the story. Seems O'Sullivan's slated for execution for a murder she didn't commit. However, she's sprung for unknown reasons by a racketeer, and aided in her escape by lawyer McCrea. Together, they thread through a series of escapes from the cops and gangsters. But will she ever be cleared of the murder.

The story's played in fairly light-hearted fashion and is occasionally amusing, especially when the fetching O'Sullivan plays hide-and-seek with McCrea's feisty fiancée (Ames) in his apartment. Also, relative unknown Robert Greig scores humorously as the butler Peebles. Then too, director Seitz manages to helpfully cover up much of the murky narrative with fast pacing. However, it surprises me that ritzy MGM didn't come up with better projection screens for the action shots behind both boats and cars. All in all, the movie fails to rise above programmer status, even though the two leads show how ready they are for bigger and better things.

This 1935 movie is similar to the later television series and the hit movie "The Fugitive." In this one a female rather than a male is found guilty of a murder she did not commit. Rather than an unplanned train derailment, a planned car wreck sets Ann Gray free. Ann Gray is played by the seductive Maureen O'Sullivan, Tarzan's Jane and Mia Farrow's mother, in a light-hearted manner much in the same way she played Jane. The wreck was orchestrated by mobster Smiley Gordon who is the real killer. The much underrated actor Louis Calhern portrays Smiley with skill and daring. Tony Baxter, Joel McCrae when he was still playing comedic romantic leads, at first unwittingly aids Ann in her escape from so-called justice and hides her away in his apartment. There is a hilarious scene at this point in the film when Tony's on-again off-again fiancée unexpectedly shows up and he has to hide Ann not only from the police but also from his girlfriend. Enter Peedles, Tony's Butler (Robert Greig), who has a delicious time keeping the two separated so the girlfriend Betty Randolph (Adrienne Ames) won't discover the other woman. The law then shows up complicating Peedles' job even more. Now he has to hide both women from the long arm of the law. The wonderful Edgar Kennedy as bumbling House Detective Sweeney is before the camera much too briefly but does get a chance to create a little mayhem for everyone concerned.

Another fun scene takes place in a closed diner where the now two fugitives, Ann and Tony, take shelter following a chase by mobsters during a thunder storm. Ann finds some apple jack and proceeds to get looped. Tony pretends to be the cook when the gangsters arrive and serves them hamburgers that he and Ann intended to eat. The local constable shows up after the hoods leave. He gets pie-eyed too.

This is one of those neat little films where loose ends get tied much too soon making for a fairly abrupt ending, as if the writers ran out of ideas and decided to wrap things up quickly. Still a very watchable comedy drama with some great acting thrown in to make it even more entertaining.

Always enjoyed viewing Maureen O'Sullivan when she played "Jane" in the Tarzan films in the 30's and 40's. In this film, she plays a young gal with a big cloud over her head from a horrible court room decision. Maureen, plays Ann Gray," Never Too Late",'65, who comes into contact with Joel McCrea,(Anthony,"Tony" Baxter), "The Virginian",'45, who plays a hot shot ladies man lawyer in this picture, and not a cowboy. However, Louis Calhern,(Smiley Gordon),"Blackboard Jungle",'55 plays the crooked crime lord who wants to make certain that Ann Gray is not put into jail for his own personal reasons. This is a well produced B&W film and truly a great classic. Maureen O'Sullivan, made this film a classic and also the mother of Mia Farrow and her father John Farrow all outstanding actors and producers. Enjoy the 1930's.

Ann Gray (Maureen O'Sullivan) maintains that she's innocent of murdering her husband. The jury finds her guilty. In fact, mobsters believe that she is hiding the stolen $250k for her husband and they actually were the ones who killed him. They set up an accident for the transport to prison and she is mistakenly picked up by lawyer Tony Baxter (Joel McCrea).

The best part is the combination of Maureen and Joel. They have a good section in the middle. The movie needs more of their connection. I don't think Betty is necessary but she does provide some good scenes early on. Movies back then is only an hour or so. It's not enough time for a lot of complexity. It probably needs to get rid of Betty so that the leads can do more together. The story needs to get simpler and this should be more straight forward.