Rings on Her Fingers

Having never heard of this movie before, I found it to be a pleasant surprise when I found it on youtube. From reading the other reviews, it appears I'm in the minority, but I can't help it. In most cases, a film either has me after a few minutes, or it doesn't. From the start, I found Gene Tierney to be enchanting and, as the plot unfolded, I thought, "Ooh, this going to be fun.", and it was. People have compared this to "The Lady Eve", but that has a plot even more preposterous. I mean, come one, only someone with brain damage wouldn't know Eve and Jean are the same person. So, John thinking he had discovered a method for gambling doesn't seem that far-fetched. Though not one of the best film comedies of all time, it was still enjoyable.

Somewhere between a romantic comedy and a screwball comedy, Rings on Her Fingers has its funny moments, but it also manages to occasionally fall into a boring moralism. Gene Tierney is magnificent, but she deserved a bolder role, other than that of a teenager in love.

Henry Fonda also seems ill-suited for comedy. It has never been his specialty, and the few times he succeeded, it was mainly due to the talent of his occasional partner (see The Lady Eve with Barbara Stanwick). Here, neither Tierney nor Fonda can pull each other off. Laird Cregar and Spring Byington are much more entertaining in the supporting roles.

A story that had everything to be an excellent screwball comedy but, unfortunately, is nothing more than a not very inspired romantic comedy, despite the quality of the cast.

I have not seen Henry Fonda in very many forgettable performances but Henry Fonda's performance in Rings on Her Fingers, is one of his clunkers. The film stars the beautiful Gene Tierney who is a wholesome hard working girl named Susan Miller (alias Linda Worthington) selling girdles, until two scammers wave a bunch of greenbacks in her face to join them in suckering foolish and gullible men out of their hard earned money. One of the men these three (3) con artists decide to con is a wealthy young man named John Wheeler played by Henry Fonda.

The latter half of the film kind of reminded me of the many confusing and chaotic comedies that Abbott and Costello had so much success in making films in the same era of the 1940's decade. I guess I have a bit of a hard time appreciating Henry Fonda playing the sap who falls in love with his con artist girlfriend. When Gene Tierney whose alias is Linda Worthington is being chased by a private detective in the airport and the two men who both want to marry her are also present, Linda must stay on her toes to keep the two men apart from each other while either one is in her presence.

I just felt that this film could not decide if it wanted to be a crime film, or a comedy, romance or a drama? In the end it does not matter as it really is a forgettable film other than seeing the beautiful Gene Tierney in a bathing suit squirming around on a blanket trying to get Henry Fonda's attention.

I give it a 6 out of 10 rating

In 1941, a year after Fonda made "Grapes of Wrath" for Twentieth Century Fox', the studio loaned him out to Paramount Pictures for Preston Sturges' hugely successful "Lady Eve." That film gave Fonda a rare chance to play comedy, and he is particularly believable and appealing as the naive millionaire. Fox's head of production, Daryl Zanuck, saw the tremendous box-office potential in casting his dramatic star in similar roles, and a year later produced this pleasant ripoff of Sturges' premise: what would happen if a con-artist (in "Eve" Stanwyck, in this film Gene Tierney) fell for the man she'd conned. Tierney is as always very lovely and considerably less wooden than normal in the part of the reformed crook, but it is Fonda with his All-American Boy good looks who steals the show. Rouben Mamoulian, usually not associated with this sort of fluff, does an excellent job of directing.

I stumbled across this movie on YouTube while trying to find something quick to watch that required little head thinking and I'm glad I did. It's a harmless, sometimes sweet, romantic comedy-crime story with a very good cast.

Two swindlers take Susan/Linda (Tierney), a girdle shop assistant who dreams of a life of glitz and glamour, under their wing and employ her for their money-grabbing schemes. Things get complicated when Susan/Linda falls for the small-time accountant John (Fonda) they are trying to con who parts with his life savings to impress her.

Fonda and Tierney's chemistry save this movie from becoming another unimaginative and dull comedy that relies on its star billing for top box office draws. Susan/Linda transforms herself from Brooklyn shop assistant to high society heiress with ease - cementing herself as the Grace Kelly of the 1940s. It is hard to believe she is only 21 years old in this movie. While he's no Cary Grant in the romantic comedy arena, Fonda plays the hapless and financially unsuccessful John perfectly who, like any man would, falls for Tierney in a heartbeat.

Although not a hit in its day and practically forgotten by today's audiences, "Rings on Her Fingers" is worth a watch for Fonda and Tierney's early comedic performances alone. They work well with the script and story they are dealt with.