Fresh and Exciting

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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.

A detective is hired to investigate the real identity of client's wife, leading him into a tangled thicket of leads.So where is Janie Joy. Detective Bailey's having a heckuva time finding out, what with all those luscious ladies parading in and out—not that I'm complaining. But the sorting process does get difficult at times. This is a detective story, and not classic noir, more like Philo Vance than Phillip Marlowe. LA-area locations are emphasized rather than light and shadow. But it is a good look at post-war LA, including the photogenic Buster Buffin's Buffett.As the detective, the slender Tone brings a different kind of appeal. Wisely, the screenplay emphasizes his verbal skills rather than tough-guy brawn. In fact, he almost gets shoved around enough to embarrass fall-guy Elisha Cook Jr. Still, Tone does have a ready smile and easy charm. But that's also a problem for the movie. In short, characters and events lack the kind of grit needed to generate needed menace. Sure, there is a guessing game as to where Janie Joy is, but it's more like a brain-teaser than a fear factor. Plus, screenwriter Huggins clearly knows his way around wisecracks and clever banter. Yet the story's architecture remains murky and plodding. All in all, this is a movie of individual scenes rather than memorable whole.Nonetheless, it's a good chance to ogle the ladies and their 40's fashions, along with Detroit's four-wheel designs, post-war, that is.

Trouble could be her middle name as this bubble dancer reveals secrets about her past with the help of some truly bizarre characters. Private detective Franchot Tone must find out the past of the wife of his client and what he ends up with is more trouble than love can handle. Along the way he meets a bunch of shady characters curious to find out why he's trying to find out info on this person, including some shady nightclub proprietors, a cockney waitress with an incredible gift of twisting conversations away from the questions being asked her. Then there's the sister of the investigated dame whose presence instantly brings a ton of other questions, not all of which will be answered. This features a truly smart alecky screenplay and plenty of twists and turns that make you say, "huh?" until the end which in a second's notice becomes "Ah ha!" When you've got females involved like Janet Blair, Adele Jergens, Janis Carter and Glenda Farrell, you know that the wisecracks and double entendres will be coming fast and furious. Veteran Farrell seems to be emulating Lee Patrick from "The Maltese Falcon" as Tone's no nonsense secretary. Such great character actors as Eduardo Cianelli, John Ireland and Steven Geray add on interesting male characterizations, with Geray reminding me of all the other thick accented Europeans after World War II whose foreign persona instantly indicated something shady. In one of his earliest roles, Raymond Burr shows off his expertise at villainy, his specialty until TV cast him as a hero detective like Tone's character. Tone, a veteran of a few classic thrillers of this nature, doesn't rival Bogart for the type of sly wisecracks he's given. While the Los Angeles locations of the 1940's offer a feeling of nostalgia (including a visit to the Santa Monica pier), the plot requires more of a road map than Tone's travels. This is the type of film to watch on the big screen (preferably as part of a film noir festival) so you don't have any distractions. If only the story wasn't so off the beat and path and the twist at the end so darned ordinary, this might have rated a bit higher. Still great fun for film noir buffs, though.

A new print of "I Love Trouble" was just screened last night (1/31/07) at Noir City 5, San Francisco's noted film noir festival. (http://noircity.com)In short, it was amazing. Roy Huggins was very heavily influenced by Dashiell Hammett, but let me tell you he could go toe to toe with the best Hammett had to offer. Every scene was filled with killer lines, right up to the last line of the film (Girl who wants to kiss the protagonist: "I didn't know there'd be a line." Girl who's kissing him: "Honey, this is the end of the line.") Franchot Tone is perfect as the suave but funny private dick who always has a wisecrack, thinks on his feet, and one heck of a set of...nerves.This is a must-see for any film noir aficionado. Alas, it's not yet on DVD and was never on VHS; if you see it coming on cable, Tivo it, tape it, miss work, skip your vacation, stand up your date, do what it takes as long as you DON'T MISS THIS GEM.JL