Chasing Trouble (1940) User Reviews

Small in stature, big in spirit, That's Frankie!

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 12 November 2020]

You can't expect much in the way of reality for Monogram, especially when they combined a spy caper with comedy. One of a bunch of B programmers for the team of Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland, christo's what it sets out to do to entertain audiences stand for the second feature and promoting a sense of patriotism as America neared their entrance into World War II. Newspaper stories of spies had audiences intrigued with what could be going on in their own country, so to give them a little preview, pretty much every Hollywood studio released dozens of films like this. The plots were different and even with different casts, they seemed very familiar. But they warned Americans to be careful of what they said in public because a spy could be listening!

The plot set-up here is rather silly with Darrow allegedly an expert on the personality behind people's handwriting. He wants to find a boyfriend for his pal Marjorie Reynolds isis the different handwriting he sees from customers in his daily routine as a delivery boy. His partner in crime is chauffeur Mantan Moreland who can drive a car but allegedly cannot read. Darro's dream man for Reynolds is Milburn Stone, an alleged G-Man who wants Darro to help him track down some spies. That means, and you guessed it, that Stone is one of the bad guys.

At just an hour, this low budget action comedy is a passable time-filler with a lot of entertaining dialogue in spite of the ridiculous story. There's plenty of stock footage of Los Angeles involving the chase sequences, and while Darro doesn't seem like The brightest bulb, he does catch on to Stone pretty fast when he realizes he's made a mistake in analyzing his handwriting. George Cleveland as Darro's boss and Lillian Elliott as his mother are amusing in supporting performances, but Darro and Moreland dominate the film with their charm and commaradarie.

Solid foundations, rough in execution, but still enjoyable

[I_Ailurophile · 5/10 · 1 March 2024]

It behooves one to watch movies we stumble upon only by chance, and movies we've never heard of before. Whether good or bad, the viewing experience is at least likely to be an interesting one. This 1940 picture is definitely that at the outset, as within the first five minutes the writing inadvertently expresses toxic masculinity and white privilege. Gratifyingly, even early on it also shows itself to bear no small measure of wit as delivery boy Jimmy latches onto some questionable doodad of pop science (in this case, the debunked hokum of graphology) and thinks it's some great revelation, subsequently endeavors to play the part of a matchmaker, and gets involved in further shenanigans thereafter. I don't think this is perfect or essential; the plot seems a tad unwieldy and unsteady, especially at the steady clip the film maintains like no few of its contemporaries, and I'm not sold on how Mantan Moreland's sole black character is written. Howard Bretherton's direction also seems too brusque for its own good. Still, 'Chasing trouble' wants only to entertain, and in one measure or another it quite ably does just that.

Bretherton's direction is imperfect, and Mary McCarthy's screenplay unpolished with a lot of corners being cut (especially in the back end), but the foundation is solid and ripe for an earnest thriller, possibly film noir, or in this case a thriller-comedy. There's nothing about the feature that's specifically striking or grabbing; the tone is light and passive, and when all is said and done this doesn't leave a major impression. Jimmy as a character is flush with high energy and misguided spunk, and Frankie Darro wholly embraces that vigor in his performance; Susie, as the primary female supporting character, falls prey to all too common tropes in that capacity, but still bears some pluck of her own, and Marjorie Reynolds brings just the right blend of personality in her acting. And so on, and so on. The story is fine in and of itself, and the scene writing and plot development do the best they can to help keep the proceedings level. Though less remarkable, I appreciate the work that went into the sets, costume design, cinematography, and all other facets of the production. Broadly speaking the flick falls into that category of fare from the 30s and 40s that's serviceable but a smidgen bland, yet even at that it's arguably a small cut above some of its brethren.

It's lightweight and less than absolutely compelling, overly and naively enthusiastic about cultural institutions like cops or the Boy Scouts, and is marked with little indelicacies that haven't necessarily aged well (e.g., a passing line of casual jingoism as a character orders a drink). One should also know full well in advance that Carl Pierson's editing leaves a lot to be desired. Nonetheless the title remains enjoyable, and is duly well made despite being decidedly rough around the edges. A bit of comedy, some thriller vibes, a tinge of action or general urgency to punctuate certain beats: 'Chasing trouble' is no revelation, but there's no rule that says every piece needs to be, and all told I think this is good enough just as it is. Don't go out of your way for it, and be aware of its faults and weaknesses, but if you have the chance to watch this this a suitably fun way to pass an hour.

Not good.....and that's about all there is to it.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 18 October 2010]

This is a vehicle for the diminutive Frankie Darro--and that alone says a lot. That's because although Darro had been somewhat of a star in the early to mid-1930s, by 1940 he was pretty much a has-been. Through no fault of his own, he aged and taste changed--so Darro was forced to appear in smaller and smaller pictures for lower and lower quality studios. This film, made by Poverty Row studio, Monogram, is quite a bit removed from Darro's starring days with Warner Brothers and Paramount and the quality of this script is pretty poor. On hand to provide a bit of comic relief is Mantan Moreland in his pre-Charlie Chan days. While Moreland has a few good lines, mostly he just seemed lost here and the film limped to a silly action finale.

Darro and Moreland are delivery men for a florist. Despite having this job, however, Darro seems to spend all his time studying graphology--in other words, handwriting analysis. But, like in all bad movies, he's not just interested but 100% obsessed--to such a degree that realism has been chucked out the window. And, in another nod to the anti-realistic approach of this film, Darro manages to get tangled up in a web of spies!! Really. And it's up to these two incredibly dumb nincompoops to save America--God help us!

What can I say? The plot was dumb, the dialog ridiculous and the film pretty tough going from start to finish. It's watchable for old B-movie fans like myself, but anyone else would find this tough going. Plus, it's not bad enough to be funny or enjoyable.

By the way, Darro and Moreland actually made seven pictures like this for Monogram. Although the characters names differed, the plots were essentially of the same type-starting with "Irish Luck" and ending with "Going Collegiate" only two years later

No Bed of Roses

[wes-connors · 3/10 · 5 April 2011]

Flower deliverer Frankie Darro (as Jimmy O'Brien) has two hobbies. First, he fancies himself a "graphologist" - that means Mr. Darro can determine what kid of a person you are by examining your handwriting. Second, Darro likes to play matchmaker when he meets an attractive single woman. His driver, wide-eyed Mantan Moreland (as Thomas Jefferson), calls Darro "Mr. Cupid". When Darro delivers some flowers to pretty Marjorie Reynolds (as Susie Carey), she rejects them...

Darro has determined Ms. Reynolds' suitor to be a pansy. That is explained when we learn the lonely Reynolds has been sending flowers to herself. For reasons left unexplained, Darro shows no sexual interest in Reynolds, and tries to set her up with a suitable mate. Alas, the man Darro picks turns out to be a shady character. Everyone is "Chasing Trouble". The plot leads to murder. Future "Gunsmoke" TV doctor Milburn Stone (as Pat Callahan) has a supporting role.

*** Chasing Trouble (1/30/40) Howard Bretherton ~ Frankie Darro, Marjorie Reynolds, Mantan Moreland, Milburn Stone