dougdoepke
Mild comedy played in straight fashion by fine cast. The plot's rather contemporary in its concern for wild animals and exposing political skullduggery. And, by golly, Allyson's headstrong zoo keeper is going to take down crooked politician (Collins) before he does more to glorify trophy hunting. Trouble is her potential ally, the politically ambitious Powell, can't seem to decide which side he's on. Maybe Herman the lion can help him decide. He certainly has Powell clambering over the furniture in acrobatic fashion. Then too, Allyson's winning ways are hard for any guy to ignore, even if the actress allowed herself to be deglamorized.Real life husband and wife, P&A, get center stage, while Wayne gets the many snappy throwaway lines, along with an amusingly bookish Marvin Kaplan. Also look for cult figure Tor Johnson as the mountainous Finnlander next to Powell in that well-crafted scene. Expert writers Panama and Frank come up with a witty script that's mostly amusing, but it's clear they have the two serious targets in mind, even if the animal scenes are likely the movie highlights. Though there's the physical comedy, neither direction nor editing goes for bouncy type humor, relying instead on script and situation for the chuckles. Nonetheless, I love it when Wayne wonders what Powell sees in the shapely Allyson, and Powell archly replies there's "a couple of reasons". Of course, this was back in the day when such innuendo was cutting edge.Anyway, it's a consistently amusing 90-minutes thanks to shrewd MGM craftsmanship. Then too, a special award should go to the kings of the jungle who perform brilliantly. I just wonder what the sets were like during filming. Also, a special nod to P&A who don't mind getting upstaged or sharing the spotlight. True professionals.
vincentlynch-moonoi
This is a rather pleasant, somewhat typical romantic comedy with some serious overtones. It's rather typical of such films of that period, albeit with the zoo angle a bit unusual.But I'll tell you why it's worth watching: June Allyson. When it comes right down to it, Allyson was a versatile actress. More than once she proved her talents in both drama and comedy, and here she was able to shine with a little bit of both.Dick Powell is the male lead here, and while he was not as accomplished as Allyson, he was pleasant on-screen, as well. I have to admit he seemed a bit tame here; I would have liked to have seen a little more spunk. The character certainly called for it.David Wayne was the best friend here...wasn't he always? Well, almost always. I think Wayne unfortunately got typecast quite often; he was really quite a good actor. Cecil Kellaway plays the zoo keeper and Allyson's father here; he's quite an enjoyable chap to have in a film. One of my favorite character actors is here as a crooked political donor -- Ray Collins; this is not one of his better roles. Robert Keith is good as the friendly newspaper reporter. Marvin Kaplan has a funny turn as an assistant to Powell, although the role he played here was essentially the role he always played. Kathleen Freeman has some really funny scenes here, though only briefly early in the film.If you like romantic comedies of this era, you'll like this film. Nothing special, but very enjoyable.
Maliejandra Kay
The Reformer and the Redhead is a fun film to watch because it stars a real life Hollywood couple: Dick Powell and June Allyson. The two are wonderful together, sweet and funny.The film is about a zoo-keeper's daughter and a man running for mayor. When the girl's father is at risk of losing his job for a phony reason supplied by a corrupt power over the city, she enlists the help of the man, hoping for him to stay true to his pledge of being a reformer and to help her. The two become involved in a relationship along with many funny events, several including a sweet lion a la Bringing up Baby.The movie is very enjoyable, but nothing special. It is a breezy film with a good cast, a great choice for a bad day.
Draconis Blackthorne
A small-town Politician falls for a tom-boyish redhead {sporting a very Rosemary's Baby hairdo}, who just so happens to help run a zoo out in the countryside. He meets "Herman", a lovably affable lion whom he is initially terrified of, which sends him literally up a wall, until he eventually gets used to the whole likable menagerie and falls in love. She whole-heartedly supports her man, gathering up all the local orphans to support the party's cause, which eventually takes him to international travels, at one point forgetting where he was at, which leads to an embarrassing yet most amusing scene, with relief in the end.Unfortunately their love becomes tainted when a despicable plan is revealed by a drunken co-worker, and his public standing is threatened with ill-repute. She is obviously hurt by this betrayal, yet his honesty leads to reconciliation, while right around the same time, another lion escapes from the zoo - that 'ol man eater Caesar, who the poor man believes is actually mild-mannered Herman, which displays another one of the more entertaining scenes when he manages to get the lion into the car. He gets his girl, she gets her man, and all is well in the humanimal kingdom.
AD
