This is not a great film by any stretch. But it has it has it's interesting points. A minor comedy by Cary Grant, it came out just before his greatest performance as Ernie Mott in "None But The Lonely Heart". Ernie was the last of a series of heels or near heels that Grant played in serious films from "Suspicion" to "Mr. Lucky" to "Lonely Heart", all of which the studio system and the cult of movie star image crippled from being as good as they might have been. Grant just could not play a villain. Even when he was the unscrupulous Walter Burns in "His Gal Friday", the editor's role was subtly changed by showing that when he wasn't seeking newspaper scoops at everyone else's expense, Walter actually wanted to rid his city (Chicago) of a corrupt Mayor and his gang of relatives. Keep in mind that "His Gal Friday" was a comedy, not a tragic story like "None But The Lonely Heart" or a murder mystery like "Suspicion".
ONCE UPON A TIME had been a radio play by Norman Corwin, and had been very successful at the time. The radio play was a fantasy about a little boy who has a pet caterpillar that will dance to the boy playing "Yes Sir, That's My Baby". He meets a theatrical producer who sees "the big picture" about showing the caterpillar to the public. The story line follows how this glitz campaign wrecks the producer's friendship with the boy, until the caterpillar vanishes and they find their relationship again in their concern about the missing pet.
It sounds hokey, and is a little, but the story works. Fred Allen had played the ambitious producer in the radio show, and his perfect comic delivery hit the targets of the story. But for the film Allen (despite his wonderful success in "It's In The Bag") was not glamorous enough to carry the movie. Instead it was given to Grant. And here, now in a comedy, the same problem of the image and the desire to stretch as a film performer was fought again.
Jerry Flynn is an unscrupulous producer who dreams of having his own theater for his own productions. He has gotten over his head in debt, and he may lose the theater he has a stake in as a result. But he is generally untrusted - and with reason. He will sell anyone for an advantage in the entertainment field. His most persistent critic is the news columnist Brandt (William Demerest) who has seen his shenanigans for years and knows he's an unscrupulous creep.
And behaves that way for most of the film - once he discovers the caterpillar's talent to dance. He gives it the full treatment, much to the dismay of the boy's sister Jeannie (Janet Blair) and the growing disillusion of the boy "Pinkie" (Ted Donaldson). Brandt keeps sniping, suspecting everything that Flynn is up to - and finally (when Flynn seems to have beaten him) Brandt shows his moral superiority. Demerest says, "I'm only sorry that such a wonderful thing has to be controlled by you!" It actually does summarize the unscrupulousness of the character.
If the original play had not been comic, and had not allowed for Flynn's moral regeneration I doubt if Grant's agent would have agreed to allow him to do it. Up to the middle of the film one dislikes Flynn's activities, especially as they hurt Pinkie and his sister (who, in the course of the film, falls for Flynn). It being a comedy there are moments when Flynn errs. The scene where he tells his aide "the Moke" (James Gleason) to let the telephone ring, expecting it is a call from Walt Disney about using the caterpillar is amusing - when it turns out he's wrong. But the audience wants to be wrong. His eventual realization that there is more to life than success in business or art helps make the character palatable, but it does not ring as true as if Flynn had remained the user/huckster he was to the end.
The performances are fine (especially Demerest). But it is minor Grant, and it is ironic that it came just before he came closest to his acting peak.
ONCE UPON A TIME had been a radio play by Norman Corwin, and had been very successful at the time. The radio play was a fantasy about a little boy who has a pet caterpillar that will dance to the boy playing "Yes Sir, That's My Baby". He meets a theatrical producer who sees "the big picture" about showing the caterpillar to the public. The story line follows how this glitz campaign wrecks the producer's friendship with the boy, until the caterpillar vanishes and they find their relationship again in their concern about the missing pet.
It sounds hokey, and is a little, but the story works. Fred Allen had played the ambitious producer in the radio show, and his perfect comic delivery hit the targets of the story. But for the film Allen (despite his wonderful success in "It's In The Bag") was not glamorous enough to carry the movie. Instead it was given to Grant. And here, now in a comedy, the same problem of the image and the desire to stretch as a film performer was fought again.
Jerry Flynn is an unscrupulous producer who dreams of having his own theater for his own productions. He has gotten over his head in debt, and he may lose the theater he has a stake in as a result. But he is generally untrusted - and with reason. He will sell anyone for an advantage in the entertainment field. His most persistent critic is the news columnist Brandt (William Demerest) who has seen his shenanigans for years and knows he's an unscrupulous creep.
And behaves that way for most of the film - once he discovers the caterpillar's talent to dance. He gives it the full treatment, much to the dismay of the boy's sister Jeannie (Janet Blair) and the growing disillusion of the boy "Pinkie" (Ted Donaldson). Brandt keeps sniping, suspecting everything that Flynn is up to - and finally (when Flynn seems to have beaten him) Brandt shows his moral superiority. Demerest says, "I'm only sorry that such a wonderful thing has to be controlled by you!" It actually does summarize the unscrupulousness of the character.
If the original play had not been comic, and had not allowed for Flynn's moral regeneration I doubt if Grant's agent would have agreed to allow him to do it. Up to the middle of the film one dislikes Flynn's activities, especially as they hurt Pinkie and his sister (who, in the course of the film, falls for Flynn). It being a comedy there are moments when Flynn errs. The scene where he tells his aide "the Moke" (James Gleason) to let the telephone ring, expecting it is a call from Walt Disney about using the caterpillar is amusing - when it turns out he's wrong. But the audience wants to be wrong. His eventual realization that there is more to life than success in business or art helps make the character palatable, but it does not ring as true as if Flynn had remained the user/huckster he was to the end.
The performances are fine (especially Demerest). But it is minor Grant, and it is ironic that it came just before he came closest to his acting peak.