Rings on Her Fingers (1942) User Reviews

A departure for Mamoulian

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 24 May 2009]

Gene Tierney wants "Rings on Her Fingers" in this 1942 comedy starring Henry Fonda, Laird Cregar and Spring Byington. Tierney is a shopgirl drafted by Byington and Warren to help them con rich men out of their money. One of their marks is Fonda, with whom Tierney falls in love. Problems arise, and that's putting it mildly.

Mamoulian loved scripts that contained characters with dual identities such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Mark of Zorro, so "Rings on Her Fingers" must have appealed to him. It has Tierney, a New York salesgirl posing as an heiress, Fonda, an accountant who at first gives the impression he's a rich man, Cregar, posing as a yacht owner, and Byington, posing as Tierney's wealthy mother.

I liked this charming comedy, but I have to take issue with calling it screwball. It's played too straight. Fonda creates a wonderful character - a sincere, caring person who wants to live life in the present and not live as others - lock up their money and, in so doing, lock up their lives. His internalized approach to acting did not lend itself to comedy. Tierney is gorgeous, and a good actress, but comedy wasn't her thing. Picture the airport scenes with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, and you get the point.

Laird Cregar is wonderfully bombastic and funny as the conniver Warren - what a loss to filmdom that he died so young; and Spring Byington does a great job as his partner.

Henry Fonda never forgave Darryl F. Zanuck for forcing him into a seven-year contract in order to do The Grapes of Wrath; though Mamoulian was a great director, I think Fonda probably felt misused here. Opposite a pro like Stanwyck, he fared in comedy much better. Tierney is lovely, though.

Good film.

a surprisingly good little screwball comedy

[tropp · 8/10 · 16 December 2005]

This little film, with a great cast of Spring Byington, Henry Fonda, and Gene Tierny, is about a bunch of con artists and an honest man. It's full of surprises and neat little touches and bits of dialog. Everyone is at their best, even the normally somewhat annoying Gene Tierney, who plays a shop girl posing as an heiress. The plot's twists and turns extend to the very last scene. And Spring Byington is quite good. Henry Fonda plays the hero as an honest accountant who scrimps and saves to buy a boat, but is conned out of the money by Byington and Tierney posing as mother and daughter. By the end he is also seduced by dreams of great wealth, ill gotten, and becomes a gambler with a system. Creiger, who died tragically while in his twenties, gives a great performance as a member of the gang. The film reminds me a bit of Preston Sturgis, particularly the Lady Eve. Worth a watch!

A pleasant surprise

[ilprofessore-1 · 7/10 · 14 February 2009]

In 1941, a year after Fonda made "Grapes of Wrath" for Twentieth Century Fox', the studio loaned him out to Paramount Pictures for Preston Sturges' hugely successful "Lady Eve." That film gave Fonda a rare chance to play comedy, and he is particularly believable and appealing as the naive millionaire. Fox's head of production, Daryl Zanuck, saw the tremendous box-office potential in casting his dramatic star in similar roles, and a year later produced this pleasant ripoff of Sturges' premise: what would happen if a con-artist (in "Eve" Stanwyck, in this film Gene Tierney) fell for the man she'd conned. Tierney is as always very lovely and considerably less wooden than normal in the part of the reformed crook, but it is Fonda with his All-American Boy good looks who steals the show. Rouben Mamoulian, usually not associated with this sort of fluff, does an excellent job of directing.

Funny Fonda

[richmleone-1 · 7/10 · 7 May 2006]

Having seen Henry Fonda in many of his serious films like 12 Angry Men and Grapes of Wrath, it was quite surprising to see how funny he can in Rings on Her Fingers. He has a nice chemistry with his co-star Gene Tierney as the girl that falls for him. She's involved with a gang of con-artists but can't resist accountant Fonda's sweet natured charm. The plot gets out of hand when Tierney wants to return the stolen money to Fonda. Spring Byington, as Tierney's "mother" is always a pleasant addition to any movie. Playing one of the con-artists, her acting is a little tougher than the usual flighty dowager we've seen her portray before. There are some good laughs along the way especially the chase scene at the airport terminal.It you want to see Henry Fonda in one of his rare comedies this movie is hard to beat.

