This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Unfunny and unsuspenseful, this comedy-mystery is an almost total dud. The "plot" is based on such a stupid misunderstanding that it could be resolved in about 5 seconds (and eventually does in as much). It has an unusually high-profile cast for such a quickie, low-budget production, but the only part maybe worth seeing is Pert Kelton's "fan dance"; Thelma Todd is wasted in a straight role. *1/2 out of 4.

This early effort of screwball comedy just comes off as strange. There is so much wrong, I should point out it's best point- it is short. Several things make very little sense.Thelma Todd is considered the female lead in this film. Yet Pert Kelton as Fay the Fan Dancer actually gets more of a role and screen time. Pert would become a character actress in other films later and become the first Alice Kramden on the very early Honeymooners on Cavalcade of Stars before Dumont made the Classic 39 episodes. She is actually quite capable in her role here.The plot makes almost no sense. There is a murder in a mansion of the butler, yet the murderer for some unknown reason keeps hanging around the place until he finally gets caught. Thelma Todd and her father only show up halfway into the movie. They just add to the confusion as Steve is observed carrying the attractive young Fay the Fan Dancer (Kelton) on the balcony at the front of the house when Todd (Judy Nelson) arrives. This is after the murder.I guess you could say this one paved the way for better screwball comedies that would come after this one.

"Lightning Strikes Twice" is a dull murder mystery comedy...and, unfortunately, it's not especially funny due to the poorly written dialog. It begins with some apparent murders but a couple of the supposed dead guys are idiot cops who get stuck in the sewers. This bit wasn't funny...and was repeated throughout the film. The rest centers on some confidence men/women and a psychotic murderer...none of which really entertain.So is the film worth seeing? No. But if you must watch it, there are two things you should look for in the movie. First, the two female stars are mildly interesting due to their life outside films. Thelma Todd is famous for her suicide which many think was actually a mob murder and Pert Kelton was the first Alice Kramden on "The Honeymooners" but her career was damaged due to her politics and the Red Scare. Additionally, although this is technically a Post-Code film, I was surprised that the picture showed folks in bed together- -something specifically forbidden by the code. Plus two of them were guys...a definite no-no for this tough code! You know it's bad when I am looking at these sort of things to provide SOME interest.

I found myself hardly laughing at this unfunny comedy that must read funnier than it plays. With a mistaken identity plot, a crazed gunman running loose, two policemen thought murdered and trapped in the sewer system, an inept detective impersonating a butler to get at the murderer and a fan dancer and her husband pretending to be Lyon's fiancée and her father, this had the makings of a really funny movie. If it weren't for Walter Catlett and Pert Kelton, however, the movie would have been a total waste. It's unfortunate that such a fine actor as Ben Lyon took this role, because he seems to have no flair for comedy. He and friend 'Skeets' Gallagher should have had better lines to play against one another, although I'm not sure Lyon could have pulled it off. Thelma Todd, as his fiancée, is very beautiful, but can't act very well. Her father, Jonathan Hale, gives his usual competent performance, although he often looks as if he can't wait to go home. And Laura Hope Crews, as the rich dim-witted aunt who mistakes Kelton for her future niece, tries hard, but can't rise above the material. The problem may have been related to the fact that Todd, Kelton, Gallagher and Chick Chandler had one film to be made to fulfill their contracts with RKO, and this was it.