One Thrilling Night

I expect wartime audiences howled at this slice of WWII escapism, especially the wedding night innuendo. Happily, the 70-minutes is still fairly amusing madcap. Innocent newly-weds Horace (well-chosen name) and bride Millie can't seem to get a moment alone on their wedding night. Trouble is gangsters are after stolen loot that seems to be hidden in the couple's hotel room. So their room is like a revolving door between cops, gangsters and corpses. Good thing they're such sweet kids so we know nothing bad will really happen. Actors Beale and McKay may border at times on cutesy, but still manage to give the kids a winning turn.

The premise may not be exactly new, yet it's a lively cast and an engaged director (Beaudine!). There's that gimmick always worth a few chuckles concerning bodies that disappear before the cops arrive. So, for the kids, it's a really frustrating night in more ways than one. Note presence of notorious Hollywood bad boy Tom Neal as Frankie, the head gangster. How ironic that Horace out-punches Frankie since Neal was a formidable college boxer, as actor Franchot Tone unfortunately found out. Sure, it's another cheap Monogram production, but the script, cast, and direction make the hijinks work better than the usual. And catch the movie's very last line—a good indication of the temperature of the time.