an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The last review I read at IMDb for this film stated that it starred a "young" June Allyson. Actually, she was 39, seven years older than her co-star, Jack Lemmon, and MUCH too old to play the part of a young heiress fleeing her father. This in a nutshell is what ruins the film (along with it being made into a musical for the 2nd time). Not that she didn't do her best, but that she was simply miscast.Besides, it was foolish to try to recreate a film when the original was already perfect. They had nowhere to go but down. Apparently, Allyson's husband (director of the film) was trying to bank in on what he thought would be a sure thing. The film did indeed make money, but not one person who ever lived thought it was remotely as good as the original. If you haven't see the 1934 version called It Happened One Night, do yourself a favor and watch that one first. There's a very good chance you won't want to bother watching another version once you see how good Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert were. Incidentally, this film was remade into a musical once before during the 1940s, and again was quite inferior to the original. Perhaps Hollywood should learn to leave a good thing alone.

Back in 1934, "It Happened One Night" debuted and was a huge hit. In addition, the film went on to win five Oscars--an unprecedented number at the time. Simply put--it's a classic and one of the best comedies of the 1930s. In a move that defies common sense, some dunderheads decided to remake the film--a dumb idea, that's for sure. It was so famous that any film would pale in comparison. This one certainly pales--because it's also a pretty limp film and isn't even close to the original in any way.The one innovation was to make "You Can't Run Away From It" different was to make it a musical. So why, then, did they pick leads who really weren't good singers. Jack Lemmon was passable--so I assume he might have been dubbed. But despite having appeared in a few musical already, June Allyson was pretty bad. She couldn't sing and she was 100% wrong for the part. Instead of cute and clever like Claudette Colbert in the original, June comes off as whiny and annoying. The cruel fact is that her husband (Dick Powell) directed the film and I can only assume this was THE reason she was chosen.A problem with the film is that too often it's too close to the original. If they had changed a lot of the film, it might have worked. But seeing the various ultra-famous scenes from the original replicated badly made for very tedious viewing. The original film earned a 10 from me--this one gets a 3. My advice? Don't bother with "You Can't Run Away"--just run away instead!

I noticed in a lot of the reviews people have a lot of problems with June Allyson being cast in the Claudette Colbert role of Ellie Andrews as i am a fan of both versions of the movies i have to say i have absolutely no problems with it what so ever. So what if her husband was the director.I liked the teaming of both of June Allyson and Jack Lemmon there chemistry was'nt that bad and the musical numbers were enchanting. June Allyson will always be a favourite of mine with her raspery voice and her charm that comes out a lot in her movies. And Jack Lemmon has that great likable factor like James Stewart. So don't think this movie as a remake but as an affectionate tribute.

Any fool should have known that a remake of "It Happened One Night" would not measure up, but somebody had to prove it. Jack Lemmon and June Allyson don't have anything like the chemistry that Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert had in the original, and Allyson is really miscast as a naive young heiress.Still, I'm glad that "You Can't Run Away From It" is a musical remake, because the songs are fairly good, even if they're not the best ever written by the team of DePaul and Mercer. The title song is as memorable -- and hummable -- as many an overdone pop standard, and all the others are at least pleasant. So things could have been worse.