The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)

“You can't go around quoting politicians correctly! That's dirty journalism and you know it!”

            Politics can suck it. I am not a registered voter. Before anyone starts getting all pissy with me I do not vote because I do not follow politics they bore me to tears and I am not going to vote for lying people that I do not know anything about. I am not going to be an ignorant idiot going to the polls to vote when I do not know what they are promising… in the words of Grace Helbig “Too deep! Moving on!”. There is a point in my too deep ranting and that is I do not like politics and I do not like politics in film form. Even in satire politics drive me nuts. The only way I even bothered to sit through a film entitled The Senator was Indiscreet was for the always entertaining William Powell.

            Senator Melvin Ashton (Powell) has been a member of a certain political party for thirty-five years and has been in the senate for several years. He has been very content in his job as a US Senator. His new agent Lew Gibson is young and believes he can help Melvin reach the White House. Melvin has no aspirations for the White House but Lew’s fiancé Poppy McNaughton (Ella Raines) has a different idea. Like Lew, Poppy wants to see Melvin get into the White House only she wants to get him there by making him a laughing stock.

            Melvin really has no chance of getting into the White House. His speeches are incredibly long and excruciatingly boring. He is a bumbling mess of an old man. Poppy keeps writing up stories about him running for the highest office and the party Melvin belongs to is not too happy with him. They believe that the only reason he is denying he is running and traveling is because he wants to run for the presidency. The head of the party wants Melvin to leave but Melvin has a trick up his sleeve. For the past thirty-five years he has been keeping a diary of every single meeting and event of the party. This back the head off of him as he is afraid of will get out if he does not let Melvin have his way. A few days later Melvin finds the diary has gone missing.

            To make a long story short: the party tries to get Melvin to leave but he has no skills outside of being a senator; Lew and Poppy find the diary, Poppy desperately wants to print everything in it but Lew gets it away from  her and gives it back to Melvin; somehow Melvin becomes a leader of a tropical island.

            The Senator Was Indiscreet is definitely not one of the best William Powell films I have seen. I liked seeing his goofy side he had an excellent goofy side he was brilliant with comedy. The story just did not catch my attention. There were some scenes where I was like what on earth is happening, who the hell is this character, who wants this diary. I am sure it was explained but I did not catch it. Throughout the film Melvin kept calling his wife to keep her updated on certain things. In the end he sees her on the island. I will leave you to guess who his wife was. Other than the surprising ending and William Powell’s screwball antics The Senator Was Indiscreet was boring. I am glad to have seen it as it is a William Powell film. If you are not a fan of William Powell skip it.

 

The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)

I love stories that have to do with espionage. It all started with the TV show Alias back in the day. Since then I have seen most of the James Bond films and plenty of other spy films. I just love how this one person and their entire world work in secrecy. They have to become different characters all the time. Sometimes what they do is for the good of people. That is how it always seems in classic films to me anyway. In classic films that deal with espionage usually it is a man who works for his country or for the good of his people to overcome some bad guys. He is only thwarted in his plans by a woman who works for the bad guys. She seduces him and he gives up the plans. I just realized I have described the plot of Mata Hari with Greta Garbo and Ramon Navarro but that is how most classic spy stories seem to me. The Emperor’s Candlesticks from 1937 starts off cleverly enough and almost like Mata Hari but it is in no way strong like the previous film and definitely not as entertaining.

            The film begins at a masquerade ball at an opera house. The Grand Duke Peter (Robert Young) is in attendance as Romeo. They go into an opera box on the lower level. Several girls come over to his box but he is looking for one girl in particular, his Juliet (Maureen O’Sullivan). She comes into the box but is quickly ushered out by Suroff who does not want anyone else in there with them for fear something might happen to Peter. With Suroff standing outside the door the girl comes back around and talks to Peter. He jumps down and they begin to dance. Soon she has the Grand Duke follow her to a house. Once inside Peter is taken prisoner.

