Charles Lederer (1) (1906–1976)

Coming on the heels of Garbo’s “Ninotchka” this film was somewhat dismissed as lightweight, but in retrospect it is a delightfully hilarious blend of political satire and slapstick comedy from King Vidor. The writing team of Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer gave Vidor a script which poked fun at Communism while still allowing its stars, Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr, to be themselves. The result was a film perhaps less sophisticated than Ninotchka, but funnier throughout and generally more show more entertaining.

Gable portrays a hard drinking and fun-loving American reporter named McKinley B. Thompson. Thompson has been secretly sending unflattering reports about the goings on in Russia back to the States as “Comrade X.” The Russian Chief of Police is desperate to expose him and shut him up for good. When Thompson gets a photo of that same police chief being knocked off by the soon to be new Chief of Police, who just happens to be the Communist guru of revolutionist Hedy Lamarr, he’s got a big story.

All that may have to wait, however. It just so happens that Thompson’s hotel valet, Vanya (Felix Bressart), knows McKinley is Comrade X. You can guess who his daughter is, and what he wants is for Thompson to get her out of Russia before she gets killed. She is in much danger, as Vanya tells Thompson, because Communist are being shot so that Communism can prosper! Thompson doesn’t have much choice and that’s when the real fun begins.

Even a stoic Communist can make your jaw drop if she’s Hedy Lamarr; even if she’s running a Russian street car. Gable and Lamarr are marvelous together, and how he convinces her he loves Communism and needs to take her back to America to educate the masses is a riot! Not even Russian tanks can keep Thompson from getting the story, and the entire Red Army couldn't keep him from falling for the cutest little Commie you’ve ever seen.

Eve Arden has a nice turn as Thompson’s fellow Foreign Correspondent gal-pal in director King Vidor’s hilarious take on apple pie vs. Communism. They don’t make stars or films like this anymore. The last two lines of this film are unforgettable. show less

A middle-aged scientist's monkey discovers a drug that makes people behave like teenagers.

3/4 (Good).

If you can get past its remarkable implausibility, it's a pretty good premise for a comedy, and they have quite a bit of fun with it. There should have been more movies that let Ginger Rogers be a ham.

(Feb. 2022)

Howard Hawks produced this exciting picture in that genre of sci-fi which developed in the late forties and continued through the 1950s. Directed by Christian Nyby with an atmospheric score from Dimitri Tiomkin, this is about as much fun as you can have at the movies. Charles Lederer was credited with the script, but pals of Hawks, Ben Hecht and William Faulkner have been rumored over the years to have worked on it in collaboration with Hawks himself. The constant UFO sightings which show more enveloped not only America, but the entire globe after the atomic bomb was unleashed is deftly played upon in fine style, with a reminder to always be vigilant in watching the skies!

When something crashes into the Arctic ice, Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) and his crew are sent by the US Air Force to help the scientific research team already stationed there. Before he can have too much 1950s innocent fun with Nikki (Margaret Sheridan) he’s convinced what has landed may be more than just a plane. Their flight reveals a large circular object like nothing on earth, and Hendry’s reporter pal, Scotty (Douglas Spencer), knows he has the biggest story of all time. Getting clearance to send it might be another thing, however, as the saucer explodes, revealing a survivor.

The thrill of such a discovery makes for exciting viewing, and once they bring the visitor back to the research station in a block of ice, things only get better. A misplaced electric blanket, a severed arm that it is more vegetable than human, and that one pompous scientific nitwit who thinks studying their discovery is more important than their own survival ratchets up the fun. Hendry gets orders from above more in line with science than common sense and knows they’ve got to destroy it to stay alive.

Along the way there’s a little romance, some suspense during calls too close for comfort, and finally a real plan which might work. Strangely enough, being bait for an 8-foot tall vegetable man who would look like Matt Dillon if they could get close enough, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The windy cold and snowy Arctic weather are used to good effect and it all adds up to great fun for the viewer. The final scene is especially enjoyable. Curling up on the couch with your wife or sweetheart and a big bowl of popcorn is highly recommended. A real classic, miles better than the blood and gore modern re-make. show less

Utterly hysterical, with Grant at his most frantic as he enlists his ex-wife to investigate the story of the century of an escaped death row convict. So many good moments in this I can't pick my favorite. And even after so many years, it is still a good depiction of government, media, etc.