Instant Favorite.

Best movie ever!

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I was interested in seeing this after just reading and reviewing the novel on Amazon. A pretty good adaptation, containing scenes and dialogue lifted directly from Huggins' novel. The story has been speeded up and abbreviated, and some of the names have been changed, but if you liked the novel you'll like the movie. Probably one of a million in 1948, but well worth watching for now because of Franchot Tone, the smarty pants Glenda Farrell (The Mystery Of The Wax Museum, Torchy Blaine), and early roles by Raymond Burr (Perry Mason), John Ireland (any number of John Wayne movies).and the prolific character actor Arthur Space. This convoluted movie and the novel were written by the great Roy Huggins (The Fugitive, Rockford Files, and 77 Sunset Strip, which was based on this movie and his novel), and directed by S. Sylvan Simon who died at age forty-two soon after this was released. For those who want to look up the novel, the ending is identical. Enjoy, enjoy.

A wealthy man hires a detective to investigate his wife's past. The detective (Franchot Tone) discovers that the wife had been a dancer and left her home town with an actor. The latter is killed before he can talk, but, with the help of a showgirl, the detective learns that the wife had used stolen papers from a girl friend to enter college after she had stolen $40,000 from the night club where she worked. The detective eventually learns that the husband had killed his wife when he discovered her past in order to avoid a scandal, and had hired the detective to try and frame him for the killing.To me the measure of a good film is one that engages you from frame one.This one not so much. It's slow and plodding. OK if you have nothing else to do, but you might find your mind wandering.

I love film noir and it is among my favorite genres. So, when I had a chance to see "I Love Trouble", it's not surprising I'd watch it. And I am very glad I saw it and I am close to giving the film an 8.The film begins with a private detective following a man's wife. This confused me, as seeing Franchot Tone playing the detective seemed odd. He wasn't exactly the hard-boiled detective sort and his role seemed more like something for Robert Mitchum or even Dick Powell. Now I am NOT saying Tone was bad here--but he physically seemed a little too scrawny for such a role and wasn't quite tough enough to carry it off (like, say, Humphrey Bogart). The reason he's following the lady is that the husband says he thinks she's in trouble--but what sort he isn't certain. And, as Tone follows the clues, he learns that she had an entirely different life in an entirely different town. But, there is MUCH more to the plot than this--and, confusing as it sometimes gets, it's pretty good. The only major problem I had was the need for some exposition by one of the characters near the end to explain the plot--and this is just sloppy writing. But, the film had a nice noir atmosphere, snappy dialog and a fair share of killings and beatings to make it a good representation of this style of film. Worth seeing.Oh, and by the way, you can watch or copy this public domain film for free--just follow the link from IMDb.

A new print of "I Love Trouble" was just screened last night (1/31/07) at Noir City 5, San Francisco's noted film noir festival. (http://noircity.com)In short, it was amazing. Roy Huggins was very heavily influenced by Dashiell Hammett, but let me tell you he could go toe to toe with the best Hammett had to offer. Every scene was filled with killer lines, right up to the last line of the film (Girl who wants to kiss the protagonist: "I didn't know there'd be a line." Girl who's kissing him: "Honey, this is the end of the line.") Franchot Tone is perfect as the suave but funny private dick who always has a wisecrack, thinks on his feet, and one heck of a set of...nerves.This is a must-see for any film noir aficionado. Alas, it's not yet on DVD and was never on VHS; if you see it coming on cable, Tivo it, tape it, miss work, skip your vacation, stand up your date, do what it takes as long as you DON'T MISS THIS GEM.JL