Fast and Furious

ANN SOTHERN and FRANCHOT TONE play a husband and wife team, a book dealer and his scheming, scatterbrained wife who get involved with murder at a seaside resort. She tags along to help solve the crime, but mostly because she knows there are too many bathing beauties around that might catch his eye.

Among the suspects are LEE BOWMAN, RUTH HUSSEY, MARY BETH HUGHES and ALLYN JOSLYN, with FRANK ORTH and some tame lions providing some unusual comedy relief. Miss Hussey is the surprise here, playing the sort of "heavy" role as a villainess that she seldom ever essayed in other films. Mary Beth Hughes does her usual blonde beauty routine and Allyn Joslyn is the best character actor in the cast.

With the accent on comedy, it's not difficult for FRANCHOT TONE and ANN SOTHERN to carry the leads with effortless charm.

Probably passed the time pleasantly as the second feature on a double bill, but hasn't dated as badly as some other comedy/mysteries of this sort have. Busby Berkeley is the unlikely director.

Engaging fluff which must have been a second feature back in Hollywood's Golden Age. Franchot Tone and Ann Sothern are the principals in a comedy/ mystery with a dizzy plot. The couple go on a semi-vacation to what must be Atlantic City. Tone is to be a judge at a beauty contest but the promoter is murdered during the festivities. Lots of snappy dialogue and plot twists in this good-natured story, directed by none other than Busby Berkley.

Tone and Sothern work well together to make the picture work and with able support from Lee Bowman and Ruth Hussey. Harmless fun from this better-than-average 'B" picture that strives to be an "A".

6/10 - Website no longer prints my star rating.

Enjoyed the great acting by a veteran actor named Franchot Tone, (Joel Sloane) and his wife Garda Sloane, (Ann Southern) who have a business dealing with rare books in New York City and decided to take a vacation. Mike Stevens, ( Lee Bowman) is a good friend of Joel and asks him for five thousand dollars to invest in a beauty contest and he also offered him a position as a judge. Joel makes this deal with Mike and his wife Gara goes with him, however, Gara is very unhappy about her husband being around all these beautiful bathing suit gals in the contest. There is plenty of laughs and plenty of action as well as a murder. I was quite surprised at what a great film this is from 1939 and I loved watching this film from beginning to end.

Joel Sloane, a lawyer, is visited by a friend, Mike Stevens, who wants to borrow some money from him to invest in his boss' business that promises excellent return. Sloane, is reluctant at first, but relents because Mike seems a nice guy. Mike extends him an invitation to come to Seaside for the pageant. Little does Joel know he has already been made a judge in the competition.

As Joel arrives at the resort town with his wife Garda, things begin taking a different twist. The arrival of Eric Bartell in the scene and the murder of Mike's boss present a problem. Mike is hauled to jail for suspicion of being the one that committed the crime. There are other people around that could be involved, but Joel runs in different directions to help Mike and solve the mystery to clear his friend.

At the hotel where the Sloanes are staying there is a lion tamer who plays a trick on them in one of the best moments in the movie. Needless to say, Joel realizes who the real culprit is and unmasks the person at the end for a happy ending.

Busby Berkeley directed this light MGM comedy with his usual eye for style and movement. Best of all are Franchot Tone and Ann Sothern who played the Sloanes with elegance and fun. Others in the film are Ruth Hussey, Lee Bowman, John Miljan and Mary Beth Hughes.

The movie is a light entertainment, a product of the times. Watch it as a curiosity.

Ann Southern and Franchot Tone's genial relationship wraps itself around a mediocre murder plot which features a lot of pretty young women in bathing suits (no belly-buttons, remember, this is the 30's Post-Code). Plenty of wise-cracking, a few Stooges-level laughs involving circus lions, and one great directorial flourish from Berkely involving a traveling camera-shot during a party scene.