Academy Awards, USA 1941
| Nominee Oscar | Best Writing, Original Screenplay Ben Hecht |
Columbia Pictures
Directed by Ben Hecht and Lee Garmes
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Columbia Tri-Star)
John Qualen plays a Kafkaesque accountant caught embezzling and on the verge of suicide. He decide to live it up one last time at a swanky New York City nightclub. Con man Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., targets him for a phony poker game upstairs with some gangster friends, hoping to skim some money off the top for himself. He enlists showgirl Rita Hayworth to help him. They meet alcoholic playwright Thomas Mitchell, who accidentally finds Qualen's suicide note when he gets his jacket by mistake and wants to convince him life is worth living. This odd ensemble is quite entertaining, with Mitchell spouting off philosophy, Fairbanks romancing Hayworth, and Qualen meekly submitting to whatever he is told. The poker game upstairs is quite tense. Another Ben Hecht gem.
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