I Enjoyed It

[p25735-261-505738 · 7/10 · 27 May 2016]

Having never heard of this movie before, I found it to be a pleasant surprise when I found it on youtube. From reading the other reviews, it appears I'm in the minority, but I can't help it. In most cases, a film either has me after a few minutes, or it doesn't. From the start, I found Gene Tierney to be enchanting and, as the plot unfolded, I thought, "Ooh, this going to be fun.", and it was. People have compared this to "The Lady Eve", but that has a plot even more preposterous. I mean, come one, only someone with brain damage wouldn't know Eve and Jean are the same person. So, John thinking he had discovered a method for gambling doesn't seem that far-fetched. Though not one of the best film comedies of all time, it was still enjoyable.

Not my kind of cup of tea. It would be more appropriately titled "Who's zooming who?"

[Ed-Shullivan · 6/10 · 19 January 2018]

I have not seen Henry Fonda in very many forgettable performances but Henry Fonda's performance in Rings on Her Fingers, is one of his clunkers. The film stars the beautiful Gene Tierney who is a wholesome hard working girl named Susan Miller (alias Linda Worthington) selling girdles, until two scammers wave a bunch of greenbacks in her face to join them in suckering foolish and gullible men out of their hard earned money. One of the men these three (3) con artists decide to con is a wealthy young man named John Wheeler played by Henry Fonda.

The latter half of the film kind of reminded me of the many confusing and chaotic comedies that Abbott and Costello had so much success in making films in the same era of the 1940's decade. I guess I have a bit of a hard time appreciating Henry Fonda playing the sap who falls in love with his con artist girlfriend. When Gene Tierney whose alias is Linda Worthington is being chased by a private detective in the airport and the two men who both want to marry her are also present, Linda must stay on her toes to keep the two men apart from each other while either one is in her presence.

I just felt that this film could not decide if it wanted to be a crime film, or a comedy, romance or a drama? In the end it does not matter as it really is a forgettable film other than seeing the beautiful Gene Tierney in a bathing suit squirming around on a blanket trying to get Henry Fonda's attention.

I give it a 6 out of 10 rating

Born on the wrong side of the counter: OK romantic farce

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 3 March 2017]

Former department store clerk Susan(Gene Tierney)is in a dilemma. She helped swindle John Wheeler(Henry Fonda) out of $15,000. in a phony yacht sale. Now discovering that he is no millionaire, and had put his life savings into that boat, she feels sorry for him, and is developing a crush on him. She wants to give back his money without him learning that she was in on the swindle. How to do that? She conceives a plan to induce a casino manager(played by Henry Stephenson)to arrange things so that Fonda always wins at various games, while she pays the manager with her $15,000. Fonda figures he's so lucky or brilliant at gambling that he can quit his job as an accountant. But, then fellow swindler Laird Cregar pressures Stephenson to make Fonda lose it all so that he can get his $15,000. back. Tierney arrives again and after arguing at length with Cregar, once more pressures Stephenson to make Fonda win again. He again wins his $15,000. Meanwhile, Fonda has a detective working on catching Cregar, whom he believes is the only swindler. However, the detective eventually concludes there were 3 involved, and he knows which 3. The climax , near the end, is the most exciting part, with Tierney playing hide and seek with the detective at the airport, where she's trying to get a flight to CA before he catches her. She's also hiding from Tod: a friend of Fonda's, who is arriving on another plane and who thinks she will marry him soon. Tod and Fonda briefly meet and mention they will be getting married soon, unknowingly to the same girl.

On the surface, it's not a bad romantic farce, dare we say, a screwball comedy? However, there are too many glaring instances of required suspended disbelief for my liking, which downgrades it in my eyes. For example, why would Fonda hand over the $15,000. without a certificate of ownership shown or given? And, why would Cregar hand over the entire $15,000. swindled to Tierney: a newcomer, for 'safe' keeping? And just how did Stephenson manage to 'fix' the various gaming methods so that Fonda either won or lost all the time? And, how did that detective manage to conclude that there were 3 swindlers involved, instead of one, without talking to one of them?

Heavy heavy Cregar did an excellent job as a suave intelligent swindler. Too bad he would die 2 years later from complications of surgery necessitated by his crash dieting, trying to change his image from a heavy heavy....Perennial mother Spring Byington, hardly came across as a legitimate 3rd member of the swindlers....Senior Henry Stephenson was included in many a film as a grandfatherly figure.

Warm-hearted comedy con

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 9/10 · 5 January 2009]

"Rings on Her Fingers" is a thoroughly charming picture that takes a kaleidoscope of elements from films of the era -- the shop-girl Cinderella, bathing suit poses on the beach, the rich man's yacht, the poolside party, mistaken identity, love on the breadline, evasion in a crowded terminus, the casino, the gangster -- and mixes them all up in a hectic, hilarious, but instinctively good-natured plot. As a romance, it's very funny without ever needing to resort to the anarchic destruction of many 'screwball' affairs; as a comedy, it laughs at its characters with loving affection rather than glee and discomfiture.

