Double Dynamite (1951)
Directed by Irving Cummings

Film Review

Any film that brings together two icons of the standing of Groucho Marx and Frank Sinatra deserves the title Double Dynamite, although the title was in fact chosen by producer Howard Hughes as a crude marketing ploy, a none-too-subtle reference to the cleavage of its third star, Jane Russell, who was given top billing despite being massively out-shone by her two male co-stars.  Despite its stellar casting, Double Dynamite fails to live up to its potential and represents a comparatively weak entry in the filmographies of both Sinatra and Groucho, although it still has some entertainment value and is far from being a total write-off. With the Marx brothers having bidden farewell to the big screen in Love Happy (1949), Groucho was looking set for a respectable solo career - until he ended up in films such as this.

Predictably, Groucho gets all the best lines, relegating Sinatra to a comedy feed - an arrangement that works out surprisingly well for both actors.  Russell hardly gets a look in and her most obvious assets are hardly exploited at all.  The two musical numbers that somehow got shoehorned into the film are as superfluous as they are crass, but it is still a treat to see Groucho singing alongside Ol' Blue Eyes.  The rambling plot has an irksome tendency to get in the way of the laughs, but despite this and Irving Cummings' limp direction, Double Dynamite delivers quite a few decent laughs and is a moderately satisfying timewaster.

Film Synopsis

Johnny Dalton, a lowly bank employee, is in love with his colleague Mildred Goodhue but he knows that, on his present salary, marriage is out of the question.  One day, Johnny comes to the aid of a racing tout, Hot Horse Harris, saving him from a beating from one of his rivals.  Harris shows his gratitude by giving Johnny one thousand dollars, which he bets on a race.  The bet comes off and Johnny walks away with sixty thousand dollars, only to discover that seventy-five thousand dollars has gone missing at his bank.  Unable to capitalise on his good fortune, Johnny gives his winnings to his friend Emile J. Keck, a waiter with a taste for extravagant living.  Despite his best efforts to conceal the fact that he is now a wealthy man, Johnny soon arouses the attention of the police...