            Peter is brought before a group of men who want to ransom him for a man who is working for their freedom. The man is the father of Maria Orlich, Peter’s Juliet. They have written a letter as Peter to his father the Czar of Russia about the kidnapping and to release Orlich. The letter is then given to a man named Baron Stephen Wolensky (William Powell). The baron has fifteen days to get the letter to the Czar.

            Countess Olga Mironova (Luise Rainer) is a young woman with multiple social connections throughout Vienna. She is told that Baron Wolensky is Polish Agent # 14, an agent who has been a problem for some time. Through a superior she is given the orders to stop Wolensky from delivering a letter to the Czar.

            Someone Stephen knows shows him two candlesticks that were supposed to have belonged to Marie Antoinette. The story is that just before she was about to be sent to her death she wrote a letter to some relatives in Vienna and hid them in the candlestick in a secret compartment. Stephen hides the letter in one of them. Just as he is leaving the building Olga comes in. The same man shows her another candlestick just like the one he had shown Stephen. Olga tells the man she wants one to give to the queen.

            Stephen finds out that Olga is also a spy. He has his train car changed but he finds out that night that Olga had gotten on a train the day before. The candlesticks get switched out and stolen by Olga’s maid and the maid’s boyfriend. When his train stops at a station he sees a notice that Olga’s valuables have been stolen and that there is a reward for whoever stole them. He throws his stuff off of the moving train and looks for her. When he finds her Stephen tells Olga about the candlesticks how they have the same ones and that they mean a lot to him. She tells him about her maid taking all her belongings. Stephen offers to stay with her and protect her and whatever valuables she has left. Not long later the police come to tell Olga that they caught the boyfriend but he is not telling them where anything is. They do not realize that the maid knows where the candlesticks are. That night Stephen and Olga go out to dinner. They just talk until they get back to their hotel.

            Stephen tracks down the maid. She does not say much but she gets an idea where the candlesticks could be. Olga sees Stephen leaving the hotel and has her carriage follow his. They find out from a pawnbroker that the candlesticks had been sold to someone in Paris. Stephen and Olga find the candlesticks at an auction house in Paris and purchase them together by pooling their cash together. They each take their candlesticks back to their own rooms. Stephen finds Olga’s note in the one he has taken. Olga comes to the room and reads the letter. She loves Peter she does not want anything to happen to him.

            The men who have Peter want to do something with him. Maria tells them to wait until they hear from Stephen. The note setting Orlich free reaches the Czar.

            Both Stephen and Olga are arrested and brought before the Czar. They should have both been killed but they saved Peter.

            The Emperor’s Candlesticks was not a great film. The story was did not seem to be very well planned out. It seems like MGM just wanted to pair Luise Rainer and William Powell together again since they were in The Great Ziegfeld together the previous year. William Powell was great. The man was never bad if his character was bad it was the fault of the writers. He made the character of Stephen work as well as he could have. Rainer I think is a terrible actress. In the few films I have seen her in she drives me crazy. I tried to like her I wanted to like her but I could not. Maureen O’Sullivan and Robert Young did well in the few scenes they were in. Frank Morgan was a panic as the nervous, paranoid aid to the Grand Duke. The Emperor’s Candlesticks was not a good espionage film. It was definitely made to be more romantic not tense or even believable. There seemed to be some plot holes but that could be down to the fact that I got bored with the film barely half way through. I only suggest seeing The Emperor’s Candlesticks if you like any of the actors other than them skip it. 

Silent Sundays: Beau Geste (1926)

Beau Geste is a silent film I came across while looking for the 1939 version with Gary Cooper. I hit a bonus when I found out William Powell and Ronald Coleman were in it. Unfortunately neither Powell nor Coleman could save Beau Geste from being dull and boring.