In the best of farces, absurd events unfold with a seemingly inevitable logic. It must be admitted that in this picture, the plot occasionally skates past short-term expedients that just have to be taken for granted -- but the ensuing situations are milked to such good effect that it's easy to turn a blind eye. The film is rich in set-pieces both verbal and visual, with a host of lively minor characters to accompany the note-perfect performances of the principals.

Laird Cregar excels as usual in the role of the resonant, urbane Warren (performing with impressive agility in his swimming-pool scene), while Spring Byington is here the best I have seen her, the actress submerging her trademark mannerisms in an actual character. Gene Tierney is sweet, smart, funny and distinctly shapely as the girl who pulls off the perfect con and then learns what she has really done. Henry Fonda -- for my money, both more credible and more sympathetic here than in "The Lady Eve" -- plays a mathematical dreamer with a passion for sailing and the sea, while some eye-catching yachts of the era star in the background, apparently shot on location!

The film starts off light and gradually gains in intensity and emotional weight as it goes along, with frequent upwellings of laughter to season some very genuine feeling. The two lovers are charming together, from a very Freudian first scene (in which the camera settles on Linda's trim contours as a somewhat dislocated John tries to describe the lines of his yacht) to the final escape, Perhaps the highlight is the taxicab sequence in which our hero, intoxicated with excitement, is convinced he has devised a 'system' to beat the roulette wheel, while Linda and the audience, in on the secret, find him both hilarious and adorable at the same time.

Like all good comedies, "Rings on Her Fingers" laughs at our human frailties, but it does so with a gentle touch. It shares with "Some Like It Hot" an essential innocence and sweetness at the root of its effervescent humour, and scarcely sets a foot wrong in the process. I enjoyed this little-known, little-rated picture very much indeed.

Take Hank to the bank

[Lejink · 6/10 · 12 December 2018]

Here's a light and frothy comedy with Henry Fonda repeating his "The Lady Eve" role as the rube being taken for his money by travelling confidence tricksters Laird Cregar and Spring Byington, plus their newly recruited honey-trapper Gene Tierney, fresh from the girdle section of a New York department store, lured by the exciting and seemingly glamorous life of wealth distribution, the dainty way Cregar describes the team's modus operandi of parting the rich from their money.

The catch here is that Fonda this time isn't filthy rich at all, the boat-buying con he falls for relieves him of his hard-earned, mathematically calculated, life savings leaving him penniless, although his consolation is that he and his temptress Tierney fall hard for each other so much so that she surreptitiously tries to put things right for him. Naturally there's a reckoning to be had, which fortuitously comes about when Cregar & co. and their victim coincidentally end up under the same roof, to wit Fonda's millionaire bachelor buddy's place, who himself is set to be the next target for the travelling tricksters.

While not hysterically funny, the film makes the most of its ever more unlikely situations and is nicely played by the four main leads. Fonda and Tierney combine well together as do Cregar and Byington. There are some amusing scenes, like when the young couple plod their way around a dance floor amongst some limbs-flying jitterbuggers, Fonda's "lucky" gambling streak at the casino and earlier when Fonda is distracted by Tierney in a bathing suit as he's trying to describe the dimensions of the boat he's seeking to buy.

The ending seems a bit contrived bringing all the main characters together again with Fonda improbably stepping out of character to get his girl in the style of Cagney, but at least it all ends happily ever after as there's little doubt that even the thwarted Cregar and Byington will continue undiminished on their merry way, indeed, in my opinion, an extra finishing scene showing them hooking up with another aspirant young shop girl to do their bidding could easily have been tagged on to keep the circle unbroken.

This wasn't the best screwball comedy I've seen and certainly Sturges and Hawks executed these farces a little more sharply and amusingly but this was still an engaging, pardon the pun, film to watch.

Charming opening degenerates into silliness; one of Henry Fonda's few poor performances...

