IMDb > Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948) > IMDb user comments
Filter: Hide Spoilers:
Index 5 comments in total 

5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Lynn looks great and oh that supporting cast!, 20 October 2000
Author: SanDiego from The Beach

Secretary Diana Lynn and playwright Guy Madison (both from Texas) meet on their way to New York. Due to a misunderstanding Lynn mistakes Madison for a bank robber and tries to keep him from being found out by the police. Posing as his sister she finds a pick pocket in the subway and enlists her as their mother. Plot device shifts quickly to Lynn finding a job at a riding academy (mechanical animals) and Madison failing as a playwright (mechanical acting). An unfunny script, confusing scenes, terrible direction and an annoying soundtrack hinder this below-average B-film despite the likeability of a stellar cast of character actors: William Frawley ("I Love You"), Margaret Hamilton ("The Wizard of Oz"), Lionel Stander ("Hart to Hart"), Irene Ryan ("The Beverly Hillbillies"), and Jesse White (the original "Maytag Repairman") to name just a few. Even Audie Murphy appears in a bit part! Diana Lynn is her usual perky self (looking terrific) and some of the situations are wacky, (just not very funny). For Lynn fans and nostalgic value (though the film looks and sounds like 1930 instead of 1948!) the film can grow on you after a while.

Was the above comment useful to you?

6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
A nice little movie, 1 November 2005
6/10
Author: marcy morris from United States

Diana Lynn is great as usual a year or so before her role as Irma's best friend in My Friend Irma. She carries the story quite well and it is worth seeing. I agree with another poster that the music is terrible but there isn't much of it and really it's only the music at the beginning that is that bad. It's a cute story and could have been better but still an enjoyable way to spend 76 minutes. It does have some good moments and lots of familiar faces, some you may not be able to put a name to but will recognize from other old movies. I won't go into the whole plot since that has already been covered very nicely but it is well worth your time to watch this. Since it has fallen into Public Domain you can see it at internetarchives.

Was the above comment useful to you?

2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Poor comedy with weak leads, but a good supporting cast, 4 May 2008
2/10
Author: J. Spurlin from United States

Eddie Tayloe's grandfather leaves him six thousand dollars and the money belt it came in, freeing Tayloe to leave his dull newspaper job in Texas and move to New York to become a playwright. Along the way, his car breaks down and a girl walking along the highway asks for a lift. It turns out she's a nice girl, named Perry, running away from a job at a gasoline station. Soon they're off to New York together, but part ways once they arrive. Time passes and Eddie is failing to sell his play; Perry is failing to find a job. Odd circumstances, involving an old pickpocket named Mandy (Florence Bates), bring them together again. Three starchy sisters (including Irene Ryan and Margaret Hamilton) renting a room, a bartender named Mike, and a sleepy old immigrant (Michael Chekhov) running a mechanical menagerie all play parts in this romantic comedy.

William Castle, before his days of making gimmick-laden shockers, directed this unfunny script, straining to be zany and eccentric, and ending up dull. Guy Madison as Eddie is very handsome but stolid. Diana Lynn as Perry fares a little better, but her affectedly odd character thwarts her efforts. Florence Bates comes off the best. The movie is bad but not unbearable, if you want to see it for the supporting cast, which includes William Frawley, Jesse White and Lionel Stander.

Was the above comment useful to you?

A long lope for a free drink - Unfulfilled Potential, 9 March 2005
4/10
Author: nyland8 from The Verdant Northeast

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

While charming in a way, and predictably dated, the lack of character development and a story line that boarders on schizophrenic make this feel like a promise unrealized.

The plot, what there is of it, or more correctly, certain plot elements, are good enough to consider doing a contemporary remake of. In fact, this is a film that Hollywood could have a lot of fun with, and one can't help but feel while watching it that, in the hands of a contemporary film studio, it has enough going for it to make the movie it should have been more than fifty years ago.

***** Note: the following observations should not be considered spoilers, as they reveal nothing about where the story might lead. *****

For example, one of the plot elements revolves around a coin operated "riding academy" which could, were it remade today, easily and delightfully morph into a contemporary "virtual riding arcade". Another recurring theme is our concerned protagonist revisiting the hotel phone located at the bar which results in a temptation to drink. An updated treatment of this theme could be quite funny.

Some of the dialog is pretty good, and certain situations arise that were certainly worth incorporating into a movie, but the aggregate falls far short of it's potential, even by 1948 standards.

While it may be worth it to sit through to the end, you're more likely to be envisioning the film this could have been, rather than completely enjoying the film this turned out to be.

8

Was the above comment useful to you?

0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Preston Sturges zaniness executed with an Ed Wood flair, 14 January 2002
2/10
Author: lizbass from Portland, Oregon

Awards should be handed out for sitting through this film. The movie attempts to be, and has the look of, a zany romantic comedy, but everything in the production is just a little off. The cast is loaded with incredible actors--with the exception of Guy Madison, the rather wooden leading man--which just goes to show that even the best actors can't save a really lame script. Or maybe a little Guy Madison wore off on them all. You do get the sense that everyone is trying his best, but the directing by William Castle is stagnant and uninspired, the editing (at least on the print I saw) is choppy to the point of being incoherent at times, and the script...well, enough can't be said about that script. The dialogue, supposedly full of witty repartee, thuds. Entire scenes and plot twists seem pointless. At time it feels like something a fifth grade drama class might dream up. Cross Preston Sturges with Ed Wood, and I imagine the result would be something like Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven.

Was the above comment useful to you?

Add another comment

Related Links

Plot summary Ratings Plot keywords
Main details Your user comments Your vote history