Double Dynamite (1951)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Irving Cummings

Writers:

Harry Crane (additional dialogue)
Mannie Manheim (characters)
(more)

Release Date:

25 December 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

The Place Is Exploding With Laughter !

Plot:

An innocent bank teller, suspected of embezzlement, is aided by an eccentric, wisecracking waiter.

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Beautiful Woman | Betting | Christmas

Cast

Jane Russell	...	Mildred 'Mibs' Goodhue
Groucho Marx	...	Emile J. Keck
Frank Sinatra	...	Johnny Dalton
Don McGuire	...	R.B. 'Bob' Pulsifer Jr.
Howard Freeman	...	R.B. Pulsifer Sr.
Nestor Paiva	...	'Hot Horse' Harris, the Bookie
Frank Orth	...	Mr. Kofer
Harry Hayden	...	J.L. McKissack
William Edmunds	...	Mr. Baganucci
Russell Thorson	...	IRS Tailman (as Russ Thorson)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Aldrich	...	Policeman (uncredited)
William Bailey	...	Bank Guard (uncredited)
Benny Burt	...	Nick, Waiter (uncredited)
George Chandler	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Pierre - the Chef (uncredited)
Charles Coleman	...	Second Santa Claus (uncredited)
Hal K. Dawson	...	Mr. Hartman (uncredited)
Jean De Briac	...	Henri - the Maitre D' (uncredited)
Dickie Derrel	...	Boy (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Frankie Boy (uncredited)
Helen Dickson	...	Bank Teller (uncredited)
Claire Du Brey	...	Shirt Shop Manager (uncredited)
Bill Erwin	...	Man (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Man (uncredited)
Harold Goodwin	...	Police Lieutenant (uncredited)
Dick Gordon	...	Man (uncredited)
Jack Jahries	...	Man (uncredited)
Virgil Johanson	...	Santa Claus (uncredited)
Kermit Kegley	...	Goon (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Man in Bookie Parlor (uncredited)
Harry Kingston	...	Goon (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Man (uncredited)
Tom London	...	Grinning Police Patrol Driver (uncredited)
Ida Moore	...	Sewing Room Supervisor (uncredited)
Al Murphy	...	Waiter (uncredited)
James Nolan	...	Detective (uncredited)
Lou Nova	...	Max, Hood in Santa Claus Suit (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	...	Man (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Detective (uncredited)
Charles Regan	...	Man (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Customer Outside Bank (uncredited)
Harry Seymour	...	Rosenthal, Police Dispatcher (uncredited)
Billy Snyder	...	Wire Service Man (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Sam, Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Lillian West	...	Hotel Maid (uncredited)

Directed by
Irving Cummings

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Harry Crane		additional dialogue
Mannie Manheim		characters
Leo Rosten		story
Melville Shavelson		screenplay

Produced by
Irving Cummings Jr.	....	producer
Irwin Allen	....	co-producer (uncredited)
Irwin Allen	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Leigh Harline

Cinematography by
Robert De Grasse		(director of photography) (as Robert de Grasse)

Film Editing by
Harry Marker

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino
Feild M. Gray

Set Decoration by
Harley Miller
Darrell Silvera

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Lane	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Phil Brigandi	....	sound
Clem Portman	....	sound

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• RKO Home Video (video)

Also Known As:

It's Only Money

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The police report on Johnny says he "resembles Frank Sinatra".