            The brothers Geste- Beau, Digby, and John- live with their cousin Isobel and their aunt Lady Patricia. They have been close since they were children. The brothers have been raised by their aunt since their parents died. Years later when the children are grown men Lady Patricia falls on hard times and she forced to sell a valuable diamond the family has been in possession of for years. Lady Patricia finds the diamond is missing. Beau (Coleman) leaves a letter to his brothers that he is the one who stole the diamond. He has left to join the French Foreign Legion out in the desert. Digby and John eventually follow their older brother to the desert.

            At camp Beau tells his brothers that he has the diamond in his pocket. They are overheard by a vagrant soldier named Boldini (Powell). That night Boldini tries to steal the diamond from Beau’s pocket but he is stopped by Digby. The other soldiers are awoken. They plan on doing something to Boldini for stealing from a fellow soldier. The heads of the Legion hear the noise and walk in on the fighting. Boldini tells the ranking officers that he believes the Geste brothers are jewel thieves. One of the officers splits the brothers apart. He sends Beau and John to Fort Zinderneuf in the middle of the desert.

            Conditions at Fort Zinderneuf are terrible. It is unbearably hot. To make matters worse the men are treated like dirt by a Lieutenant Lejaune. Some of the men plot to kill Lejaune. Beau and John refuse to join. Beau tells Boldini that he and his brother pledged an oath to the French flag and they will stand by it. Boldini tells the brothers that Lejaune knows about the revolt. He has already sent out for new troops because he plans to kill all the soldiers and leave no witnesses. He also plans to steal the diamond.

            Lejaune has Beau come to his office. He tells Beau to give him the diamond for safe keeping but Beau refuses. The two men start to fight but luckily John is the guard and holds up Lejaune. That night the lieutenant has his men take the guns out of the barracks as the soldiers are sleeping. Before the plan can be carried out the Arabs begin to attack.

            All the men in the fort are dead from the attack. Beau is seriously wounded. Lejaune and John are the only ones left alive. Lejaune threatens to have John killed for mutiny. John shoots Lejaune dead. Beau dies in John’s arm. Digby comes into the fort as part of the reinforcement troops. He gives his older brother a Viking funeral in his bead in the fort just the way Beau wanted. He sees John in the desert and runs after him.

            John and Digby wonder the desert trying desperately to find the next town so they can get home. They meet with two other soldiers who have also deserted. The two men have a camel that can only hold three men. Digby sacrifices his life to save John since he has Isobel waiting for him at home.

            John is the only Geste brother to make it home alive. He gives his aunt a letter Beau had written to her. Beau wrote that he was the one who stole the diamond but it was the fake one the one that was made out of glass.

            I was so bored with this film. It started off slow which just totally killed the rest of the film.

            I cannot even really comment on the acting because after its slow start I kind of stopped paying attention. I will say it was very interesting to see Ronald Coleman and William Powell in a silent film. I am so used to seeing Powell in his talking films this was the first time I have ever seen one of his silents. Boldini was a very slimy character, very different to Powell’s slick charming gentlemen he would become known for.

            This silent version of Beau Geste is worth seeing at least one even though I found it boring.

 

How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)

“All my life ever since I was a little girl I've always had the same dream. To marry a zillionaire.”

            I think it is every girls dream to marry a millionaire. Well in today’s world a millionaire ten times over. Good lord what I would NOT do with a few million at my disposal! First thing I would pay off my student loans and get my Masters in Art History and get a degree Anthropology and photography (two of the most random things right?). Then I would buy myself an awesome car… wait why would I buy a car when I can just have someone drive me around all the time? My dream is to have an apartment on Fifth Ave in New York City right across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art so I can go there whenever I feel like it. Oh and pay to get into the most awesome events that go on in NYC. 

            But then there is another side to all this as there always is. In the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire three women are on the prowl for rich men who will take care of them and buy them all the diamonds and mink coats they could ever want. They meet these rich men and begin to find that they are not the types of men they could ever be happy with.

