Fast and Loose *** (1939, Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Morgan, Reginald Owen) – Classic Movie Review 12,620

MGM’s frothy and fun 1939 black and white comedy thriller film Fast and Loose stars Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell as married sleuths. 

Director Edwin L Marin’s frothy and fun 1939 MGM black and white comedy thriller film Fast and Loose stars Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell as married sleuths, along with Ralph Morgan and Reginald Owen.

Fast and Loose is an entertaining second Thin Man-style whodunit (after the 1938 Fast Company) in the Fast series, with the detective and his wife, Joel and Garda Sloane. Luckily they are book worms when they are not sleuthing, so they easily discover what has happened to a vanished Shakespearean document to solve a murder.

Different stars this time in Montgomery and Russell beef up the cast with ideally judged performances in another well-made and amusing, fast-paced, frothy caper picture.

John Hubbard was billed as Anthony Allan.

The screenplay by Harry Kurnitz is based on Harry Kurnitz’s novel, writing as Marco Page.

Sequel: Fast and Furious.

The 1938 film Fast Company with Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice became a sort of brief series, each with different stars in the leads: Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Fast and Loose; Franchot Tone and Ann Sothern in Fast and Furious (1939).

The cast are Robert Montgomery as Joel Sloane, Rosalind Russell as Garda Sloane, Reginald Owen as Vincent Charlton, Ralph Morgan as Nick Torrent, Etienne Girardot as Christopher Oates, Alan Dinehart as David Hilliard, Jo Ann Sayers as Christine Torrent, Joan Marsh as Bobby Neville, John Hubbard as Phil Sergeant, Tom Collins as Gerald Torrent, Sidney Blackmer as Lucky Nolan, Donald Douglas as Inspector Forbes, Ian Wolfe as Mr Wilkes, Mary Forbes as Mrs Torrent, and Leonard Carey as butler Craddock.

Distributed by Loew’s Inc.

Release date: February 17, 1939.

Running time: 80 minutes.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,620

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com