Hi, Nellie

Having seen Paul Muni in so many dramas, I wondered if he could pull off comedy as well. I needn't have worried. Since he's teamed with Glenda Farrell, a master of the wisecrack, he gets solid support and the looks they exchange throughout the movie are priceless. One scene that I loved was when Glenda is pretending to be Nellie Nelson so that a woman will confide in her and she's bossing Muni around like he's her office boy.

The plot isn't that original. In fact, there are several versions on the same theme (star reporter demoted), but this one has the star material to give it an extra life. Ned Sparkes also adds to the fun.

In that stretch of years between his performance in I'm A Fugitive From A Chain Gang and The Story Of Louis Pasteur, Paul Muni hit a dry patch with his home studio of Warner Brothers. They put him in a series of films way beneath his talent when you consider what he subsequently did and I'm told he particularly despised this film. From his point of view I can see why.

Still Hi, Nellie! is not all that bad, though I think Muni was definitely a second choice. James Cagney must have been doing something else at the time. The film has the feel of a project meant for Cagney.

Knowing that and knowing how much he wanted to do much more serious parts Muni pulls out all the stops and hams it up to beat the Philharmonic. I guess he had to have some fun.

Muni is your hardboiled editor of a city newspaper, a very typical part for the Thirties. But when he uncharacteristically soft pedals a story about a bank folding and a prominent civic leader disappearing, he gets himself demoted. Publisher Berton Churchill can't fire him because of a contract, but instead demotes him to the writer of the advice to the lovelorn column. That's a source of great amusement to all those who were under him before, especially Glenda Farrell who was writing that column and wanted a chance for some hard hitting journalism.

But Paul is nothing else if not resourceful and when a chance sob sister letter comes to his attention that might give him a lead on that story that he got in a sling over, he runs with it.

Warner Brothers and director Mervyn LeRoy gave Paul a really good cast to support him with Donald Meek playing the world's oldest office boy, Douglass Dumbrille as the editor who succeeds Muni, and Robert Barrat as the political boss of the city and ultimate villain of the piece.

It's not Zola, or Pasteur, but Hi, Nellie is not half bad as entertainment. Just not up to Paul Muni's exacting standards.

Hi, Nellie is one of the most arch, hilarious movie titles I've ever encountered. At first it sounds banal, but as it's tossed around in different scenes by different characters, it gets funnier and funnier. There's a barroom scene that's a howler.

But rather than just a prop for the title's running gag, the story is quite interesting on its own. It involves a newspaper and corruption and a missing banker, and things aren't what they seem. We're taken through some amazing sets. it's impressive to see how many resources were plowed into them by the studio, from tracking shots of the cavernous newsroom, of teeming city streets, of the interior of an elaborate nightclub, all following Paul Muni, who, by the way, is a rough-and-tumble editor relegated to the lovelorn column by his publisher.

And this is a great showcase for Muni. Most of his scenes show him in closeup. Remember, Cagney had Public Enemy and Muni had Scarface, both intensely focused on their personas. I think Muni, because of his stage background, overdraws his character in movie closeups. (He may have won the Oscar for Louis Pasteur because he wore a beard that restrained his over-expressiveness.) But hey, it's Muni, and it's fun to see him do his stuff.

This is a comedy-crime flick, fast-paced, with rapid-fire dialog between great Warner players, so you have to pay attention. There's a scene where a dim young reporter tells Muni that the children's picnic he was assigned to cover didn't occur because the boat taking the kids to the venue ran aground on a sandbar and broke up, so he only had one paragraph to report. This is great stuff!

Paul Muni plays a newspaper editor who refuses to run a story accusing a missing man of embezzlement without proof. All the other papers in town run the story and Muni, who's under contract, is subsequently demoted to the lonely hearts column. There he writes advice to the lovelorn under the name of Nellie Nelson. While working on the column he unexpectedly gets a lead that may solve the case of the missing man and get him his editor job back.

Fun, well-paced WB crime drama with touches of comedy. Muni's terrific and is backed up by a great cast, including the always enjoyable Glenda Farrell, Douglas Dumbrille, Donald Meek, Berton Churchill, and many more fine character actors. Ned Sparks, master of the deadpan delivery, steals every scene he's in. Remade several times but this is the best.

Forced to write the Heartthrobs column, the former managing editor of a big city paper finds himself exposing a story of murder & political corruption.

Fast-moving & fun, HI, NELLIE! is another example of the comedy crime picture that Warner Brothers was so expert at producing. Casts & plots could be shuffled endlessly, with very predictable results. While this assembly line approach created few classics, audience enjoyment could usually be assured. Here, the look & feel of the paper's busy newsroom is smack on the mark and the performances, even with a script that's too plot heavy, never fail to entertain.

Consummate actor Paul Muni gets a rare chance at comedy here and pulls it off brilliantly, adding just the right amount of drama from time to time. Whether he's trashing his office in a fury, fighting with his boss or going nonchalantly into the headquarters of the enemy to collect information, Muni is never less than fascinating. He is teamed with the equally watchable Glenda Farrell, playing another one of her hard-boiled dames with a heart of gold. It is obvious from the script that their two characters were once lovers, but refreshingly no time is wasted with rekindling the flames - they are just chums, wary & respectful. Their unromantic chemistry adds much to the fun of the film.

A fine cast of character actors helps move the story along. Ned Sparks plays his usual acerbic self as an investigative reporter loyal to Muni. Little Donald Meek is equally good as an aged office clerk who provides assistance on the hectic news floor for Muni & Farrell. Berton Churchill as the paper's publisher & Douglass Dumbrille as Muni's rival both score in their roles.

Robert Barrat, Harold Huber & Edward Ellis all play dangerous bad guys who must be dealt with. Frank Reicher, fresh from his double stint as the captain in the KONG movies, here plays a none-to-savvy lawyer.

Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited John Qualen as a tenement custodian.