            Model Schatze Page (Lauren Bacall) buys a fully furnished penthouse apartment. The man who owns the apartment is on the run for tax reasons. She looks like she can afford the penthouse without a problem as she hands the realtor two thousand dollars for the first two months of rent. As soon as the realtor leaves she calls over her friend Pola (Marilyn Monroe). Pola gets off the elevator and cannot see a thing she is no nearsighted. As soon as she puts on her glasses and looks at the apartment she loves it. Pola tells Schatze she knows another woman nicknamed Loco (Betty Grable) who wants to go in on the penthouse too. Loco comes over with groceries only the groceries are being carried by a man named Tom. When Tom walks into the penthouse and sees Schatze he immediately falls in love with her.

            Over hotdogs and champagne on the balcony the three women talk over their strategies to snag a millionaire. The whole reason Schatze rented the penthouse was so they could entertain rich men. Schatze firmly tell Pola and Loco not to fall in love with common men with no money they will only have their heartbroken like she did.

            They find out that there is to be a meeting at a hotel where a lot of rich oilmen will in attendance. Each woman snags a man. Pola and Loco are clearly not too happy on their dates but they bear it because the men have so much money. Pola’s guy has an eye patch and acts really weird. Loco’s guy is just crazy and talks about how he cannot stand his family especially his wife. Schatze is the only lucky one out of the three. She meets a nice older man named J.D. Hanley (wonderfully, fantastically played by William Powell). They get along perfectly. That night Schatze dreams of all the diamonds she can buy and Pola dreams of going to some far off country in the Middle East where a king just gives her handfuls of diamonds and jewelry. Loco hysterically dreams of food.

            Meanwhile, the audience finds out that Tom is a very rich man with a building named after him. He keeps calling Schatze to give him a chance to go out with her but she just thinks he is a gas jockey and will not give him the time of day. He never tells her about his money. But when J.D. goes back to Texas Schatze breaks down and goes out with Tom and they become very close.

            As Schatze goes through her thing with Tom and J.D., the other two women come to realizations. Loco is on vacation up in main the guy she met at the conference. He is a bore and a moron and she has no fun with him. While the guy is laid up with the measles Loco goes out with a local man named Eben (Rory Calhoun). He is handsome, young and charming. She has mixed feelings about him at first and it is not until after she leaves that she realizes she loves Eben. Pola was supposed to get on a plane down to Atlantic City to see her man but she was stubbornly not wearing her glasses and got on the wrong plane. On the plane she happens to meet the owner of the penthouse Freddie Denmark. Freddie wears glasses and tells Pola there is not shame to wearing glasses that she actually looks nice in them.

            J.D. comes back and asks Schatze to marry him. She does love J.D. but she is having second thoughts. Schatze has such a great time with Tom. On the day of her wedding to J.D. Tom comes to the penthouse. They have a talk and realize they should be together. Besides all this drama Pola comes back married Freddie and Loco has come back married to Eben. All three of them turn out not marrying for money… well except Schatze who does not find out that Tom has money until they are out at a burger joint for dinner and they see Tom pull out a wad of thousand dollar bills. At this site Schatze, Pola, Loco all faint off their chairs.

            I remember I started watching this film with my roommate who is a legitimate Marilyn Monroe fan (I say legit and mean it she really does like Marilyn and does not treat her like an icon she has become) put this on one day. I was curious to see it because Lauren Bacall is in it. I cannot remember why I did not sit through the whole film but what I saw I really liked and asked for it on DVD for Christmas. I think I got the DVD two years ago and have now just finally sat through the whole thing. I am glad I sat through it now because I really liked everyone in it and I was able to appreciate Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe and of course William Powell.

            Lauren Bacall was great as the head of the group. She looks natural in the role of the leader and the determined woman who really wants to marry a millionaire. I am always surprised whenever I see Marilyn Monroe in a film and her acting is fantastic. She did not annoy me one but she was so adorable and really funny. Betty Grable I have never seen in a film before this and I am so looking forward to finding more of her films. She was hilarious I loved how her character was always eating or thinking of food because that is exactly what I do. William Powell I love and adore to no end. I could not stop thinking about how handsome he was. Powell was sixty by this time and looked more handsome than ever. He looked especially amazing in color. He played such a sweet character, gentlemanly character. Powell played this type of character countless times in his career but he was so great in those roles that they never get boring to see him play. The entire cast had such great chemistry you can believe them all being friends. 

