Chasing Trouble

Frankie Darro is the delivery boy for florist George Cleveland. Mantan Moreland drives the panel truck. Darro is studying graphology, which he talks about constantly to everyone's annoyance, including mine. He tries to find a boyfriend for Marjorie Renolds, which gets him in trouble with Cleveland. What they don't know is that Cleveland is part of a ring of spies trying to grab a top-secret bomb sight. Darro thinks he's working for a G0man in tracking down the spies. Moreland is confused and skeptic.

It's another of the innumerable short features that Darro and Moreland maade together as a comedy team for Monogram. Their characters were much the same in all of them, although usually Darro's mania was to be a detective. Their timing is pretty good, but the script is weak, and Moreland doesn't do any of his classic stage routines with Darro.

It behooves one to watch movies we stumble upon only by chance, and movies we've never heard of before. Whether good or bad, the viewing experience is at least likely to be an interesting one. This 1940 picture is definitely that at the outset, as within the first five minutes the writing inadvertently expresses toxic masculinity and white privilege. Gratifyingly, even early on it also shows itself to bear no small measure of wit as delivery boy Jimmy latches onto some questionable doodad of pop science (in this case, the debunked hokum of graphology) and thinks it's some great revelation, subsequently endeavors to play the part of a matchmaker, and gets involved in further shenanigans thereafter. I don't think this is perfect or essential; the plot seems a tad unwieldy and unsteady, especially at the steady clip the film maintains like no few of its contemporaries, and I'm not sold on how Mantan Moreland's sole black character is written. Howard Bretherton's direction also seems too brusque for its own good. Still, 'Chasing trouble' wants only to entertain, and in one measure or another it quite ably does just that.

Bretherton's direction is imperfect, and Mary McCarthy's screenplay unpolished with a lot of corners being cut (especially in the back end), but the foundation is solid and ripe for an earnest thriller, possibly film noir, or in this case a thriller-comedy. There's nothing about the feature that's specifically striking or grabbing; the tone is light and passive, and when all is said and done this doesn't leave a major impression. Jimmy as a character is flush with high energy and misguided spunk, and Frankie Darro wholly embraces that vigor in his performance; Susie, as the primary female supporting character, falls prey to all too common tropes in that capacity, but still bears some pluck of her own, and Marjorie Reynolds brings just the right blend of personality in her acting. And so on, and so on. The story is fine in and of itself, and the scene writing and plot development do the best they can to help keep the proceedings level. Though less remarkable, I appreciate the work that went into the sets, costume design, cinematography, and all other facets of the production. Broadly speaking the flick falls into that category of fare from the 30s and 40s that's serviceable but a smidgen bland, yet even at that it's arguably a small cut above some of its brethren.

It's lightweight and less than absolutely compelling, overly and naively enthusiastic about cultural institutions like cops or the Boy Scouts, and is marked with little indelicacies that haven't necessarily aged well (e.g., a passing line of casual jingoism as a character orders a drink). One should also know full well in advance that Carl Pierson's editing leaves a lot to be desired. Nonetheless the title remains enjoyable, and is duly well made despite being decidedly rough around the edges. A bit of comedy, some thriller vibes, a tinge of action or general urgency to punctuate certain beats: 'Chasing trouble' is no revelation, but there's no rule that says every piece needs to be, and all told I think this is good enough just as it is. Don't go out of your way for it, and be aware of its faults and weaknesses, but if you have the chance to watch this this a suitably fun way to pass an hour.

Flower deliverer Frankie Darro (as Jimmy O'Brien) has two hobbies. First, he fancies himself a "graphologist" - that means Mr. Darro can determine what kid of a person you are by examining your handwriting. Second, Darro likes to play matchmaker when he meets an attractive single woman. His driver, wide-eyed Mantan Moreland (as Thomas Jefferson), calls Darro "Mr. Cupid". When Darro delivers some flowers to pretty Marjorie Reynolds (as Susie Carey), she rejects them...

Darro has determined Ms. Reynolds' suitor to be a pansy. That is explained when we learn the lonely Reynolds has been sending flowers to herself. For reasons left unexplained, Darro shows no sexual interest in Reynolds, and tries to set her up with a suitable mate. Alas, the man Darro picks turns out to be a shady character. Everyone is "Chasing Trouble". The plot leads to murder. Future "Gunsmoke" TV doctor Milburn Stone (as Pat Callahan) has a supporting role.

*** Chasing Trouble (1/30/40) Howard Bretherton ~ Frankie Darro, Marjorie Reynolds, Mantan Moreland, Milburn Stone

This is a vehicle for the diminutive Frankie Darro--and that alone says a lot. That's because although Darro had been somewhat of a star in the early to mid-1930s, by 1940 he was pretty much a has-been. Through no fault of his own, he aged and taste changed--so Darro was forced to appear in smaller and smaller pictures for lower and lower quality studios. This film, made by Poverty Row studio, Monogram, is quite a bit removed from Darro's starring days with Warner Brothers and Paramount and the quality of this script is pretty poor. On hand to provide a bit of comic relief is Mantan Moreland in his pre-Charlie Chan days. While Moreland has a few good lines, mostly he just seemed lost here and the film limped to a silly action finale.

Darro and Moreland are delivery men for a florist. Despite having this job, however, Darro seems to spend all his time studying graphology--in other words, handwriting analysis. But, like in all bad movies, he's not just interested but 100% obsessed--to such a degree that realism has been chucked out the window. And, in another nod to the anti-realistic approach of this film, Darro manages to get tangled up in a web of spies!! Really. And it's up to these two incredibly dumb nincompoops to save America--God help us!

What can I say? The plot was dumb, the dialog ridiculous and the film pretty tough going from start to finish. It's watchable for old B-movie fans like myself, but anyone else would find this tough going. Plus, it's not bad enough to be funny or enjoyable.

By the way, Darro and Moreland actually made seven pictures like this for Monogram. Although the characters names differed, the plots were essentially of the same type-starting with "Irish Luck" and ending with "Going Collegiate" only two years later