Don Hartman (1)

Great cast overplaying their roles make the comedy part of this film very entertaining. Walter Abel is especially great as a not-on-the-level fight manager who tries to make a fortune off of milkman Kaye who everyone believes knocked out the middleweight champion of the world--the unbelievably charismatic Steve Cochran, who does great in a comedy role. But the musical numbers suck--at least the opening milk commercial with the Goldwyn Girls. I almost stopped watching it was so bad. Later show more numbers with the likable Vera-Ellen and Virginia Mayo--whose singing is actually dubbed--are not total embarrassments, but are a big waste of time. Kaye has a totally out of character song dealing with ballet. Still, the star power here is almost blinding. Cochran--watch White Heat--is one of the most indelible actors ever. What a life he led--see IMDB or Wikipedia for his demise. To see Kaye at his best, however, watch The Court Jester or The Inspector General. Eve Arden has a nice part here as well. And the technicolor (or whatever it is) is beautiful. If only they had left out the musical parts! (This is a remake, I believe, of a non-musical version, and Lionel Stander, he of the gravelly voice, played he same role in both.) show less

The story was more interesting than I thought it would be, a love-triangle between two best friends over one woman, but the best parts were the contemporary "take" on buddy-pictures.
The serious part was the dilemma of the rich man unwilling to take over his father's business and "squandering" his time in other ways.

C+ (Okay).

A murdered nightclub performer haunts his twin brother.

It's usually amusing, but it can get a little tedious when Virginia Mayo and Vera Ellen aren't around. I like Danny Kaye, but playing both straight man and comic simultaneously, while probably a clever idea at the time, doesn't actually work comedically.

(Mar. 2025)

Excellent actors, script, dialog, and cinematography, with adult drama handled maturely. Fun and satisfying.