Review of Slightly Honorable (1939) by Steve M — 07 May 2007

Webb and Sampson (O'Brien and Crawford), a pair of rougish attorneys, set their sights on improving the bidding process in state-funded road construction... for the good of democracy, the people, and the $100,000 fee they will collect if their efforts are successful. However, a corrupt political boss (Arnold) doesn't want to see his power weakened, and the pair are soon subjected to threats. The ante is upped big time when Webb is framed for two different murders.

"Slightly Honorable" is a comedy/mystery that features a snappy script that manages to keep just the right balance of humor and drama as it unfolds with a lightning pace. It runs by so fast that the viewer almost doesn't have time to realize that the mystery part of the movie is rather poorly done, even if viewed as a spoof. However, the comedy side of things is so good that this hardly even matters anyway.

Highlights of the film is the snappy dialogue that sees the stars O'Brien, Crawford, and Terry talking a mile a minute and delivering joke after joke, and the performance by Terry as "Puss", a bubbleheaded young nightclub dancer who developes a crush on Webb and lets us see that in some respects, he is more than just [i]slighly[/i] honorable.

"Slightly Honorable" is another one of those movies that doesn't deserve the obscurity that history has relegated it to. Although the film sort of falls apart at the end--not only do the filmmakers do a rather hamfisted job of letting the audience in on who's framing Webb, but the motivations of some of the characters that come to light are groan-inducing--it is mostly a fun, well-executed tale. It reminded me of many of Will Eisner's "The Spirit" tales, both in pacing and execution. Webb, Sampson, the young dancer, and the corrupt officials all are just like some of Eisner's characters (For those of you familiar with "The Spirit" know that I am paying this movie a high compliment with that comparison.).

(Speaking of obscurity, Ruth Terry is a gorgeous, energetic actress whose movie career never quite seemed to take off, and by the early 1960s, she had retired. I wonder what happened; she was both cute and funny, and she seemed to have a lot more talent than actresses that kept getting starring roles.).

Slightly Honorable.

Starring: Pat O'Brien, Broderick Crawford, Ruth Terry, Edward Arnold, Claire Dodd, and Eve Arden.

Director: Tay Garnett.