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 14 February 2009]

Unrefined shopgirl is pegged by a confidence couple to use as a lure for bilking wealthy men--she hesitates for a moment, but is soon in cahoots with the wily twosome, that is until she falls for one of their victims: a bumbling (and broke) mathematician. Gene Tierney has some wonderful scenes at the beginning, bored with her job and ready to take an early powder, but there's nothing exciting about the man she loves (he's more an overripe juvenile), and pretty soon the movie is going around in circles. There's a private detective who works for peanuts and yet has more information than the F.B.I., not to mention an upscale gambling casino that becomes rigged at random. Henry Fonda, talking too loudly and over-enunciating, is stuck with the movie-world's most rotten concoction--a penniless kid with principles who is too proud to accept easy money--and he does nothing interesting with it. Might have been a far better picture if the love story were dropped, focusing primarily on salesgirl Tierney and her love-hate relationship with the con-artists. Film is easily summed up by one line of dialogue: "Eegads! Did you ever see anything so corny?" ** from ****

Ebullient comedy of swindlers and lovers

[clanciai · 9/10 · 8 October 2022]

Laird Cregar is always an imposing pleasure on the screen, a marvellous actor with great diction and indomitable authority, he always somehow seems to fill up the entire screen by his mere presence. Here he is the ringleader of a circle of sophisticated swindlers, fooling anything out of anyone. Gene Tierney in one of her early roles as an ordinary shop-girl behind the counter in a fashion establishment, is observed for her beauty by these adventurers and taken up in their circle as an attractive bait and decoy, as they carry on and happen to Henry Fonda, very unusual in comedy but managing it very well, just repeating his performance in "The Lady Eve", and this film owes very much to Preston Sturges' formidable knack of comedy - Barbara Stanwyck is just substituted by Gene Tierney, but she is a poor girl, and she doesn't really fool Henry Fonda on purpose - she just follows the fake team. There are many glorious instances of comedy here, very original for Mamoulian, but not enough to harvest a full score, as the plot doesn't quite hold water. It is great entertainment of the highest class, and Mamoulian probably made it for a change to try something different from his heavy masterpieces. As a comedy it sparkles though, the dialog is terrific throughout, and like all Mamoulian's films, this is another one to never tire of.

More Like A Ring Through His Nose

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 8 November 2011]

According to the Citadel Film series book The Films Of Henry Fonda, Rings On Her Fingers was the third of a three picture deal that Rouben Mamoulian had with 20th Century Fox. The other two films done in this package were the Tyrone Power classics, The Mark Of Zorro and Blood And Sand. Would that this film were light years as good as those two were.

Not that it's bad, but it's strictly second rate Mamoulian and definitely second rate Fonda. This was the period in Fonda's career where he had signed a studio contract to get the role in The Grapes Of Wrath and Darryl Zanuck would be forcing him into things that were second rate. This part that Fonda has here was a ripoff of what he did on loan to Paramount for The Lady Eve.

Fonda is once again the naive pigeon of some con artists played by Spring Byington and Laird Cregar. They're using Gene Tierney who is lured by the chance of easy money into their nest as the come on in a confidence game. The three rook Fonda out of his life savings, selling him a sailboat they don't own. They think Fonda has millions to spare, but unlike in The Lady Eve, Fonda is a clerk on holiday.

But he doesn't know Tierney was part of the gag and the two fall for each other. That however interferes with Cregar and Byington's plans to marry Tierney off to a real millionaire, Sheppard Strudwick.

Rings On Her Fingers is not a bad film, but Fonda who was doing mostly classic roles in The Male Animal and The Lady Eve on loan, back at his home studio was given parts that Zanuck's favorites Tyrone Power and Don Ameche passed on. Fonda hated those years at Fox, hated them more because he wanted to go in the service and Zanuck pulled all kinds of strings to keep him home.

Fonda played naive characters since his debut in The Farmer Takes A Wife and throughout his career before his war service tried desperately to avoid the typecasting. After Mister Roberts no one thought to cast him that way again, but in his early years it was a struggle to avoid it.

Best scenes in Rings On Her Fingers involve Fonda and Tierney at a gambling casino run by Henry Stephenson where things are fixed for him to win. Of course Fonda thinks he's found a mathematical formula and his recklessness increases.

Laird Cregar is good in a most undefined role as a con man. What a loss he was at such a young age.

Rings On Her Fingers belongs in the lower tier of Henry Fonda films though it does have its moments.

Good Potential-Poor Delivery

[bluerider521 · 5/10 · 24 June 2013]

Where did this come from? I never heard of it. Gene Tierny with a Brookly accent? Laird Cregar? Has to be fun! It was but only a little.