            How to Marry a Millionaire is a fun film to watch. The story is cute and there are some excellent funny moments and some lines that are just too good to give away. How Marry a Millionaire is a great film to watch when you need something light and funny to cheer your day up.

 

My Man Godfrey (1936)

“Godfrey loves me, he put me in the shower!”

            My Man Godfrey is the quintessential 1930s screwball comedy. I cannot think of one thing that is wrong with this film it is a perfect comedy. Nothing is overdone or too much. The dialogue is fantastically witty, quick, and clever.  

            A young woman named Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick) walks into the city dump. She is dressed lavishly in diamonds and a beautiful gown. Cornelia comes from a wealthy family and she and her sister Irene (Carole Lombard) are part of a rich man’s version of a scavenger hunt. The person who brings back a Forgotten Man gets the top prize. Cornelia meets Godfrey (William Powell) and offers him five dollars. Godfrey says something to her that scares her and puts her in his place. Irene comes around and she is sweet unlike her sister. She pretty much drags Godfrey along and she wins the hunt. To thank him Irene offers him a job as their butler in the Fifth Ave apartment. As soon as her mother (played by Alice Brady) comes on screen we know Godfrey is for a crazy time.

            The next morning Godfrey meets the Bullock’s maid. She has been with the family for several years and warns Godfrey what he is getting into. Even before he walks up the stairs to bring Mrs. Bullock her drink he sees that Mr. Bullock is friends with the process server who frequents the house after the girls have had too much fun on nights out (this time Cornelia broke some windows). The maid walks in at the same time to inform that a man is in the kitchen looking for his horse Irene stole the previous night and some money she owes him. When Mr. Bullock asks where the horse is the maid points to the living room! Godfrey’s second dose of the family is when he brings Mrs. Bullock her tomato juice. Mrs. Bullock is hysterically hung over from the party. The maid warned Godfrey that Mrs. Bullock says that she sees fairies after a rough night. Sure enough the woman is seeing fairies which are from light reflecting from a glass lamp onto the ceiling. The next room he goes to is Cornelia’s but she screams at him to get out and throws things at him. The last room is Irene’s. Irene is so happy to see Godfrey she kisses him. He freaks out a little and returns downstairs. It seems as though he going to leave but, the maid had put his suitcase, hat and coat by the door, but he is going to stick the family out. He asks the maid what kind of family he is up against and she flatly tells him that she cannot answer some questions.

            As the days and weeks roll on Godfrey sees just how nuts the Bullock family really is. The nuttiness mostly comes from Irene and her mother. Mrs. Bullock spends her time with her protégée Carlo who is a musician. Irene tells Godfrey he is her protégée and wants to help him in whatever he needs. She worships Godfrey with the biggest crush anyone can have for another person. Godfrey ignores Irene but the more he does she gets sulkier and upset and her crush grows even more. So upset about Godfrey not liking her that at a party she announces she is getting engaged to man she does not really like. This is just one of many engagements she has gone through. Also at the party Godfrey runs into an old friend named Tommy Gray. Through Tommy we find out that Godfrey comes from a rich Boston family and attended Harvard. Godfrey tells his old friend that a girl had really broken his heart and he went to end his life by the dump but he saw the men at the barge and became friends with them.

            A few months later Godfrey is still the Bullock’s butler. Irene and Cornelia went to Europe for a few months so Irene could get over her recent broken engagement. She is upset with her butler because he was not as happy as she expected him to be upon her return. Irene confesses to Godfrey that she loves him and he says that he likes her as well but it could never be.

            In the end Godfrey winds up helping the family out in a big way. Irene states that everyone in the world knows that he is love with her except for him and has someone marry them.

