Perfect Strangers (1950)

Lack of good storyline.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The first third of the film is about the worst movie making I've ever seen. The director managed to create the sappiest stereotypical jurors one could possibly devise. Not believable characters at all.The remainder of the film is a bit better. Half the script is about the murder case being tried, but the other half of the script is about the relationships among the jurors...particularly the relationship that develops between Ginger Rogers and Dennis Morgan. Will he leave his wife for Ginger? Will she let him? The story is weak, but watchable. The sets are unbelievably cheap. But some of the acting is decent. Ginger Rogers has a few very good scenes, but I would have to say that the script held her back. Dennis Morgan could be a pretty decent actor back in the 1940s (see, for example, "In This Our Lives"), but here he is just okay. His career was fading toward television at this point.I've always enjoyed Thelma Ritter, but she always played the same character...but at least she was entertaining. Margalo Gillmore, a character actress you may recognize, has a decent role here as one of the jurors. Perhaps Anthony Ross worked better on the stage, but I wasn't impressed with him here. He seemed to try too hard. Howard Freeman, another character actor you may recognize, has a decent speaking part here. You may like to look for Alan Reed, who looked a bit like Fred Flintstone...and indeed was the original voice of Flintstone; not that this role is a particular good one. Paul Ford has a nothing role as judge; he was much better in later films where he excelled at playing a comic buffoon. Harry Bellaver is comfortable as the bailiff.This is no "12 Angry Men". But, it's watchable, and interesting in that the first third is so bad, and for seeing some of the actors. You're not likely to see many Dennis Morgan films that are later in his career.

This effort is solid even though Ginger Rogers never dances one step. Even though she and Mr Morgan are the stars, this movies focus is more on the jury. You could call it 12 Angry Men light.It breaks all the rules for a jury. Don't talk about the case among yourselves becomes wait until the guards are all out of the room and discuss it endlessly. While the script is not as powerful as the Fonda classic, this one has it's points.It goes into more personal stuff about each person than you'd expect. I feel sorry for the guard in charge of communicating with the outside folks when the jury is sequestered. They ask him to do a lot of things for sure.Still, the busy body type of script makes the movie more interesting. Ginger Rogers does a good job in this one, being clever yet ordinary. The movie does make a lot of hints at what was viewed in 1950 as to how marriages are supposed to be. Divorce gets mentioned a lot too.While a period piece, the film has some character actors who you will know including one from Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea though his role as DA is really small.

Interesting film, but I must say that you really begin to wonder about the jury system when you have jurors serving who really don't understand the legal procedures and use feminine and male instincts to decide the fate of a person accused of murder.10 years after Dennis Morgan teamed with Ginger Rogers in her Oscar winning performance in "Kitty Foyle," the two were again in this film. Wisecracking Thelma Ritter is interesting as the common lady on the jury, but her ignorance becomes a little too annoying.The case takes a back seat to the relationship that develops between a divorced Rogers and a married Morgan.The film has an appropriate ending after the jury reaches a verdict. The film is interesting in the sense that the Rogers-Morgan love affair is used in a way to parallel the man accused of murder.

Ginger Rogers didn't have too much luck in her choice of material by the time the late '40s rolled around--except for a reunion with Fred Astaire in 'The Barkleys of Broadway' most of her dramatic films were a disappointment--but 'Perfect Strangers' has a well-written script from a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. The two stars play jurors who find themselves on a jury panel for a murder trial. Sequestered, they fall in love despite the fact that Dennis Morgan is married, unhappily. The suspense comes from wondering what will happen to their relationship when the trial ends.Ginger had wanted to work with Dennis Morgan since their last teaming in 'Kitty Foyle'. Under Bretaigne Windust's sensitive direction, the two stars give interesting performances. Among the supporting roles, Thelma Ritter delivers her usual competent work. Well worth viewing, but not yet released to video. You'll have to catch it on one of the cable stations.