Screen Directors Playhouse: It's a Most Unusual Day (1956)
*** (out of 4)
A married couple (Fred MacMurray, Marilyn Erskine) go to a nightclub to catch Jimmy McHugh (playing himself) as he goes through a few of his numbers the married couple flashback to what they were doing when they first heard those songs. I'm going to state right at the start that this is an incredibly soapy, sugar filled and at times idiotic movie but at the same time I'd be lying if I said it didn't keep me entertained. There's not a single frame here that I actually believed but the two lead actors were so charming together that I couldn't help but have a good time. The film called for both actors to age going from their current ages back to when they were in their twenties and needless to say this effect really doesn't work. The first flashback happens with MacMurray, actually 48-years-old at the time, is playing star quarterback at Michigan and supposed to be in his twenties. It should go without saying that he certainly doesn't look like a college student and in fact he looks older here than he does in a few of the upcoming scenes that are supposed to be taking place much later. The songs including flashbacks to the birth of their child, a major fight they had an even a scene during WWII. These sequences rarely hold together all that well but the two leads are so good that you have no problem overlooking the flaws. I know I've mostly said negative things about the movie and I could probably say a few more but in the end what's most important is to be entertained and the film did just that.
*** (out of 4)
A married couple (Fred MacMurray, Marilyn Erskine) go to a nightclub to catch Jimmy McHugh (playing himself) as he goes through a few of his numbers the married couple flashback to what they were doing when they first heard those songs. I'm going to state right at the start that this is an incredibly soapy, sugar filled and at times idiotic movie but at the same time I'd be lying if I said it didn't keep me entertained. There's not a single frame here that I actually believed but the two lead actors were so charming together that I couldn't help but have a good time. The film called for both actors to age going from their current ages back to when they were in their twenties and needless to say this effect really doesn't work. The first flashback happens with MacMurray, actually 48-years-old at the time, is playing star quarterback at Michigan and supposed to be in his twenties. It should go without saying that he certainly doesn't look like a college student and in fact he looks older here than he does in a few of the upcoming scenes that are supposed to be taking place much later. The songs including flashbacks to the birth of their child, a major fight they had an even a scene during WWII. These sequences rarely hold together all that well but the two leads are so good that you have no problem overlooking the flaws. I know I've mostly said negative things about the movie and I could probably say a few more but in the end what's most important is to be entertained and the film did just that.