Known in Ginger Rogers career as the movie that was barely even released, it had slight big screen showings in both 1964 and 1971, and basically remains forgotten. There is a reason for that; the movie is simply just terrible. Ginger, who always played wisecracking tough girls who had a hidden heart of gold, must have thought she could modernize her image with this script that has her playing a modern madam but it seems like the girls in her house are simply there more for conversation than for what residents in a den of ill-repute usually do. That is with one exception; the presence of a young, red-headed Barbara Eden, announcing she is pregnant without the benefit of a husband, and is immediately kicked out of Rogers home. If you ever wanted to see Ginger truly be nasty, look no further. Yes, she had cat fights and several of her movies and also could toss off wisecracks with the best of them, but here, her character is truly vile towards Eden in in of the opening scenes, showing no heart whatsoever.
If Ginger snaps here, the angelic Eden literally becomes like Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. What plot is a present concerns Eden who prays to a statue in a local Catholic Church which is overheard by Ginger's partner in crime, Ray Milland, who answers her as if he were God responding to her prayer. This makes everybody believe that a miracle has taken place, leading to a fraud of the greatest measure. What was Milland doing inside the church behind the statue when this occurred? Digging for a hidden treasure, that's what! Ginger, his partner in crime, is present when another alleged Miracle occurs, and she gets one of the few moderately decent moments in the film. Elliott Gould has a minor role as a mute, and veteran character actor Cecil Kellaway has a small part as a cardinal, but in spite of such potential with this outstanding cast, this is totally defeated by an unbelievable script that is not at all funny and simply mostly just tacky.
Produced by a production company created by Rogers and her then husband William Marshall, it floundered for release for years and eventually it obviously became a sort of embarrassment to Ginger who isn't well photographed at all. She would recapture some of her glamour by appearing on Broadway and touring in "Hello, Dolly!", but appears a bit jowly in close-ups. Those who saw Ray Milland the year before this creeped out in "Love Story" must have thought that he had plastic surgery after that. I caught this years ago on late night T.V. in L.A. and couldn't stomach it then. Do yourself a favor. Stick with Ginger dancing with Fred, or at least her with Milland in "The Major and the Minor" which has stood the rest of time. The only test this took (and failed) was my patience.
If Ginger snaps here, the angelic Eden literally becomes like Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. What plot is a present concerns Eden who prays to a statue in a local Catholic Church which is overheard by Ginger's partner in crime, Ray Milland, who answers her as if he were God responding to her prayer. This makes everybody believe that a miracle has taken place, leading to a fraud of the greatest measure. What was Milland doing inside the church behind the statue when this occurred? Digging for a hidden treasure, that's what! Ginger, his partner in crime, is present when another alleged Miracle occurs, and she gets one of the few moderately decent moments in the film. Elliott Gould has a minor role as a mute, and veteran character actor Cecil Kellaway has a small part as a cardinal, but in spite of such potential with this outstanding cast, this is totally defeated by an unbelievable script that is not at all funny and simply mostly just tacky.
Produced by a production company created by Rogers and her then husband William Marshall, it floundered for release for years and eventually it obviously became a sort of embarrassment to Ginger who isn't well photographed at all. She would recapture some of her glamour by appearing on Broadway and touring in "Hello, Dolly!", but appears a bit jowly in close-ups. Those who saw Ray Milland the year before this creeped out in "Love Story" must have thought that he had plastic surgery after that. I caught this years ago on late night T.V. in L.A. and couldn't stomach it then. Do yourself a favor. Stick with Ginger dancing with Fred, or at least her with Milland in "The Major and the Minor" which has stood the rest of time. The only test this took (and failed) was my patience.