Quotes:

Mildred 'Mibs' Goodhug: I'm even willing to marry you.
R.B. 'Bob' Pulsifer Jr.: Marry? You can't threaten me. Hello, operator? Get me the police right away!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dynamite Chicken (1972)

Soundtrack:

Stone Walls

What to Look For

The post - Marx Brothers films of Groucho are somewhat astounding because of their mediocrity or worse. Groucho appeared in the late 1940s in four films: COPACABANA, DOUBLE DYNAMITE, A GIRL IN EVERY PORT, MR. MUSIC. He would subsequently appear alone in WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER, and finally made SKIDOO. None of these have the values of the best Marx Brother films, and yet they had pretty good casts in most of them: Carmen Miranda, Frank Sinatra and Jane Russell, William Bendix, Bing Crosby, Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield, Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing. Some of the directors were interesting: Frank Tashlin in ROCK HUNTER and Otto Preminger in SKIDOO (even Richard Haydn in MR. MUSIC). But the films rarely have much going for them. Not that the two Marx Brother films of this period (LOVE HAPPY and THE STORY OF MANKIND) were anything to write home about.

I tend to think that Groucho, wealthy and middle aged, was no longer really interested in proving anything in movies. His energies concentrated wonderfully on the radio and then television quiz show YOU BET YOUR LIFE. And he was right - his stardom remained high as a result. For that matter neither Harpo or Chico really needed to prove anything about their talents either. LOVE HAPPY was shot because (like A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA) Chico had some money troubles tied to his gambling. But Harpo and Groucho forced Chico to curtail some of his spending habits. From the point of making movies to impress none of them needed it.

So I suspect Groucho was less than really choosy in picking his films. He definitely lucked out in DOUBLE DYNAMITE by having a film with Frank Sinatra and Jane Russell. Both had followings (Sinatra's first following peaking in 1948; Russell being notorious for THE OUTLAW). But the story is a rather weak one. Sinatra is a clerk in a business owned by Howard Freeman. He manages to save Nestor Paiva's life, and the grateful bookie puts money down for Sinatra on a sure-thing horse that wins big. Now Sinatra has money to burn, but just then there is an audit of the books, and Freeman discovers a huge discrepancy. So Sinatra becomes his chief suspect for embezzlement.

Sinatra's problems are that he can't prove Paiva has repaid like this, and even if he could Freeman tends not to believe him. His only allies are his girlfriend and fellow worker Russell, and his closest friend Groucho (as Emil J. Ketch, a philosophical waiter with some biting wit). In the plot of the film, Groucho tries to help Sinatra by trying to get information from Freeman that may lead to the actual embezzler. This leads to the best portions of the film.

I have commented on Howard Freeman elsewhere on this board. A gifted character actor, he is unjustly forgotten today. He was capable of dramatic performances (he was a memorable Himmler in HITLER'S MADMAN, and he was the crooked landlord of the fleabag hotel that Alan Ladd used in THE BLUE DAHLIA), and he was equally good in comedy (he is the wealthy sausage manufacturer who is convinced by an intruding Stewart Grainger not to marry the devious Eleanor Parker in SCARAMOUCHE). He was also one of the few character actors who ever had a chance to reverse a dramatic performance into a comic gem, when he took his self-centered, fatuous Himmler and used it as a nice guy mistaken for a Himmler in a CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU? episode. With his abilities he was a first rate foil for Groucho.

Freeman's Mr. Pulsifer is not fully prepared to prosecute Sinatra, but he certainly makes Sinatra aware of his peril. So Emil decides that he has to get to know Pulsifer and pry out of him various information about other potential suspects (such as Pulsifer's son). How to do this? Well Pulsifer has not met Emil as a waiter, so Emil dresses up as a wealthy potential business investor. Sinatra is footing the bill for Emil's luxury rooms at a hotel, and his wining and dining Freeman. Of course, the fatuous Freeman does fall for it. Here's the type of man he wants to associate with: a real man of the world. While Groucho spins the most outlandish lies, Freeman readily, greedily swallows them. The scenes between them are quite good.

Groucho does recite "Gather ye rosebuds" at one point, and he has a nice duet with Sinatra. So there are positive points in the film. Ms Russell does the best she can but her lines are not memorable (the title's double entendre is the limit of wit regarding her role). It is a pleasant film, at times almost rising with Groucho and Freeman, but it is not up to the best work Groucho ever did.