Mr. Lucky (1943)
Directed by H.C. Potter

Film Review

One of the most enjoyable and slickest of Cary Grant's war-time comedies, Mr Lucky was also a personal favourite of Grant, and it is not hard to see why.  For once, the actor is given a part that is in perfect alignment with his familiar smooth screen persona and which has sufficient depth to allow him to flex his acting muscles and turn in a respectable character performance.  This is Grant almost playing himself, oozing charm through every pore, but constantly you have to ask yourself: is he sincere or is he just faking it?  The talented Mr Grant keeps us guessing right up until the end of the final reel, which is cruel and tender in equal measure.

A charismatic and sensitive performer, Laraine Day is well-equipped to play opposite Grant in a role that subtly echoes that of Joan Fontaine in Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941), in which Grant takes on another ambiguous role (a potential murderer).  The inner journey that Day's Dorothy takes in the course of the film mirrors that of Grant's Joe - as Dorothy learns to trust Joe, so Joe gradually makes the transition from hoodlum to hero.  The company that Joe keeps - thugs played with thuggish élan by Charles Bickford and Paul Stewart - is a constant reminder of where Joe comes from, whilst the virtuous Dorothy represents what he has the potential to become, someone who serves mankind rather than exploits it for personal gain.  The wartime propaganda subtext is hardly subtle but it is effectively rendered through some smart screenwriting and truthful performances.  Mr Lucky offers everything you can expect from a Cary Grant film, and more.  In what other film do we get to see a major Hollywood star take lessons in knitting? After the war, H.C. Potter would direct Grant in another good-natured comedy, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

Film Synopsis

Small-time swindler Joe Adams avoids being called up to join the army in WWII by taking the identity of one of his henchmen, Joe Bascopolous, who is unfit for active service.  Joe needs to raise cash urgently so that he can set up a gambling ship and he hits on the idea of offering a gambling concession to a war relief charity.  The charity is desperate to raise money for medical supplies and Joe's offer is like manna from heaven, but one of the women running the organisation, Dorothy Bryant, is suspicious of Joe's motives.  Joe finally manages to convince Dorothy of his good intentions, but is he really as good as his word...?