Watch A Very Honorable Guy For Free

Sadly Over-hyped

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

"A Very Honorable Guy" is a very dark comedy--and very little in it is all that funny. Still, despite this, it was enjoyable mostly because it was such a strange film and a welcome change of pace for Joe E. Brown.When the film begins, 'Feet' Samuels (Brown) is having a long run of very bad luck. He owes everyone and his life is on the skids. So, because he was so honest, instead of not paying off his bets he comes up with a bizarre solution--to offer his body to any scientist who wants it IF they give him $1000 so he can settle his affairs. In a weird twist, however, suddenly the guy has amazingly good luck- --so much that his life should be terrific. But, he STILL has a contract with Dr. Snitzer--and the local gambling boss has guaranteed that the contract WILL be honored! As I mentioned, this is very dark. But the film was enjoyable and I liked its strangeness. Worth seeing and a bit better than usual for Brown.

Perhaps a bit darker than the typical Joe E. Brown comedy. Here, Brown plays a down-and-out gambler who decides to sell his body to get out of gambling debt and make a clean slate of it. Of course, just before he has to knock himself off to collect from a doctor (who is also courting his girl friend), his luck changes and he is suddenly in the dough. He gets out of the deal through a fairly clever plot twist near the end of the film...one at least I didn't see coming.This is very much Joe E. Brown's film. I can't say much for his girlfriend in the film -- it was about this time that a scandal ruined her career. It was interesting to see "thug" Harold Huber here; a classic character actor who was sadly totally typecast.Although it's a clever concept, the plot is thin. More could have been done with it. Maybe it was just that First National was the poor sister to Warner Brothers. It's okay, and not too long. The print shown on TCM seemed to have a faulty soundtrack, both in terms of some distortion and some places where the moving lips didn't perfectly match the words. Nevertheless, it's fun to watch Joe E. Brown in a Damon Runyon story.

The general impression I have of this movie is that it has a good cast but they are undercut by a script that seems wooden. As actors they either flew through this one without a second thought about it or they knew going in that the script was weak. But they script has fun moments, enough to make this movie watchable, but it certainaly won't be one you will add to your list of favorites. Some minor trivia on this movie, in the scene that shows a gossip column mention of Feet's attempt to sell his body to science, the by-line is by "Waldo Witchem", a sly take-off on real-life columnist Walter Winchell, who was a good friend of Damon Runyan, the man whos story this movie is based on. Winchell's name is mentioned in a few movies based on Runyon's stories. Alice White, who plays love interest Hortense was fresh from a major sex scandal that threatened her career. This movie was a come back attempt. The story, as is the script is light. Feet Samuels is an honest man who loves to gamble. He ends of owing local mob boss, "The Brain" money and decides to sell his body to science to pay off his debt and also to impress his girl with material things. A mad doctor takes him up on the deal and in a month, Feet is to take a pill to end his life. Right after he makes the deal, his luck changes tremendously and he find himself in the predicament of going back on his word to the doctor and also the mob boss who underwrote his deal. Again, this movie won't show up on any favorites list, but there are worse ways to waste an hour than by watching this.

O.K., so this not the best Joe E. Brown vehicle. The script is weak and the laughs few. But it did have some amusing moments, such as the scene in Mindy's, when Robert Barrat pours just about every condiment into his coffee and Alan Dinehart looks on in disbelief. Or the tear gas scene. The capable cast tries hard but apart from a couple of funny scenes, they can do little with inferior material. Still, I thought it was kind of cute. Joe E. Brown fans should enjoy it.