One Big Affair (1952)
Lawyer Jimmy Donovan thinks a bicycle tour through Mexico is just the thing to keep him out of trouble until his client arrives. But when school teacher Jean Harper misses her tour bus, all of a sudden Jimmy is in for much more than he bargained for.
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Good movie but grossly overrated
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Certainly not a work of art, but a little underrated. The story is thin and contrived, but really no more so than many highly regarded films. The writing has some nice moments and is pretty amusing in parts, especially the scenes involving the "Mexican cousins." This was the first film I have seen with Evelyn Keyes. She is compelling in an unusual way. Reading some background about her made it all the more interesting. Regarded as a perennial B- movie actress, she certainly had a fascinating Hollywood life, and her performance here is never bad and at at times very appealing. The movie also features some good character performances, especially the boy-crazy Mary Anderson and the very-Brooklyn Connie Gilchrest. All in all, an entertaining movie in my opinion. They can't all be award winners, and this one isn't, but it is light and pleasant.
"One Big Affair" showed on a classic movie channel recently. Not having seen it, we decided to gamble on it. To be fair, one must admit the film seen today feels outdated, even though the copy we watched was in pristine condition. The story, even for 1951 must have been one of the B movies made to use the actors under contract, probably. We have no clue if that was the case.As directed by Peter Godfrey, one gets the feeling he was not inspired when it went into production. The story is silly, at best. Perhaps with a different approach a better product might have turned out. There is no chemistry between Dennis O'Keefe and Evelyn Keyes. What comes out is a series of clichés that go nowhere. On the other hand, at a brief 80 minutes running time, the viewer is saved when "The End" comes on.The only redeeming thing in the film is the Mexican vistas captured by the cinematographer Jose Ortiz Ramos mainly on locations in the pyramids of Teotihuacan and on the road between Mexico City and Acapulco.