Manhã Rubra

This is a very pleasant little programmer from RKO, before that meant an episode in a slick series or a noir. Although the story is nothing amazing, you get to see some performers who rarely got a chance to strut their stuff, but who spent most of their careers as dependable stock company members.

In particular, Mitchell Lewis: I just checked his IMDb page, so I know I've seen him dozens, perhaps hundreds of times. Yet, even when he was credited, he rarely was memorable. He was just someone who played the role in support of the star or because a body was needed in that spot. Here, co-starring with Steffi Duna, he puts on a decent Hungarian accent to match hers.

Miss Duna is also very good, with big eyes and a sweet personality. The time for exotic leads was passing, however, pushed out with the enforcement of the Code and its all-American simplicity. Miss Duna would continue to work for another half dozen years as an all-purpose ethnic with dancing thrown in. Usually she was cast as a Mexican or Spaniard. Then she married Dennis O'Keefe and retired.