SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

JohnHowardReid Producers: Norman Panama, Melvin Frank. Copyright 7 March 1950 (in notice: 1949) by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 8 April 1950. U.S. release: 5 May 1950. U.K. release: 18 September 1950. Australian release: 1 September 1950. 8,086 feet. 90 minutes.SYNOPSIS: When her father is fired as director of the local zoo, a fast-talking redhead seeks to engage an upcoming lawyer who is running as the reform candidate for mayor.PRINCIPAL MIRACLE: Those lions come mighty close to Mr Powell. Are they extra tame or is he extra brave? Or maybe doubles were used? Or special effects?COMMENT: Unlike some of Panama and Frank's other ventures, this one is consistently amusing as it manages to deftly intertwine three main plots (the zoo dismissal, the mayoral race, the hardcase boy meets oddball girl) plus a few subsidiaries (will poor, downtrodden Marvin get his $10 raise? will the hero's cynical partner see the light of reform? is the newspaperman friend or enemy? will the hero overcome his fear of Herman, the pussycat lion?) and yet also introduce a couple of nice running gags (that monkey is a wonder). With a rich-in-incident script like this, it's hard to go wrong, except maybe in the choice of players. But here everyone is perfectly cast. Powell takes to the lawyer as to the orphan born, Miss Allyson seems a natural chatterbox, while Cecil Kellaway provides a steadying influence and Ray Collins the forked tongue. Produced on a sumptuous budget with all the largesse at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's command, The Reformer and the Redhead, despite its unpromising title, delivers first-rate comedy, both visual and aural,

vincentlynch-moonoi This is a rather pleasant, somewhat typical romantic comedy with some serious overtones. It's rather typical of such films of that period, albeit with the zoo angle a bit unusual.But I'll tell you why it's worth watching: June Allyson. When it comes right down to it, Allyson was a versatile actress. More than once she proved her talents in both drama and comedy, and here she was able to shine with a little bit of both.Dick Powell is the male lead here, and while he was not as accomplished as Allyson, he was pleasant on-screen, as well. I have to admit he seemed a bit tame here; I would have liked to have seen a little more spunk. The character certainly called for it.David Wayne was the best friend here...wasn't he always? Well, almost always. I think Wayne unfortunately got typecast quite often; he was really quite a good actor. Cecil Kellaway plays the zoo keeper and Allyson's father here; he's quite an enjoyable chap to have in a film. One of my favorite character actors is here as a crooked political donor -- Ray Collins; this is not one of his better roles. Robert Keith is good as the friendly newspaper reporter. Marvin Kaplan has a funny turn as an assistant to Powell, although the role he played here was essentially the role he always played. Kathleen Freeman has some really funny scenes here, though only briefly early in the film.If you like romantic comedies of this era, you'll like this film. Nothing special, but very enjoyable.

bkoganbing The Reformer and the Redhead is a poor man's version of a combination of State of the Union and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on a more local level. Dick Powell is an ambitious attorney who was raised in an orphanage and now aspires to be mayor of his small California town. On the campaign trail he meets June Allyson, redheaded daughter of Cecil Kellaway who was fired from his job as zookeeper.Through them he learns some interesting facts about the creation of the zoo and after some research he uses his knowledge to blackjack the local boss, Ray Collins, to support his candidacy. Of course when that comes to the attention of June Allyson it throws a great big shadow on their relationship.My guess is that Mr. and Mrs. Powell got this one because Tracy and Hepburn turned it down. As well they should have because I don't think that even their presence could have made it a classic. Politics has and always will be the art of compromise. Powell has certain goals in mind for his community and he can achieve them with Collins' support. In the real world, Powell's silence should have satisfied all concerned. It's like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in that just why was it so important for James Stewart to have his national boys camp at that location where it was interfering with some pet graft scheme of Edward Arnold. It's the weakness of that film and it's an even more glaring weakness in this film.In a way The Reformer and the Redhead is also a looking glass version of an aspect of All the King's Men. In that one an upright judge who is now the Attorney General of that state through some diligent research by John Ireland is blackmailed by Broderick Crawford and kills himself. Just what is the role of blackmail in our political system.The more serious questions The Reformer and the Redhead raises are smothered over with some comedy concerning June and Cecil's bizarre collection of ailing zoo animals, including a lion named Herman they keep as a house cat. I can't really blame Powell for that, I have a neighbor who has kept an alligator for one for years. I've seen Albert the Alligator from a very discreet distance.The Reformer and the Redhead is good, not great, but entertaining enough in the comedy department. But it leaves more questions unanswered when dealing with the more serious aspects of the film.

maisannes Just another TCM time-passer. June Allyson brings her usual earnest charm to a movie that just didn't have much to it. The essential weakness is that the screenplay cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a "look at all those crazy animals" comedy or a political "the honest man will win" film. When the movie finally makes its decision at the end, it just made me wonder why it spent all that time on the other thread. I've also been fairly suspicious of movies that have more than one credited director. Maybe that played a role here too.The high point for me was the performance of Cecil Kellaway as the father. TCM and IMDb make a great combination for learning about the wonderful character actors of Hollywood history.