Tonight's Movie: Two Gals and a Guy (1951) at Cinecon

I had a really wonderful time at the 2nd Annual Cinecon "Pop-Up" day on Saturday, March 21st.

The event was held at the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo. The packed schedule included five feature films, one half-hour TV episode, three shorts, a Wurlitzer organ demonstration -- complete with slideshow sing-along! -- and three special guests.

As a side note, it was announced that this year's full-length Cinecon Festival will take place Labor Day weekend. It will run from Thursday, September 3rd, through Monday, September 7th, at the Nuart Theatre.

The first feature film of the Pop-Up Day was a rare 35mm print of TWO GALS AND A GUY (1951). Former child actress Patty McCormack -- famous for THE BAD SEED (1956) -- was in the film and had never seen it before. Having her there to watch it with us was pretty special; she's seen in this photo. TWO GALS AND A GUY was her very first film, and she had zero memory of the experience.

I had never previously heard of TWO GALS AND A GUY. It's so relatively unseen that, as I write this, there isn't a single IMDb review of any type.

It was also the only movie of the day which wasn't good or great, but at the same time, I'm glad I saw it. As I Tweeted afterwards, "Weird film but loved seeing it." Sometimes it's valuable simply to take a deep dive into oddball movies you weren't aware existed.

The plot of this 70-minute film concerns Deke and Della Oliver (Robert Alda and Janis Paige), married musical performers who have a live TV show.

The show's sponsor (Lionel Stander) is threatening to walk away if the Olivers don't sign a new five-year contract, but Della rebels at the commitment. It seems she wants to have a baby and has even been talking to an adoption agency.

Deke sabotages the adoption attempt and an angry Della leaves the show. Deke then spots Sylvia (Paige in a dual role), a blonde lookalike for Della, and tries doing the show with Sylvia pretending to be Della, but Sylvia panics and can't remember her lines... Will Della relent and come to the rescue?

This movie was produced by Weisner Bros. and distributed by Eagle-Lion. It was clearly made on a shoestring budget, looking like the absolute cheapest Lippert Pictures film, such as the same year's Lippert film FINGERPRINTS DON'T LIE (1951). Sets were few, small, and sparsely decorated.

As the movie went on I was honestly surprised that Paige and Alda, reasonably big stars after years at Warner Bros., had agreed to appear in the film. A friend in attendance suggested one or both did it for extra money while working on Broadway, and the circumstantial evidence shows that theory could be correct.

Alda opened in GUYS AND DOLLS on Broadway in November 1950; TWO GALS AND A GUY was filmed at Fox Movietone Studios in New York and released in July 1951. Did Alda make this film concurrently with GUYS AND DOLLS?

For those who are curious, Paige didn't work on Broadway until late 1951, a few years later famously starring in THE PAJAMA GAME.

The same friend said TWO GALS AND A GUY felt like a long Joe McDoakes short, and I thought that was apt; the movie had the same minimalist, off-kilter tone. The entire film felt like the forerunner of a weak TV comedy, while at the same time having a distinct air of unreality.

That said, Janis Paige always shines, and she has a couple pretty funny moments as Yvonne, who can only dance robotically when she panics while on the air. She looks absolutely lovely, and I just wish she'd had more of an opportunity to perform musical numbers. The brief scenes where Della and Deke open and close their show were fun to watch.

Alda, on the other hand, is pretty much just a thoughtless goofball in this, nothing more, nothing less.

As for Patty McCormack, she wasn't even sure if she'd prove to be in the movie, despite being listed by IMDb. We had to wait for the very last scene, but she was most definitely in it, which was great fun. The finale was perhaps the cutest scenes in a wild movie.

The cast also includes James Gleason, Linda Preston, Arnold Stang, Morris Lieb, Rhea Scott, Myrtle Ferguson, and the singing group The Three Suns.

TWO GALS AND A GUY was written by Searle Kramer and directed by Alfred E. Green. It was filmed in black and white by Gerald Hirschfeld.

Viewers looking for a "good" movie won't find it in TWO GALS AND A GUY, but they will find a rather fascinating, bizarre, and strangely educational film I'm glad to have seen. 

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