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Simply Perfect

Good movie but grossly overrated

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Lucky Partners has Ronald Colman as a reclusive artist with a dodgy past who wishes Ginger Rogers good luck while she passes him on the street.Rogers gets an expensive dress that is being discarded to a house she visits. She thinks Colman is good luck and they cook up a scheme where they would go halves in some kind of Irish sweepstake's.Rogers wants the money to go on honeymoon with her beau Jack Carson. Colman wants to take Rogers on some kind of platonic honeymoon and he manages to persuade dunderhead Jack that this is a good idea.Of course on their road trip Colman and Rogers find out that they love each other and Colman decides to scarper but ends up getting arrested and it all ends in a courtroom showdown when it is revealed that Colman is a rather famous and notorious painter.Director Lewis Milestone won an Oscar for directing All Quiet on the Western Front, so maybe not someone who you might think would show a deft touch with a romantic comedy and truth to be told he makes heavy going of it.Colman looks too old to be sweeping Rogers off her feet and there is little chemistry between them. The courtroom scenes at the end was just farcical giving the movie a left turn.

Passing her on a street in Greenwich Village prompts gentlemanly artist Ronald Colman (as David Grant) to wish beautiful black-haired Ginger Rogers (as Jean Newton) "good luck" for, as he says, "no particular reason." A few minutes later, Ms. Rogers is gifted with an pretty new dress. She thinks it's because Mr. Colman wished her luck, and proposes they buy a sweepstakes (lottery) ticket together. Despite an age difference, the "Lucky Partners" are attracted to each other, and Rogers agrees to take a honeymoon-style trip with Colman if their ticket wins. This doesn't sit well with Rogers' fiancé Jack Carson (as Freddie Harper). No kidding.**** Lucky Partners (8/2/40) Lewis Milestone ~ Ronald Colman, Ginger Rogers, Jack Carson, Spring Byington

Lucky Partners was the first of two films that Ronald Colman together with director Lewis Milestone signed on to make at RKO Pictures. For box office sake he was lucky to get Ginger Rogers who was their top moneymaking female star to be the leading lady. Though their styles don't quite mesh, it's a pleasant enough bit of viewing.Colman is a reclusive artist and Ginger is a bookseller in Greenwich Village of the Forties, then as now a home and haven for non-conformist spirits. Maybe in another neighborhood a story like this just couldn't happen.Just one fine day as Colman passes Rogers on the street he wishes her a casual 'good luck'. When she gets the gift of an expensive coat that someone is discarding, Ginger decides that Colman apparently has a lucky streak going. What to do, but bet on the Irish Sweepstakes and take him in as a partner. That does not sit too well with fiancée Jack Carson who is playing a typical Jack Carson blowhard type.The whole business arrangement in fact the whole business eventually winds up before Judge Harry Davenport who sorts out the legal and romantic complications for all concerned. Very much like Judge Granville Bates does in My Favorite Wife which also came from RKO the same year and is a much better film.With possibly a different director like Preston Sturges or Mitch Leisen, or Leo McCarey, someone who is known for comedy Lucky Partners might have been a better film. As it is it's pleasant enough viewing for the fans of the leading players, but that's about all you can say for it.

Considering the film starred Ginger and Ronald, I really did expect to enjoy it a lot more than I did. That's because no matter how good the middle of the movie was (and it was SIGNIFICANTLY better), the main plot idea was so fatally flawed and dumb that the film was majorly handicapped at the onset. Then, to top it off, the film managed to have an even worse ending--making it a truly terrible film overall.As far as the plot goes, Ginger and Ronald don't know each other, but when they pass on the street, Ronald wishes her good luck. And, surprisingly, good luck seems to come her way immediately afterwords. So, using "movie logic", Ginger reasons that Ronald is so lucky that they should both buy a lottery ticket together. While this is far-fetched, this COULD have worked. However, then, when Ronald agrees BUT only on the stipulation that if they win, she should accompany him on a vacation, the script just makes no sense at all--especially since she is already engaged to Jack Carson. So, as you can see, from the onset the film is hindered by impossibly stupid and contrived events.Now as I said above, despite these problems, this COULD have still been a delightful film--especially since when they DO go on the trip together, the film is very romantic and likable. HOWEVER, the last 15 minutes or so are absolutely dreadful!!! It was obvious that the writers had no idea what to do with the story, so they contrived the arrest of Ronald Colman and a subsequent trial--even though there isn't any real evidence any crime has been committed. They could have just checked the registration to figure out the car was not stolen, but instead it becomes a HUGE trial and all normal court procedure, as we know it, is out the window!!! Ronald is his own lawyer and asks a lot of annoying questions. This is odd but COULD have happened in a real court case. However, when the judge later lets Ginger take over as the prosecutor and ask Ronald such questions as "do you love me?", the film hits an absolute low as far as common sense goes.Aside from films like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and TOMMY, this is one of the worst films I have seen in some time. Giving it a 3 was VERY charitable and only occurred because the middle of the film DID work well. Avoid this like the plague, as I doubt either Ginger or Ronald made anything worse--and this DOES include THE STORY OF MANKIND! YUCK!!!