Nonureva Really Surprised!

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

WarnersBrother Somewhere during the formation of the Film Noir cult somebody decided to include Two Smart People in the Genre and that has hobbled it's reputation ever since. Sure, it is Directed by Jules Dassin and had two of the great stars of Noir, the indispensable LLoyd Nolan and John Hodiak, who had teamed in the great Noir Somewhere In The Night just prior to this film. But none of that means it MUST be Noir and it isn't, nor was it intended to be.What it is is a bit of a charming Romantic Fantasy inside of a Morality Play wrapped in a minor Crime Drama. In feel it very much reminds me of Remember The Night. Lots of smiles, no belly laughs. There is a small bit of violence, but other than that it's a fantasy.Hodiak is great as a charming rogue with a heart of gold and penchants for fraud and gastronomics. He is perfect for the role and plays it with great amusement. Someone else had said that this is the nadir of Lucille Ball's days at MGM and I couldn't disagree more...if they had been giving her roles like this right along she would have been a major Star, something which would have to wait for television. Nolan steals the picture which is to be expected from one of the very best character actors Hollywood has ever been fortunate to have.Lloyd Corrigan is in it but if you blink you miss him, Elisha Cook is the real bad guy and is terrible, which makes it so much better when he gets his. Solid supporting cast including Hugo Haas who has a nice turn and Vladimir Sokoloff playing yet another ethnic part...this time he's French! I liked it, glad I saw it and it's going to be on my favs list...I was lucky enough to recognize it for what it is early in and settled down to enjoy it. Wouldn't make a bad double bill come Christmas with Remember The Night. If you want Noir. look elsewhere.

JohnHowardReid Produced on an expensive budget by Ralph Wheelwright for M-G-M, with beautiful photography by Karl Freund and gorgeous sets by Wade Rubottom, this screenplay by Leslie Charteris and Ethel Hill is as thrilling, fast-paced and full of surprising twists as any "Saint" novel. It's well directed too – by none other than Jules Rififi Dassin. Admittedly, this pic doesn't quite have the flair of Dassin's later work. For example, I'm sure the more experienced Dassin would have used a low angle in the mardi gras shots rather than the high angle he employs here. However, I have no complaints against the skillful film editing, or against the players. In fact, Lucille Ball delivers an excellent performance – and never looked lovelier. Available on an excellent Warner Archive DVD.

HarlowMGM THREE SMART PEOPLE might be considered the low-point of Lucille Ball's career at MGM in the 1940's but it's still a quite good little tale and a rather unique cross between romance and crime drama. Lucy and John Hodiak are elegant con artists who find themselves battling for the same pigeon. There are romantic sparks immediately but a rival is a rival and they each deliberately ruin the other's con. When Lucy learns from old partner Elijah Cook Jr that Hodiak is carrying a hidden a half million in bonds, she ditches Cook and manages to find a spot on the cross-country train Hodiak is on heading toward New Orleans. Lucy is unaware though that Hodiak's traveling partner Lloyd Nolan is a cop escorting him on one last fun fling before Hodiak turns himself in for a prison stretch of at least five years.This smooth pseudo-film noir is surprisingly agreeable. Essentially a three person picture (Ball, Hodiak, and Nolan) the only other part of any length is Cook's who surprisingly billed below both Hugo Haas and Lenore Ulric in roles that are basically bit parts. The movie looks great and it's no surprise Lucy later sought the cinematographer Karl Freund to helm I LOVE LUCY. She's a vision here, particularly in the Mardi Gras segment. The extended New Orleans sequence is the highlight of the film and director Jules Dassin and the production designers do a very fine job of capturing both the unique look of the city and Carnival season, complete with jazz for the background music. TWO SMART PEOPLE is a very enjoyable diversion with a nice performance by Lucy in an atypical role.

michael.e.barrett This obscure B-movie was Jules Dassin's last film before embarking on a series of classic noir and crime films--and actually it's the first of his crime films and shows his interest in developing the genre. As another critic reports in a previous post, this film is NOT a comedy (as Maltin's book describes it) about two con artists mixed up "in art forgery." Actually, it's a crime/road movie about stolen bonds, co-written by the creator of "The Saint." True, Lucille Ball co-stars, and she and John Hodiak meet cute in a TROUBLE IN PARADISE manner, blowing each other's cons with a mutual pigeon. But from the first shot, Dassin reveals his interest in crimeLike Dassin's forgettable comedy A LETTER FOR EVIE, this film is shot by the great Karl Freund, in decline from his silent heyday and not yet arrived at his groundbreaking I LOVE LUCY three-camera period. He gives us expressionist shots aplenty, and such privileged moments as a pan shot with window reflection from outside a train, a cactus-by-moonlight scene, and a chiaroscuro moment when Ball is menaced by Elisha Cook Jr lighting a match. The presence of Cook, Lloyd Nolan, and Hugo Haas (on their way to being entrenched noir icons) also counts for something. The road trip plot (on a train) allows stops in Mexico and New Orleans. The last third (set at Mardi Gras) is suspenseful and colorful, with Cook in fool's motley.In conclusion, if this 1946 film doesn't hold up as well as Dassin's later, truer noirs, we can still see it's an early step in the development of that genre.