            After seeing this film I can finally see why Carole Lombard was known as the Queen of Screwballs. She was hysterical from beginning to end. I read that the character of Irene was supposed to be in her mid-teens and that is how Lombard played her (even though she was around twenty-eight at the time). Her faces alone made me laugh they were so funny. William Powell was just marvelous. He was great at the straight man to all the insanity around him. Powell really is what makes this film he was the calm in the middle of a crazy storm. Alice Brady as Mrs. Bullock was a panic. Mrs. Bullock is the type of character that would drive me nuts in any other film but Brady played her perfectly and all her lines were so subtle and witty. Gail Patrick was beautiful. Cornelia was a spoiled rich girl, the type of character Patrick usually played. The character gets under your skin very very slightly but in the end you can forgive her. I could not get over the fact that Gail Patrick was twenty-five when she made this film—I am the same age I wish I could look like that!

            The best scene in the whole film is when Irene pretends to have one of her fainting spells. Godfrey takes her up to her room and puts her on her bed. As he is looking for some smelling salts on her vanity he sees her sit up then lay quickly back down. Now he is onto her game so he plays back. He picks her up, put her in the shower and turns the water on! Irene jumps up and her parents hear. When the mother comes in Irene proclaims “Godfrey loves me he put me in the shower!” The she jumps all over her room singing out that Godfrey loves her. I was dying laughing through the whole scene. This is when I finally saw Carole Lombard as the Queen of Screwballs.

            My Man Godfrey is one of the best comedies ever made. It is everything that makes 1930s Screwball Comedies the best: the writing is clever, the actors are top notch, the director (in this case Gregory La Cava) keeps excellent pace with the writing and the actors, and it is wrapped up in social commentary without throwing them in the viewer’s face. My Man Godfrey and Screwball films like it, leaves me wishing that comedy films and actors could be this way again where everything about it is just perfect and completely enjoyable. 

The Key (1934)

“Norah has been in love with a glamorous memory.”

            Unfortunately the Norah William Powell’s character refers to is not the fabulous Nora Charles. Yeah my balloon is busted too. The Key was made after his pairing with the other Nora not for MGM but his old studio Warner Bros. The film is a mix of romance and war. Sometimes this mix in the plotline works and sometimes it falls flat and dull. In this case it falls flat and dull.

            In 1920s Ireland the country was still under the rule of the British Empire. The IRA was vigorously fighting for home rule and the end of British rule. Captain Andy Kerr is part of the British army that has been sent to find the rebels, break up their groups and bring them in. During a raid one of his men are killed.

            To help with against the Irish is another British captain Bill Tennant (Powell). He comes to Ireland on orders. He meets with his superior who asks him about his time in Balkans. Apparently Bill got into some trouble with a Russian girl but before the problem could reach a court he was excused and promoted to captain. His superior tells him to be careful or he might come out decorated again.

            Bill moves into an apartment with another British officer. He hears a woman singing and playing the piano. He stays in the hallways listening to her and when she is done he yells for an encore. The apartment above belongs to Andy and his wife Norah. Andy comes out to see who is yelling but he is not mad when he sees the yeller is Bill since the two of them were old friends. Andy brings Bill upstairs to meet his wife. As soon as Bill and Norah meet it is obvious they knew each other before this meeting. Not long after the introduction Andy has to leave on assignment leaving his wife and friend alone. Norah and Bill discuss how they knew each other three years ago but he left. He explains that he joined the army and did not want to settle down. He adds that he still loves her though.

            The next day on assignment Bill and his men are shot at by Irish snipers. His superior has a feeling it is a man named Peadar Conlin the head of the IRA. That night Andy is sent out to find Conlin. Norah does not have a good feeling about her husband leaving. Bill was there when Andy leaves and once again he and Norah are left alone. They remember back to when they were first in love. Bill sees that Norah has not been able to let her love for him go. Andy captures Conlin in his headquarters. When he comes home later he sees that Norah is fully dressed then Bill comes out from another room. They explain to him that they were once in love. Andy had always known there was another man Norah loved but he never knew until then. Upset Andy runs out in the rain.

