Tonight's Movie: Fast and Loose (1939)
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell were frequent costars during the '30s, culminating in their roles as Joel and Garda Sloan in FAST AND LOOSE, a very engaging entry in MGM's short-lived Sloan mystery series, the history of which can be read here.This would be the only time Montgomery and Russell played the Sloans, which is movie fans' loss. Montgomery and Russell work well together and are an appealing couple as rare book dealers who do a bit of amateur sleuthing on the side. Montgomery in particular is winning as Joel Sloan, who is quick-witted and has some smooth moves when dealing with the bad guys. Russell has less to do, but she's a good match for Montgomery.
The supporting cast includes Reginald Owen, Ralph Morgan, Sidney Blackmer, and the great character actor Ian Wolfe, who acted into his 90s. (He has over 270 credits to his name at IMDb. Musical fans know him as Rev. Elcott in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS.)
FAST AND LOOSE was directed by Edwin L. Marin. It was filmed in black and white and runs 80 minutes.
This film is not available on video or DVD but can be seen on TCM. The trailer can be seen here.
Update: Here's a review of FAST COMPANY (1938). The link for FAST AND FURIOUS (1939) is above in the first paragraph, or can be accessed here.
April 2013 Update: The three Joel and Garda Sloan movies are now available on a triple feature DVD from the Warner Archive.
posted by Laura @ 10:17 PM
4 Comments:
I agree with you. Robert Montgomery is one of those actors I've come to fairly late but I adore him so I try to watch everything he's in. F&L was on TCM last week and, as you say, it's terrific. Thanks to TiVo, I can watch it millions of times until I let it get deleted (or not)!
I saved it from my DVR to video so I can watch it over and over. :)
I was really pleased with this movie and especially Montgomery... Sure wish there had been more of these!
Best wishes,
Laura
This sounds like a good movie, but not one I'll get to see :(
I did get from the library the DVD of the one about the brothers who were truck drivers and Ida Lapino. Wow! She was great in this movie and I can sure see where her career really took off because of it.
I'm glad you got to see THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, Irene! Wasn't she good in it?
I would be really thrilled if Warners put out a DVD of this mystery series, although I don't know if they'd think there is a market for it -- 3 mysteries with different actors playing the same characters in each film...
Best wishes,
Laura
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