Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)

The Worst Film Ever

Memorable, crazy movie

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Cesar Romero certainly fit the title description. He took time out from his Cisco Kid series to star in this quaint spoof on gangster films. I've noticed a distinct pattern in his films that I've seen. When he's in a B film, such this one, he's often the lead male. But when he's in an A film, I've always seen him as the supporting male. That is, he doesn't wind up with the lead female at the end. I suspect fear of ethnic prejudice had something to do with that pattern.......At this point in her career, cute leading lady Virginia Gilmore was mostly in B pictures. She could sing, as demonstrated in this film, making this film a semi-musical. Charlotte Greenwood, could also sing and dance, and played a motherly role in many a film. As in this film, she often gave a sampling of her signature sideways high kick, while dancing. Perhaps she is best remembered as Aunt Eller, in the film "Oklahoma". But, I most remember her in "Down Argentine Way"......As in this film, Sheldon Leonard usually played tough guys. Later, he would become a very successful producer/director of TV series......Milton Berle, who went on to become a household name on TV in the early 50s as a jokester, wasn't very successful in films. He has the rather small part here as Cesar's assistant.......Stanley Clements, as the 15y.o. adopted kid of Cesar, already had the look and sound of a hoodlum, providing periodic humor. This was his first film role. Soon, he would be cast in a few of the "East Side Kids" film series. Later, he would take Leo Gorcey's place as the leader of the last few episodes of "The Bowery Boys". In this film, he has long hair standing straight up, rather like a fright wig.........The screenplay is pretty wacky. It has Cesar, as Shep Morrison, accumulating men he supposedly shot dead, in the jail cell in his basement! This includes 2 men his rival gang leader: Pretty Willie(Sheldon Leonard) sent to kill him. The next time he comes himself and the 2 kingpins agree to stick to separate parts of Chicago. But once Willie finds out that Shep hasn't actually killed anyone, he is emboldened to try again to kill him, as he has many other gangsters. Again, he sends 2 men to do the job. They fake the job, thankful that Shep formerly spared their lives. Shep hides the fact that he is still alive. But, Berle, his assistant, finds out. Shep tells Berle to find an unidentified body in a morgue, and slip his wallet with ID on it! Incredibly, this is good enough to conclude that the body is Shep's! To add insult to injury, Willie's 2 would-be assassins tell police that they were ordered by Willie to kill Shep. Thus, Willie is arrested. But, somehow, he and Shep wind up in the same lavatory, so that Willie now knows that Shep is alive. I'll stop here, and let you discover the ending. There is no real climax, and a number of scenes are stretching plausibility too far...........Virginia Gilmore gets to sing on stage "Hello Ma! I Done it Again". Later, while dancing with Cesar, she sings softly a bit of "Wishful Thinking". Charlotte Greenwood sings "I'm Alive and Kicking", while demonstrating her high kick.

While he is billed sixth, I think the real star of this picture was young Stanley Clements as 'Detroit' Harry! Clements' character was a hilariously terrible little juvenile delinquent and based on this worldy-wise and smart-mouthed character, I can understand why Monogram Studios decided to use him for a replacement when Loe Gorcey left the Bowery Boys late in their run. The series was nearly dead...but Clements did as good a job as he could as a guy much like Gorcey's character. I say watch the film for him alone...though overall it's a fun little gangster comedy.Cesar Romero is Shep...a gangland boss who is very elegant and nice. How nice? It turns out he simply doesn't have the heart to kill his enemies and he keeps them all in a small jail he's had built in his basement! If his rival, Willie (Sheldon Leonard) finds out he's just a softy down deep, Shep will be pushing up the daisies. But, he might anyway when Willie decides to court Shep's fiancé! What comes of all this? See the film.The script is funny and clever and the characters memorable. It's among Romero's better films and a nice little sleeper comedy anyone could enjoy.

CESAR ROMERO is the TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME gent in the title role with VIRGINIA GILMORE, MILTON BERLE, SHELDON LEONARD and CHARLOTTE GREENWOOD in good supporting roles.The story started seeming familiar to me when I realized it was remade in the '50s as LOVE THAT BRUTE with Paul Douglas and Jean Peters.The real scene stealer here is STANLEY CLEMENTS, the tough little guy whom Romero gets to pose as his son in order to hire Gilmore as the governess for his "children." The story is completely unpredictable with a wacky sense of humor and some clever plot twists.It's briskly directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and was a surprise hit at the box-office, even nabbing a nomination for Best Original Script. Plenty of humorous lines and situations, even if none of it is quite believable. A fun film to watch around the holidays.

This 1941 film was shown recently at a local cable channel. Not having seen it before, we took a chance that paid off in many surprising ways. H. Bruce Humberstone directed one of his best films in this enjoyable comedy about gangsters in Chicago. The movie was written by Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware. The film has a lot going for it.Best of all was Cesar Romero, as Shep Morrison, he had one of the best roles of his career. He was a versatile man, as he proves with his take on the Chicago mobster with qualities that endeared to many, even his enemies. Virginia Gilmore plays Shep's love interest. A real surprise was Sheldon Leonard, playing a type for whom he was famous in the film industry. Also on hand the great Charlotte Greenwood and Milton Berle in a small part plus a great supporting cast.This is a light comedy to enjoy by all ages.