            Andy has not come home since he went out. Norah confesses to Bill that he is three years too late for her to love him like she once did and that he truly loves Andy. She is worried for him since he has not been back. They learn that Andy was captured by the IRA and held as a hostage for the release of Conlin. The General will not make the switch. Bill sees how much Norah loves Andy and decides to help. He sneaks into the General’s office and forges release papers for Conlin. Someone working in the office gives a call to the superior to let them know Bill was there.

            The next day Conlin has been released and so was Andy. The General puts two and two together and has Bill thrown in jail for three years for what he did. Bill does not care though he saved his friend and helped his former love.

            I do not know whether it was because I watched this film at like one in the morning or because I was falling asleep at the time since I had come home from a long day of work but I was bored with it. The story was so dull. It started off a bit light and tried to keep that going mixed with the drama and it did not work. The romance angle sure it was the central part to the story but it was a load of bull.

            The Key is only worth seeing for William Powell who always gives a great performance and for the direction by Michael Curtiz. Besides Casablanca this is the best directed film by Curtiz I have seen so far. The cinematography is awesome in some night scenes.

 

The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)

I really do not like remakes especially if they were of films that should have been left alone. Someone once told me the reason for remakes is because the originals were not good… if that was true than there would be no need for The Thin Man and Hitchcock’s Rebecca to be remade. The Girl Who Had Everything starring Elizabeth Taylor and William Powell is a remake of the incredible 1931 film A Free Soul starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Clark Gable, and Lionel Barrymore. I only sat through this remake because William Powell is in it and I adore the man to no end otherwise I never would have even bothered especially because Elizabeth Taylor is the star.

            So the plot is this girl Joan Latimer (Taylor) has been given everything she has wanted in her life. Her father Steve (Powell) is a high powered attorney who travels all over the place for rich clients. One of his clients is the gangster Victor Raimondi (Fernando Lamas). He is currently on trial for running an illegal gambling establishment in New York City. Besides that he is known to have killed people and stolen and other typical gangster activities. He is being tried in Washington DC in the Supreme Court.

            Joan goes down to see her father in DC and as soon as the gangster and the good girl lay eyes on each other it is love at first sight. At first Steve does not mind but when Victor moves down to Kentucky where they live and starts giving her expensive things he tries to get Joan away from the guy. His plan backfires when Joan runs away to marry Victor in New York City.

            Back in the city Victor says he is going to give up his racket but does not when he reads that Steve has some new evidence that can convict him. Steve comes up to the city and Victor threatens him to go down to DC. Victor punches the poor guy and screams at him. Joan is beyond upset and wants to leave Victor but he will not let her. That night at a stop light Victor is murdered in a mob hit.

            God this film was so boring! It is worse knowing that it was a remake of A Free Soul which was incredibly sexy and shocking. Elizabeth Taylor is in absolutely no way Norma Shearer! I know that The Girl Who Had Everything was made in wholesome fifties and A Free Soul was made in the scandalous pre-code era but just thinking of Taylor at a young age playing a sexy scandalous woman who pretty much wants a relationship and sex like man if there had been no production code makes my stomach turn.

            William Powell was the only good part of this film. This was his last picture for MGM and one of his last films before retiring. Powell was just his wonderful self even dramatic and older he was charming even if he was not supposed to be. It was weird not seeing him funny or acting with the leading ladies I am used to seeing him with.

            Elizabeth Taylor I am not a big fan of and never have been. When she was younger her acting was alright but her voice just gets on my nerves. She was stunning I cannot deny or say she was not gorgeous.

            The Girl Who Had Everything felt like a waste of my time. As I said I only watched it because William Powell was in the film. You are better off watching A Free Soul which I highly recommend that is an awesome film.