''Two Smart People'' is a 1946 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Jules Dassin Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, whe ...

and starring

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

and

John Hodiak John Hodiak ( ; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film. Early life Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and ...

Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. Bi ...

and

Hugo Haas Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1926 and 1962, as well as directing 20 films between 1933 and 1962. Life and career Haas was born in B ...

Plot

Ace Connors (

) is a con man who has half a million dollars in bonds hidden in a cookbook. When he tries to sell a bogus oil investment to Dwight Chadwick (

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

) at a Beverly Hills hotel, Dwight's attractive friend, Ricki Woodner (

), intervenes with a scam of her own. Ace is about to go to prison for his part in the theft of the bonds. He arranges a deal to reduce his sentence by testifying, angering his former partner in crime, Fly Feletti ( Elisha Cook, Jr.). A cop, Bob Simms (

), is assigned to accompany Ace on the train from Los Angeles to New York. The passengers include Ricki, who is falling for Ace and wants to help, and Fly, who wants to keep Ace from making it to New York. Along the way, Ace and Ricki manage to get off the train in New Orleans to enjoy

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...

together. When they do, Ace leaves the book at a costume shop, confident no one will notice it until he returns for it. During a romantic moment around midnight, Ace reveals to Ricki where he's hidden the bonds. Fly makes his move, but Simms is able to beat him to the draw. Ace fears that con artist Ricki has taken it on the lam with his dough, but she turns up, ready to wait for Ace till he's out of

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

Cast

as Ricki Woodner *

as Ace Connors *

as Bob Simms *

as Seïnor Rodriquez, Dept. of Agriculture *

Lenore Ulric Lenore Ulric (born Lenore Ulrich; July 21, 1892 – December 30, 1970) was a star of the Broadway theatre as well as Hollywood films of the silent-film and early sound era. Discovered in 1913 by theater director David Belasco, who would go on t ...

as Maria Ynez, Inn of the 4 Winds * Elisha Cook, Jr. as Fly Feletti *

as Dwight Chadwick *

Vladimir Sokoloff Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian-American character actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, ...

as Monsieur Jacques Dufour * David Cota as Jose *

Clarence Muse Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a film, 1929's ''Hearts in Dixie''. He acted for ...

as Porter

Reception

The film earned $871,000 in the US and Canada and $328,000 elsewhere causing MGM a loss of $252,000.

Critical response

When the film was released the film critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' panned it, writing, "Except for a lively and colorful series of

sequences in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, which are introduced quite late in the picture, ''Two Smart People'' is an otherwise dreadfully boring hodgepodge about love and the confidence racket ... John Hodiak and Lucille Ball are the principals and they are painfully defeated by the script at almost every turn. Lloyd Nolan as the patient sleuth fares a little better, however. But in addition to its pedestrian plot, ''Two Smart People'' also suffers from lack of competent direction."''The New York Times''
film review, February 15, 1947. Accessed: July 13, 2013.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Two Smart People 1946 films 1946 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Film noir Films about con artists Films directed by Jules Dassin Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films