Apart from "The Asphalt Jungle" and "Singin' in the Rain" it seemed "incidentally" was the word critics used most when describing Jean Hagan's performances. She got her first break on Broadway in "Another Part of the Forest" and became great friends with Patricia Neal who introduced her to an actor's agent. "Adam's Rib" should have got her noticed but this film also marked Judy Holiday's debut and when she did have a memorable role as the sincere gangster's girl in "The Asphalt Jungle", Marilyn Monroe stole the show with her smaller but flashier role as Louis Calhern's very youthful mistress.
"No Questions Asked" was more of the same - her role as the loyal, dependable assistant to lawyer Barry Sullivan may be the one decent person in the cast but she was lost in the shuffle between glamorous Arlene Dahl and up and coming (who never went anywhere) Mari Blanchard. Arlene Dahl was at the end of her MGM contract after a couple of years of mostly playing opposite Red Skelton. "No Questions Asked" played her against type as a ruthless gold digger and her performance proved maybe these were the type of roles she should have been given all along.
She plays Ellen who returns from a holiday to inform starry eyed fiancée Steve Kiever (Barry Sullivan) that she couldn't wait for him to make good as a lawyer, she has married for wealth and the security she craves. Steve, already worried that he will not be able to keep her in the manner to which she feels accustomed, has started to walk a fine line for his law firm after hearing his boss say "I'd pay $10,000 to get the property back - no questions asked!!". He then goes to the gangsters and strikes a deal, netting $2,500 for himself and thereafter becoming the bane of the police force by not allowing them to finish the job (George Murphy plays the Chief of Police with no light and shade).
Joan (Hagan) stays true and just when it looks like she may be making headway, Ellen comes back in the picture. She claims she has learned her lesson, that her love for Steve is too strong - but is she setting him up?? Steve of course is putty in her hands - Sullivan was always better as an ice man whether as gangster or detective, he just didn't have the depth to make you feel anything for Steve who was basically a nice but weak guy who would have had a happier life with Joan but then there would have been no movie!!
Showiest role went to Mari Blanchard, as Natalie, who made Arlene Dahl look almost frumpy but unfortunately she didn't receive many lucky breaks during her career - a nice role in Audie Murphy's "Destry" being her career highlight.
"No Questions Asked" was more of the same - her role as the loyal, dependable assistant to lawyer Barry Sullivan may be the one decent person in the cast but she was lost in the shuffle between glamorous Arlene Dahl and up and coming (who never went anywhere) Mari Blanchard. Arlene Dahl was at the end of her MGM contract after a couple of years of mostly playing opposite Red Skelton. "No Questions Asked" played her against type as a ruthless gold digger and her performance proved maybe these were the type of roles she should have been given all along.
She plays Ellen who returns from a holiday to inform starry eyed fiancée Steve Kiever (Barry Sullivan) that she couldn't wait for him to make good as a lawyer, she has married for wealth and the security she craves. Steve, already worried that he will not be able to keep her in the manner to which she feels accustomed, has started to walk a fine line for his law firm after hearing his boss say "I'd pay $10,000 to get the property back - no questions asked!!". He then goes to the gangsters and strikes a deal, netting $2,500 for himself and thereafter becoming the bane of the police force by not allowing them to finish the job (George Murphy plays the Chief of Police with no light and shade).
Joan (Hagan) stays true and just when it looks like she may be making headway, Ellen comes back in the picture. She claims she has learned her lesson, that her love for Steve is too strong - but is she setting him up?? Steve of course is putty in her hands - Sullivan was always better as an ice man whether as gangster or detective, he just didn't have the depth to make you feel anything for Steve who was basically a nice but weak guy who would have had a happier life with Joan but then there would have been no movie!!
Showiest role went to Mari Blanchard, as Natalie, who made Arlene Dahl look almost frumpy but unfortunately she didn't receive many lucky breaks during her career - a nice role in Audie Murphy's "Destry" being her career highlight.