Avventura al Cairo

'Cairo' is a World War II spy story with Jeanette MacDonald and Robert Young each suspecting the other of being a spy. It's a spoof of all the spy stories popular in the '40s and strains to be funny--but the script defeats the purpose. Despite obvious flaws, it's interesting to see Jeanette looking her very best and in fine voice for a good number of songs--including a clip from one of her old films. The cast includes the dependable Ethel Waters (but the script makes poor use of her abilities), Lionel Atwill, Eduardo Ciannelli and Reginald Owen. It's a muddled mixture of musical comedy and espionage intrigue salvaged in part by Jeanette's occasional bursts of song. She's obviously having fun with her role as a movie star suspected of being a spy--and there are some inside jokes thrown in for good measure--but nothing really helps. One outstanding number is a night scene using a dramatic pyramid as the background for one of her songs--too bad it's just about the only musical highlight of the film.