Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The first time this film was made it was 1934 and it was a precode of sorts entitled "Hi Nellie!" with Paul Muni in the role of the demoted newspaper reporter forced to author the paper's lonely hearts column until he can redeem his professional reputation. The idea was novel and anything with Glenda Farrell and Paul Muni is worth watching. The second time it was made it was 1937's "Love is On the Air" with Ronald Reagan as a demoted radio reporter who can't keep his mouth shut concerning his suspicions about a local gangster's involvement in murder. That one is notable as not only Reagan's first credited film appearance, but a starring role for him to boot.The third time around this story is moved back to a newspaper, and this time it is Wayne Morris, workhorse of Warner's B picture unit, in the role as the demoted managing editor. This time his girl Friday (Janis Paige as Kit Williams) is involved with Morris' character from the beginning, so she is always supportive. In the original 1934 film Glenda Farrell plays the female lead, but one that is antagonistic of Muni's character throughout yet helps him just the same. Here the gangster behind all the crime and Morris' character's demotion is played somewhat unpersuasively by Bruce Bennett, who usually played rather oatmealish good guys.I guess what I'm trying to say here is that these three pictures are not perfect replicas of each other, but by 1949 Warner Bros. no longer considers this story A-list material and treats it as such. For the gritty A-list version of this film see 1934's "Hi Nellie". For Ronald Reagan at the very beginning see "Love is On the Air". To see what Warner Brothers could do with this story a third time as far as adapting it to the times - post War America - see this film. Nobody could whip up a batch of celluloid leftovers and make it as palatable as 30's and 40's Warner Brothers.

"Hi, Dolly!", a copy boy screams to the new advice column editor after he is demoted from managing editor. In this remake of the 1934 film "Hi, Nellie!", it is Wayne Morris who gets the insulting nickname. Several years later, June Allyson would change the "Hi" to "Hello" when she greeted a gossip columnist in "The Opposite Sex". So don't confuse these two Dolly's with everybody's favorite matchmaker in a play and musical that featured an explanation point at the end of its title.Morris is supported by Janis Paige as a fellow advice columnist, Alan Hale Sr. as his boss, and Bruce Bennett, James Mitchell and Barbara Bates as the villains. The ever recognizable Charles Lane has a major small role as a nasty landlord that Morris encounters while investigating the murder which gets him demoted. Paige is great in her last film under her Warners contract (before she found Broadway fame in the original "Pajama Game") playing a down-to-earth girl who is less glamorous or earthy than her usual characters. And yes, that is "All My Children's" Palmer Cortlandt as the slimy gangster, even though James Mitchell's voice is not as recognizable as his face is.This is a typical Warner Brothers crime thriller with comic elements. An out of place barber shop quartet number has a nice payoff even if it seems 30 years too late.

I do not know if this would be considered a classic, but it is a nice little film starring Wayne Morris, who by the late 1940's was not seen in too many starring roles in Hollywood. Morris gives a good performance as a newspaper man trying to expose criminal kingpin Bruce Bennett as a murderer. Good pacing, simple script with some fine witty dialogue. I saw this movie during a cold and blustery snowstorm. This is the kind of film that used to grace our late late movies. I sure could use more of this kind of entertainment on tv in the wee hours of morning instead of so many infomercials. Check this one out if it is ever on. It's worth a watch.MM

A police detective bungles a stakeout, resulting in the murder of a key witness against a crime boss (Bruce Bennett). Against the advice of his skittish publisher, a managing editor (blond bruiser Wayne Morris) launches a hard-hitting campaign against police incompetence. When Bennett, escorted by mouthpiece and torpedo, rattles his sabres, the publisher puts Morris on the Bewildered Hearts column as punishment. And lo and behold, that's where the case gets solved.A problem brought by a lovelorn gal, about an incident involving her drunken boyfriend in a mob-owned nightclub, raises red flags. Morris and his sob-sister girlfriend (Janis Paige) start pursuing the story, despite kicks in the shins, threats from guns and almost being run down by a careening black sedan. It turns out that a snapshot taken by the club's roving photographer conceals incriminating evidence....The House Across the Street stays a fairly generic crime programmer, even down to its attempts at comic and romantic relief. Luckily, the story stays reasonably tight, centering on why and where the boyfriend vanished that dimly remembered night. Its biggest puzzle is its title: The House Across the Street refers to the residence being staked out at the movie's beginning; it's no more than the wick that kindles the plot.