Fonda is doing his "B" version of "The Lady Eve". I've seen it too often. No one has any real snappy lines. The movie relies on situation comedy and a chase at the end. Sometimes these are good, but if I wanted chases, the Bowery Boys might have sufficed.

The film seemed to be a bit pasted together. New characters appear out of the blue and things are referenced in the dialogue which were not in the film. These were so obvious that it bothered me.

Was it my imagination or did the background music feature snatches of the theme from "Laura"?

Fonda and Tierney make an excellent pairing in this pleasant comedy.

[BrandoOnTheWaterfront · 6/10 · 16 August 2021]

I stumbled across this movie on YouTube while trying to find something quick to watch that required little head thinking and I'm glad I did. It's a harmless, sometimes sweet, romantic comedy-crime story with a very good cast.

Two swindlers take Susan/Linda (Tierney), a girdle shop assistant who dreams of a life of glitz and glamour, under their wing and employ her for their money-grabbing schemes. Things get complicated when Susan/Linda falls for the small-time accountant John (Fonda) they are trying to con who parts with his life savings to impress her.

Fonda and Tierney's chemistry save this movie from becoming another unimaginative and dull comedy that relies on its star billing for top box office draws. Susan/Linda transforms herself from Brooklyn shop assistant to high society heiress with ease - cementing herself as the Grace Kelly of the 1940s. It is hard to believe she is only 21 years old in this movie. While he's no Cary Grant in the romantic comedy arena, Fonda plays the hapless and financially unsuccessful John perfectly who, like any man would, falls for Tierney in a heartbeat.

Although not a hit in its day and practically forgotten by today's audiences, "Rings on Her Fingers" is worth a watch for Fonda and Tierney's early comedic performances alone. They work well with the script and story they are dealt with.

Love is more valuable than money.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 21 December 2023]

It's a good thing that Spring Byington"s con-artist didn't approach Joan Crawford's Crystal Allen on the other side of the perfume counter, or the men whom she was meant to fleece would be in debt. Instead, she approaches Gene Tierney on the other side of the lingerie counter, and in spite of the fact that she's struggling, she at least has ethics. Byington and her partner, Laird Cregar, utilize Tierney to try to sucker the supposedly rich Henry Fonda and as a result, the struggling accountant Fonda loses his savings. But they fall in love, and much to Byington's chagrin, Tierney decides to move on to marry Fonda but can't convince him to take her money, which by way of the fleece is his.

Clever and sophisticated, if unbelievable screwball comedy, this gives Fonda unfortunately a truly unbelievable sap character, too nice and extremely gullible, while Tierney at least is far more rounded. Byington is a dizzy delight, smart and crafty, but dingy, popping back in to stir things up when it seems that Fonda and Tierney have found their white picket fence. In smaller roles, Iris Adrian, Marjorie Gateson and James Stephenson are quite good, but overall, I just didn't completely buy what the movie was trying to sell me even if I had a fun time looking. Frank Orth walks away with the film as the double talking private detective, funny with his rubber faced facial expressions and cleverly written dumb dialog.

The perfect movie The good ones are behind us

[decasooner · 10/10 · 3 February 2023]

What a perfect Movie Fonda is charming as heck and his CO star is absolutely one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen top to bottom. Sorry. Remember Bo Derrick. This is her in the 40's Real Love the way God intended it and some great life lessons.. Most people won't like the back-and-forth conversation throughout the film they have But it's necessary for Reality reasons You're going to love this film it's hilarious romantic I actually like it so much I have paused it just to write this Review Chad Hana is another film I found It kind of mirrors this film This is a con artist movie that backfires on them and the detective is absolutely hilarious Back to the show hope you liked it as much as did.

Silly comedy that wastes the talents of a good cast...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 20 December 2008]

RINGS ON HER FINGERS is the story of a shopgirl (GENE TIERNEY) who dreams of riches and accepts the idea that if she joins a gang of con artists she can escape her department store existence and live it up as a rich girl. The unlikely con artists are played by LAIRD CREGAR, SPRING BYINGTON and HENRY STEPHENSON.

All of their plans go haywire when Tierney falls for simpleton HENRY FONDA, doing a reprise of his role opposite Barbara Stanwyck in THE LADY EVE as the guy taken for a sap.

The story only livens up considerably during the final twenty or so minutes involving a merry chase in an airport terminal. But most of it is directed unevenly by Rouben Mamoulian who was never known for his prowess with comedy.

Tierney manages to be lively in a one dimensional role and Fonda does his usual imitation of an earnest, down to earth guy who wants nothing more than to find the right girl to take down the aisle on his $50 a week job.

