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Mr. and Mrs. North
USA 1942
produced by Irving Asher for MGM
directed by Robert B. Sinclair
starring Gracie Allen, William Post jr, Paul Kelly, Rose Hobart, Virginia Grey, Tom Conway, Felix Bressart, Stuart Crawford, Porter Hall, Millard Mitchell, Lucien Littlefield, Inez Cooper, Keye Luke, Jerome Cowan, Fortunio Bonanova
screenplay by S.K. Lauren, based on the play by Owen Davis, based on the stories by Richard Lockridge, Frances Lockridge, music by Daniele Amfitheatrof
Mr. and Mrs. North
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Upon returning home, Pam (Gracie Allen) and Gerald North (William Post
jr) find a dead man in their closet, a dead man they later claim they have
never seen. After all, they both have alibis for the time of the crime -
alibis that are later proven false though. And also, Gerald had a legal
dispute with the man in court, while Pam is good friends with his wife
Carol (Rose Hobart). The longer the investigations go on, the more of Pam
and Gerald's friends get drawn into the affair, though, like Louis Berex
(Tom Conway), with whom Carol had an affair, Jane Wilson (Virginia Grey),
who had an affair with the deceased, and Jane's jealous husband (Jerome
Cowan), who wouldn't grant her a divorce ... however, after much to and
fro that also includes a Fowler Brush salesman (Felix Bressart) and
another dead body, the killer turns out to be Stuart Blanton (Stuart
Crawford), the lawyer of the whole bunch, who actually tried to swindle
everyone out of large lumps of money but was found out by the deceased -
which is why he had to kill him of course. Then he set up an elaborate
plan to put the blame on everyone but himself, but in the end stumbles
over having served canned lobsters as the real deal as part of giving
himself an alibi ... Keye Luke has an amusing small role as Blanton's
Japanese servant. Certainly not a great movie or a great murder
mystery, and not exaclt yhelped by its flat directorial effort, the feeble
story of this film is kept alive mainly by Gracie Allen's unmatched
ability to complicate trivial things. If it wasn't for her, the movie
would have little to go for it (even though the characters of Mr and Mrs
North are rather likeable), and if you don't like Gracie Allen, don't even
think about watching this one. But if you do like her, you won't be
disappointed by her performance in this one, even though William Post jr
is not a halfway as congenial comedy partner as George Burns is ... but I
already pointed out, don't expect perfection!
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