bigverybadtom

Because the title woman, Vanity Fair, hardly suggests she fell among anybody; she is in fact a powerful crime boss in the 1920's living in a castle in southern France. Her latest scheme has her forcing her stepdaughter to unwillingly marry so she can retain her late husband's fortune. Vanity Fair is guilty of worse, however. She even murders someone when her original scheme goes wrong and his body is found by several wealthy British people on vacation.

The story is played for comical effect; Vanity Fair is heavily made up and her henchmen are bumbling. And the British vacationers are not clever detectives either. Chandos is one who Vanity Fair describes as "an oaf in oaf's clothing", and she laughs when he tries to hide from her in a cabinet, which she locks and says had been used to transport condemned prisoners to execution.

Rather enjoyable as long as you do not take this too seriously.

Based on a James Thurber short story about a man who daydreams of glory while on a shopping trip with his wife, but very different from it, Danny Kaye plays the title character, who daydreams to distract himself from all the annoying people around him, at home and at work. He meets a Dutch woman who has a book which contains secrets and people are after her. Has he found a real adventure at last?

The movie is of course a star vehicle for Danny Kaye and his athletic acting, which is needed for an adventure story. Humor makes the movie enjoyable. Probably far better than the story it was based on.

James Arness was admittedly old for the role, but he still gave a good performance as a policeman who had to retire due to an injury, only to find his best friend murdered after he won a lot of money. With the current homicide chief being indifferent, McClain manages to get back on the force and find the killer, and deal with other crimes.

McClain proves to be a normal police officer, with no gimmicks like lollipops or wisecracks or pet birds. But he isn't simply a copy of Harry Callahan; he goes after bad police as well. Too bad the show didn't last.