Pillow to Post

Sweet, silly little trifle is merely an excuse to see Ida Lupino get a chance to put the heavy dramatics aside briefly as a career girl who becomes more pixelated as the complications pile up.

The story addresses the wartime housing shortage and some of the subterfuge that had to be resorted to just to have a decent place to rest your head at times. Of course misunderstandings abound.

Ida is charming and adept at comedy, William Prince is fine but it's a shame that since she rarely did comedy she didn't have a chance to costar with one of the master of the form like Cary Grant or Clark Gable. Sydney Greenstreet is funny as Prince's commanding officer as always relishing a chance to also break from the villain role and play comedy.

All together a cute little ride with nothing important to say but a nice little picture nonetheless.

Jean Howard (Ida Lupino) is a single 30 year old in L. A living off of her oil tycoon father's money. With all the men away at war, she convinces him to be his new oil well supply salesman despite never working a day in her life. It's not going well but she refuses to come home. With the wartime shortage, she stumbled upon housing near an army base but they only take in army families. Lt. Don Mallory gives her a lift and she recruits him to be her fake husband. He's forced into the situation when his commanding officer Colonel Michael Otley gets involved. In addition, potential client Earl Clark is interested. Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge do some music. Willie Best is the local driver Lucille.

This is a fun rom-com. I like Ida's sassy fake-crying try-hard character. William Prince is fine as the mild-mannered do-gooder. It would work better if he's dumber. He would be easier to manipulate by Jean but he does have good banter with her. I'm still not sure that I buy him going along with her scam but a good rom-com does require some disbelief. This is pretty good. I like these characters. Their sitcom silliness is fun. I actually like this love triangle where all the sides are nice interesting characters. It's not winning any awards but it's still fun.

I enjoyed Ida Lupino in a comedy as much as I ever did in her many dramatic roles;I think her timing is excellent. William Prince is not as skilled, but he makes a good foil for her character in this story.

For its time, the plot was probably considered slightly racy, but was handled so well, you'd never notice. I felt it had just the right touch on an old game, mainly romance, with the added benefit of light comedy that makes it appeal to women and men. The supporting parts were well cast, especially Sydney Greenstreet, who could also do great work in comedy and drama.

I only wish this were available on VHS, or even better, DVD.

This wartime romcom is about Jean Howard (Ida Lupino), the daughter of an oilfield supplies company owner. Though she is feminine and delicate, she volunteers to handle field sales and sets off to deal with roughnecks out west. This fish out of water story is secondary to the humor that evolves from a falsehood she employs.

She needs a room to operate out of, but like almost every other commodity, rooms are scarce and (practically) rationed. Out of necessity, she pretends to be the wife of an army lieutenant to get accommodations in an auto court. Then she sets off to find a lieutenant to play along with her charade. She finds Don Mallory (William Prince), who becomes trapped in her lie.

Lupino and Prince have excellent chemistry. This is a cute film that is well written. Though its stage play roots are evident, the screenplay is very entertaining. It also does a good job of demonstrating wartime exigencies and the resulting culture.

Willie Best plays the role of Lucille, the all-purpose fixit-man and gopher for the auto court. He is mystified by some of the goings-on that surround the Mallory household. Though his part may be seen as stereotypical, he rises above it and delivers many of the best lines of comedy.

Watch for Sydney Greenstreet as a commanding officer and Louis Armstrong who performs with his band.

Pillow To Post has Ida Lupino working for her dad Paul Harvey's oil drilling supply company because his sales force have all been drafted. She has to sell John Mitchell the company supplies and get a signed order.

But with wartime housing being what it is, the only room she can find is at a motel court built for GIs and their dependents. Fortunately she finds a nice lieutenant in William Prince to take on the role of husband.

I'm sure you know that love will bloom as it always does in these movies. The wartime housing shortage was always a good subject for comedy, the best known being The More The Merrier.

Lupino is quite frazzled in her role, but all to good effect. William Prince is an officer and a gentleman always. Nice supporting cast headed by Sydney Greenstreet as Prince's commanding officer who is on a diet to lose weight so he can go overseas. I'm betting George C. Marshall wants his officers slim and trim for the front.

Pillow To Post is a nice wartime comedy that still holds up well.