one of my absolute favorites!

Disappointment for a huge fan!

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

SPOILERSMagnificent Dope is a fun caper. Claire (Lynn Bari) works for a newspaper, and they hold a contest to find the biggest failure. They find Tad Page (Henry Fonda), but he turns out to be more than they bargained for. They bring him back to New York, where Dwight (Don Ameche) wants to make use of him for his own evil purposes. Of course, things get wacky when they have to keep Tad from finding out to whom Claire is already engaged. You'll also see Edward Horton, (from all the Fractured Fairy Tales, and of course all those Fred Astaire films). Fun cast. Moves right along. It's quite predictable, but you'll have fun along the way. The main players had all been in the biz for many years when this was made, so everything falls right into place. Fonda had just won his Oscar for "Grapes of Wrath", so he was certainly a good choice to put in this one. Directed by Walter Lang, who had started in the silents. Lots of fun. The actors look like they are having a fun time too!

This movie contains some incredibly racist lines. It was obviously aimed at southern belief system. I wouldn't let my kids watch it. Lynn Bari makes remarks about Louise Beavers making a cake with her "lilly white hands". Louise Beavers basically says she can't read. Then during the actual party scene Don Ameche sings in a pseudo black voice. On the other side the movie does have some very fun scenes but some of the lines are not funny and unnecessary to the plot of the movie.The clothing in this movie is fabulous. Lyn Bari's outfits are quite fashionable. I don't think she ever looked better in a movie.Henry Fonda, Don Ameche and Everett Horton play their usual excellent comedic roles. Good for a quick laugh.

If The Magnificent Dope had been made over at Paramount it would have been a musical film for Bing Crosby. Of course Bing would never have played the kind of rube that Henry Fonda was in this film, but the premise is something he used in a whole lot of his films. Remember he had the idea of only having to work on holidays in Holiday Inn which came out the same year. A couple of musical numbers would have been nice for this film also.But this wasn't the kind of stuff Henry Fonda wanted to do though he does do a fine job in portraying a Mr. Deeds like bumpkin. Against his better judgment in 1940 he signed a studio contract with 20th Century Fox to get the part of Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. For the next few years whenever Fonda made a good film it was when Darryl Zanuck loaned him out for The Lady Eve at Paramount and The Male Animal at Warner Brothers. Don Ameche with assistance from Lynn Bari and Edward Everett Horton runs a Dale Carnegie like assertiveness training course which has been on the skids of late. Lynn Bari gets the idea to have a contest to find the laziest man around and turn him into an ambitious go getter. Ameche likes the idea and they come up with Fonda who also happens to be from Vermont as Longfellow Deeds was.Without saying the idea has results that Ameche and company never expected. The Magnificent Dope is lightweight stuff, but pleasant enough entertainment.In fact Don Ameche was also getting tired of the roles he was getting at Fox as well. Both Fonda and Ameche were taking second place to Zanuck's house favorite, Tyrone Power. Maybe The Magnificent Dope could have used a song or two though.

It will be evident, that any attentive viewer of this movie, will have a thoughtful review of their own past. Moreover, it will cause one to ponder on the concept, "Why have I been going the way that I have been." Slow Down !!! ... Take it easy. There are many people that are in such a rush to get somewhere that they will never get there. Some folks, run Smack-Dab into their destiny on the same road they use to get away from it.