Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I saw this in a theater in '07 at Noir City in Seattle. It's what was evolving into television-style production of the various genres at H'wood's command. As noted elsewhere FT is risible in tough guy scenarios (just ask Tom Neal) and I think the inspiration was more Hammer than Hammet as someone else here claimed. It would put you to sleep if you tried to watch it on video or TV. It's passable in a theater, especially if you haven't seen old movies in context before.

Roy Huggins who later wrote and produced and gained a big reputation on the small screen for quality, wrote the mystery novel on which this film is based. I Love Trouble clearly shows the influence of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler in both plot and characters.Franchot Tone is our protagonist private eye Stu Bailey, a character name that would recur again on the big and small screen. Tom Powers hires him to find his missing wife. On the trail he's aided and abetted by his loyal girl Friday Glenda Farrell who is the most memorable character in the film in a movie chock full of good character performances. A lot of people are interested in this woman including millionaire wife Janis Carter, her 'sister' Janet Blair, sleazy nightclub owner Steven Geray and his henchmen who include John Ireland and Raymond Burr. They're a memorable bunch, but almost as memorable as Farrell are spoiled wife Adele Jergens who makes a big play for Tone and nightclub comic Sid Tomack who is not above a little information peddling on the side that costs him dear.I'm surprised Tone did not do more roles like this. He certainly displayed the proper and expected laconic behavior for a private detective. It was that typecasting he could never get away from. The studio brass wanted him in formal evening wear dispensing bon mots and generally losing the girl in A films to the likes of Clark Gable at his first studio MGM.I Love Trouble is not anything like the Julia Roberts/Nick Nolte film of more recent vintage. Instead it's a nifty noir mystery from Columbia. In fact it's really two mysteries that sort of get jumbled together in Tone's investigation. Hopefully that whets your appetite to see it.

I love film noir and it is among my favorite genres. So, when I had a chance to see "I Love Trouble", it's not surprising I'd watch it. And I am very glad I saw it and I am close to giving the film an 8.The film begins with a private detective following a man's wife. This confused me, as seeing Franchot Tone playing the detective seemed odd. He wasn't exactly the hard-boiled detective sort and his role seemed more like something for Robert Mitchum or even Dick Powell. Now I am NOT saying Tone was bad here--but he physically seemed a little too scrawny for such a role and wasn't quite tough enough to carry it off (like, say, Humphrey Bogart). The reason he's following the lady is that the husband says he thinks she's in trouble--but what sort he isn't certain. And, as Tone follows the clues, he learns that she had an entirely different life in an entirely different town. But, there is MUCH more to the plot than this--and, confusing as it sometimes gets, it's pretty good. The only major problem I had was the need for some exposition by one of the characters near the end to explain the plot--and this is just sloppy writing. But, the film had a nice noir atmosphere, snappy dialog and a fair share of killings and beatings to make it a good representation of this style of film. Worth seeing.Oh, and by the way, you can watch or copy this public domain film for free--just follow the link from IMDb.

For one thing, I didn't find Franchot Tone convincing as a tough private investigator.As the film progressed, I didn't feel that I was gaining any insight into what was going on inside the characters heads. They remained ciphers.The plot, which is more confusing than engrossing, crawls along and never gains any momentum.I found the background music irritating and distracting. If a film is good, why does it need lush music to induce the right mood in the viewer?