Only unusual element is seeing Spring Byington in a part different from her usual sweetly sentimental roles.

Silly and totally forgettable.

Very disappointing

[ffattahi · 4/10 · 14 February 2009]

I just saw this movie on TV. I have to confess I had never heard about this title until I discovered that it was about to be shown today. I have always liked Henry Fonda and hold Gene Tierney as one of the most beautiful actresses Hollywood has ever produced. That irresistible one-two punch and my love for old B&W movies were responsible for an hour and a half of my life That I will never get back.

The direction of this movie is very loose and without any sense of respect for the good cast. Things happen out of the blue and people keep unexpectedly appearing in settings without any reason or logic just to conveniently help the story along. It's as if the director has shot this in a manner of inventing scenes as he went along without much forethought. The last scene is completely silly and, as one character correctly points out, "corny." By then one does not care to even think about what clue from 'the note' and the "two hours ago" comment prompts John Wheeler to do what he does.

Fonda is oddly cast as Wheeler, the shallow and gullible sap who stays one dimensional throughout the story. Someone like James Stewart would have taken the role and given it more depth. With his talent for both comedy and drama Stewart would have given us a more edgy performance forcing us to actually care for this character instead of almost rooting against him as a moron who deserves what he gets. Tierney is of course as beautiful as ever. Her character, the conflicted con, is faced with the most complicated situation and because of that has to pretty much carry the movie. She is a good enough actress to do that, but the lame script and an obviously undemanding director deny us and her a more memorable performance. The set pieces should have kept us on the edge of our seats with comedic anxiety and the fear that things could unravel at any moment. Tierney's character should have been asked to head off the potential disasters through her wit and smarts rather than by lucky coincidences. It's really too bad. With tighter direction and a plot not so laden with holes and possibly Jimmy Stewart as Wheeler this forgettable flick would have had a chance to be at least a minor classic. Going back to the beginning of this writing, I have to confess I had never heard about this title, and now I know why.

Pretty dopey and often illogical....despite the cast.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 1 October 2015]

If you want to watch a good movie about a gang of thieves headed by a pretty lady thief and starring Henry Fonda as their mark, try watching "The Lady Eve". If you want to watch a not so good movie about a gang of thieves headed by a pretty lady thief and starring Henry Fonda, you might want to try "Rings on Her Fingers"...but I wouldn't. Oddly, despite the similarity of the plots and being only one year apart, the two films are so much different.

When the film begins, Gene Tierney is a working girl approached by a couple of grifters (Spring Byington and Laird Creger). They want her to help them fleece rich guys...and she readily agrees. Their first mark is John Wheeler (Fonda)--a guy who is planning on buying a yacht. Instead, they pretend to own a yacht and sell him a yacht that isn't even theirs. But Wheeler is a bit of a boob and doesn't realize Susan (Tierney) is one of the gang and soon they fall in love and plan on marrying. The only trouble is that she's not the only fake--he's not rich at all.

While this idea could have worked, what follows is just rather dopey. She wants to help him recover much of the money they stole and arranges for him to start winning at a casino. Then, he gets the notion that he's super-lucky and quits his job to become a professional gambler. During all this time, a private detective hired by Wheeler is investigating the theft. What's to come of all this? Who cares.

The bottom line is that you have two films with very similar plots yet one is not very good due to pedestrian writing. Additionally, the writer made Fonda's character such an idiot that he was frustrating to watch. All in all, the film SHOULD have been a lot better given the cast but it is, at best, a time-passer. A bit of a disappointment.

By the way, if you do see this film or other early Gene Tierney films, you might not recognize her. Like a few other actresses (Rita Hayworth immediately comes to mind), the studio decided to do a BIG makeover and they really accentuated Tierney's cheeks in her films starting around the time she starred in "Laura" (1944).

Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney

[marthawilcox1831 · 2/10 · 31 July 2014]

Despite the familiar cast, this fails to be a good film. There is a beach scene where you see Gene Tierney sunbathing and Henry Fonda in the sea. They are look as though they are having fun, and because it's a real beach the scene looks authentic. However, there is no real story here nor are there any characters that we connect with. Laird Cregar looks larger than life in clothes that a few sizes too big for him. The problem is with the writing. It lacks sparkle, and the characters are one-dimensional. It's marketed as a movie but I don't know what it is. I would advise Fonda fans to stay away from this film as it comes nowhere near the quality of 'The Wrong Man'.