Word: screenplay
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...decent man caught in an indecent dilemma. Richard Hylton, in his first screen appearance, plays the difficult role of Carter's son with ease and assurance. Outstanding bit-player is the Rev. Robert Dunn, real-life rector of Portsmouth's St. John's Episcopal Church. His screenplay sermon on tolerance is a little masterpiece of low-keyed natural eloquence...
...three scripters who rewrote the original screenplay have turned out an almost unbroken series of gags and gambits. For every ounce of Runyon's boozy Broadway sentiment they have added a pound of farce. Hope, past master of the triple-quip and the doubletake, tosses off this mixture with obvious relish. Little Mary Jane, though no Shirley Temple, shows pretty talent as a straight man. Hope's other helpers, including Lucille Ball and William Demarest, provide sturdy filler for an already meaty comedy...
...British, trying in this movie to mix glamor with small, telling touches of reality, have missed out on both. The failure is particularly glaring because a number of highly skilled hands were involved in it. The plot was based on an H. G. Wells novel, The Passionate Friends. The screenplay was written by a topnotch storyteller, Eric Ambler (Journey into Fear, A Coffin for Dimitrios). The film was put together by one of the best directors on either side of the Atlantic, David Lean (Brief Encounter, Great Expectations...
...screenplay has been "based" on Anderson's play though the similarity is only in the names of some of the principal characters. Mr. Anderson, along with another fellow, has written the dialogue. He has employed that old device of his to give his characters and his lines a child-like and pristine quality: they speak in the indicative tense (after all, in Those Days had they yet discovered the other tenses?) and without contractions. This sometimes gives the false impression of wisdom to lines that would otherwise seem ordinary...
Jane Russell plays the entire screenplay deadpan, which is evidently the extent of her acting ability, but in the case perhaps deadpanning is the best idea. The audience was captivated by her charm (and figure). One other actor should be noted, Chief Iron Man Cody, who plays an unidentified redman admirably...