Mr. Soft Touch

"Mr. Soft Touch" is an odd sort of film. It's like merging a film noir movie with a schmaltzy family film--and the results are far from great. Now I am not saying it's a bad picture--but it could have easily been a lot better--mostly because of its saccharine script.

The film begins with Glenn Ford on the run. It seems he held up a nightclub and stole $100,000. But was it exactly stealing? It seems that the club had belonged to Ford but while he was off fighting in the war, it was stolen out from under him. So, the money is just payback for what was rightfully his--at least in his mind. The problem is that the mobsters who now run the place are not about to let him get away with it...and Ford needs to get out of the country ASAP.

Now here is where it gets bizarre. His boat doesn't leave for a day so Ford tries to get himself locked up for the night--as he figures at least he'll be safe. But a do-gooder social worker feels sorry for him and gets the police to agree to release him to her program--something Ford really doesn't want. And, after a while, Ford's tough-guy persona is slowly eroded as he starts to think of others and care about the people in this Salvation Army-like setting. What's next? Well, it is predictable but a bit ridiculous--so watch it if you are really, really curious. I wouldn't.

Ford's character is a bizarre enigma. He's supposed to be tough and nasty--and he's good at that. But later, he's supposed to be a softy--and this just never range true. Nor, for that matter, did the script.

Nightclub owner Joe returns from WWII only to learn gangsters have taken over his business and killed his partner. Being a tough guy himself, he gets the money back, but now needs to hightail out of the country. But before his ship sails, he's thrust into a neighborhood settlement house, whose winsome supervisor tempts him with a different kind of life.

Oddball Xmas film, sort of like gangster noir meets Xmas spirit. I'm surmising it's holiday fare since Santa and the spirit of giving amount to the subtext. Plus, "Miracle" is Joe's (Ford) last name— no guess work there. Nonetheless, the tough guy overlay is heavy and darkly photographed. And catch that ending—certainly not what I expected as noir triumphs. Then too, just count actor Ford's number of smiles, or leading lady Keyes'. It's more like dour Xmas than the merry kind. Still, I kind of enjoyed the overall result. Maybe because it manages to convey a spirit of giving without rubbing our nose in it. After all, Joe's more interested in keeping the hundred-grand than doling it out to the needy. Good thing the kids are there to ease his greed.

Still, the movie's pretty uneven. The gangster part sort of drops in and out. I get the feeling no one in production had a clear concept of the desired result. Overall, the parts may not fit well, but they are lively, never dragging. Still, it's an interesting little film, but don't expect it to show up for holiday celebration, except maybe for fans of 40's noir.

I was expecting a crime drama, maybe even a noir...what I wasn't expecting was a holiday film just shy of a holiday romance. WWII veteran Joe Miracle comes home to find a gangster has killed his best friend and business partner and taken over their night club. Joe has an inspired idea and steals the money out of the nightclub safe, although as one reporter put it...it is not exactly stealing if it is your money. With both the gangster with his men and the police after him, Joe seeks out first an old friend. There, he is mistaken for the friend and almost arrested if not for the interference of citizen do-gooder Jenny Jones. She offers up an alternative to arrest on Christmas Eve, counseling at the settlement home...but when Joe discovers the boat ticket his friend purchased for him isn't for another day and a half, he decides that a good place to hide might be in jail with his new mistaken identity. He proceeds to ring a bell and create a ruckus until the police return and arrest him. Unfortunately, Jenny Jones ends up interfering with the judge once again...which is how Joe ends up staying at the settlement home where he is put to work decorating for their upcoming Christmas party.

With bell ringing Santa's, Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, bells and a Christmas choir singing Christmas carols...this was a surprisingly festive holiday film. There is an overall moral message and a romance...the only thing I was surprised by was the ending it didn't quite match the overall holiday cheer. I loved the interaction between Joe and the boys in the Settlement house, but my favorite scene besides the bell-ringing one was the boys cutting down a Christmas tree in the park.

This is recommendation from me, while not my favorite crime drama it was fun to have a holiday offering in the genre.

Joe Miracle (Glenn Ford) is on the run from the law. He's a returning vet who finds his San Francisco nightclub under the control of the mob. His friend and partner Leo is presumed dead. He steals $100k from formerly his own club and tries to sail for Yokohama on Christmas Eve. He assumes a different identity to hide until his ship arrives. Sweet social worker Jenny Jones believes him to be a down-and-out musician named Victor Christopher.

This is mostly crime drama with a touch of Christmas inspired goodwill. I don't care that much about the crime drama. The feel-good scenes are really touching. I love the blanket scene. I really wish that this is more a Christmas movie rather and less a neo-noir crime drama.

The credentials for a superb Noir are all there: Glenn Ford has been one of the most convincing (and still strangely unsung) anti-heroes American cinema has produced. The wonderful opening sequence (in which Ford escapes both the police and the mob) is as minimalistic ally brilliant as the seemingly tight budget would have allowed. Yet after only a short while the film's tone changes radically: sweeter music, romantic comedy and a (however underplayed) Christmas tear-jerker emerge from what promised to be a crisp, economic little masterpiece.

I'm not saying the uneven pacing ruin the film completely but my suspicion is, looking at the credits (no, I don't mean the cast which features a wonderfully noir-ish array of characters: Evelyn Keyes, John Ireland, Ted de Corsia) there are TWO directors (one made good noirs with Ford, the other made Rat Pack flicks with Sinatra, Davis Jr, Martin et al), TWO directors of photography...

For what it's worth my guess is the producer got cold feet and hired a second director to save (a lame comedy? a routine noir?) a product he wasn't very happy with. He probably made a mistake...