Saddle sore
John Lazar | 08/25/2008
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Give Ginger Rogers and Jack Carson a lot of credit for trying to make the inferior material they've been saddled with here seem funnier than it actually is. But talented performers can only coast so long on integrity and good intentions before it becomes apparent that there's nothing particularly amusing or interesting about this uninspired comedy-mystery. It's dispiriting to see this pair get suffocated by the film's lackluster script and direction. Among the squandered assets, the reliable Joan Davis is wasted in a minor supporting role as Ginger's gal pal.
Carson is perfectly cast as an affable windbag and teaming him with Ginger's pragmatic character should have been a winning combination. If only they had been given a vehicle worthy of their abilities. Instead, we get a series of silly comedy scenes, with a lackluster murder-mystery plot tossed in. Even the climactic sequence involving a runaway airplane falls flat.
The print quality of this Alpha Video disc is mediocre at best, which no doubt impacted my unenthused assessment. However, even a pristine, digitally-restored copy wouldn't have altered my opinion ... it would have made things easier on the eyes, but not on the funny bone.
My advice is to take a pass on this one, even if you're a fan of these stars. There are other, superior Ginger Rogers comedies available -- for instance, check out THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1941). As for Jack Carson, let's hope that his hilarious slapstick farce THE GOOD HUMOR MAN (1950) gets released on DVD in the near future.
"
Even the Great Ginger Rogers Can't Save This One
"Tee" | LA | 09/30/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"THE GROOM WORE SPURS was for decades one of Ginger Rogers' most obscure movies. Ginger herself frequently mentioned it as one of her worst. Little seen since it's original release, in the last decade however it apparently has gone into public domain (it was an independent production theatrically released by Universal) and as a result has shown up in cheapie DVD issues by several companies. I own the Alpha release, the print quality of which is good but not great. Seeing the film at long last, one can confirm Ginger Rogers was indeed correct.
This is a silly, wafer-thin comedy about a cowboy movie star who doesn't like horses (Jack Carson) and his entanglement with a lady lawyer (Ginger) whom he marries on impulse in Las Vegas. Things get off to a bad start with an awful title song. There are occasionally some good laughs but much of the script and certainly the direction and editing leave a lot to be desired. The direction is quite bad with many wider shots with virtually no closeups or reaction shots edited in to them, rather inexplicable given director Richard Whorf had previously directed the well-regarded TIL CLOUDS ROLL BY and CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR and would later helm several excellent episodes of TV'S THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.The film turns into a lame murder mystery the last fifteen minutes of the film complete with an absurd resolution.
One suspects Ginger was initially attracted to the script for a chance to play sharp lawyer, certainly a change of pace for her. At age 40 she evokes a mature glamour and is still quite a looker but she and Carson are mismatched, never seeming genuinely attracted to each other, but then the script doesn't help make their "romance" seem credible either.
Joan Davis as Ginger's pal is as usual sometimes funny, sometimes working too hard to be funny. Of note the unbilled young actor playing Joan's alarm-clocking fixing beau is Ross Hunter, a failed heartthrob of 1940's "B" movies in his last acting gig just before he launched an extremely successful career as a film producer."