Watch Tell It to the Judge For Free

Sorry, this movie sucks

Don't Believe the Hype

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Director: NORMAN FOSTER. Screenplay: Nat Perrin. Additional dialogue: Roland Kibbee. Story: Devery Freeman. Photography: Joseph Walker. Film editor: Charles Nelson. Art director: Carl Anderson. Set decorator: William Kiernan. Costumes: Jean Louis. Make-up: Fred Phillips. Hair styles: Helen Hunt. Music composed by Werner R. Heymann, directed by Morris W. Stoloff. Assistant director: Sam Nelson. Sound recording: George Cooper. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Buddy Adler.Copyright 16 November 1949 by Columbia Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: December 1949. U.K. release: 10 April 1950. Australian release: 30 March 1950. 7,920 feet. 88 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Rosalind Russell is the judge-to-be, Robert Cummings her ex-husband who wants her back, Gig Young a playboy type that Russell is successfully using to bait Cummings.COMMENT: Robert Cummings certainly wins his spurs on this one as a "light comedian". Bob mugs, grimaces and pratfalls his way through a lot of frantic action before he finally wins the day (and the lady). If you like Mr Cummings (I don't mind him), you'll doubly enjoy the extra cornball efforts he brings to his role here. If you can't stand Cummings, avoid this film at all costs. You have been warned.Russell and Young do well by the main supporting slots, but it is young Marie McDonald who will attract most attention. Exquisitely costumed, Miss McDonald's only failure - and it's not her fault - is that her role is so intermittent. She keeps popping in and out of the action. We wish she would stay put for longer, before Cummings hustles her into the inevitable clothes closet.Despite some obvious process screen effects, the film is sound technically: The photography's glossy, the music score witty, the sets and costumes appropriately glamorous, whilst Foster's competent if none too subtle direction gets the most out of Perrin's amusing script. In short, this judge found it a most entertaining tale.

Thin comedy rests solely on the appeal of the stars, and Rosalind Russell and Robert Cummings are a very companionable screen-team. She's a smart, sharp, yet somewhat clumsy lady lawyer--being nominated for judgeship--whose career may be hindered by her association with Cummings, the no-goodnik ex-husband still in love with her. Some funny set-pieces (such as Roz's bit involving a lipstick mistake) and a predictably sunny, smooth supporting performance by Gig Young as a dashing Romeo make it tolerable, but the script and characters are really second hand. There's a curious, but ridiculous skiing sequence that serves no purpose (except to make Cummings look foolish) and Norman Foster's direction is balky. ** from ****

The usual misunderstandings and bickering between husband and wife keep things adrift in TELL IT TO THE JUDGE, a comedy that actually sparkles once in awhile but is sometimes too trite to be more than a passable screwball comedy.The most charming sequence involves Russell and Cummings finding themselves on the doorstep of a lighthouse run by CLEM BEAVER and having to stay the night, sleeping apart, with Cummings forced to spend much of the night shooing away the huge dog that takes a liking to him. But most of the time, the comedy gets bogged down in a series of misunderstandings that could easily have been cleared up if somebody told the truth once in awhile.ROSALIND RUSSELL, as the judge trying to protect her reputation, does her usual fine job with a comic flair that has her handling fast dialog with her usual dexterity. But in this case, it's ROBERT CUMMINGS who gets some of the best moments, proving how adept he was as the bumbling kind of man who gets caught up in screwy situations.The breezy script has them fighting throughout before the misunderstandings can be cleared up. MARIE McDONALD and GIG YOUNG are thoroughly wasted in supporting roles, but it doesn't matter because most of the comedy is carried by ROBERT CUMMINGS in one of his best light comedy roles. GIG YOUNG does manage to be amusing in a couple of well played sequences but fortunately had better roles in romantic comedies later on in his career.Passes the time pleasantly enough with some nice chemistry between Russell and Cummings.

This is absolutely my favorite film of Robert Cummings. He's hysterical and lovable in every scene he is in. Bob plays a lawyer who is newly divorced from Rosalind Russell, and is determined to win her back. She on the other hand is determined to become a federal judge and wants nothing to do with him. A typical setup for the divorce-remorse films that came along in the 40s.Then there's Gig Young as the rival for Russell's affection, Clem Bevans as Mr. Roogle (it rhymes with bugle) and Marie McDonald adding a funny twist as the witness who keeps stalking Bob. For the most part, the cast is on top of their game and has some great moments. However, be forewarned, this is not Rosalind Russell's best work by a long shot. Despite the fact that she's given some wonderful performances (Auntie Mame, Trouble With Angels, etc) she's not very strong here and this is one situation where I really think another actress should have been cast. (Too bad Carole Lombard was already gone - she would have been PERFECT.) Some time the twists go a bit too far and get rather tedious on repeat watchings, but this is the screwball genre - it's not supposed to be realistic. It's a fun movie that still makes me laugh no matter how many times I see it. What more can you ask for?