The Judge Steps Out *** (1948, Alexander Knox, Ann Sothern, George Tobias, Sharyn Moffett, Florence Bates) – Classic Movie Review 12,403

Alexander Knox stars in the 1948 comedy film The Judge Steps Out as a Boston judge, who leaves his family for adventure, and gets a job as a cook at a roadside diner, where he finds romance with the owner (Ann Sothern). 

Writer-director Boris Ingster’s friendly 1948 RKO Pictures comedy film The Judge Steps Out [Indian Summer] stars Alexander Knox as Boston probate Judge Thomas Bailey, who leaves the hurly-burly of court life and his marriage, and goes off on a road journey, where he meets a café owner called Peggy (Ann Sothern), works as a short-order cook at her California roadside diner, and falls in love with her.

The Judge Steps Out is a cosy, down-home undemanding and sweet fable, well written by the director and the star, and nicely performed, and produced with exactly the required delicacy and precision.

Also in the cast are George Tobias, Sharyn Moffett, Florence Bates, Frieda Inescort, Myrna Dell, Ian Wolfe, H B Warner, Martha Hyer, James Warren, Harry Hayden, Whitford Kane, Anita Sharp-Bolster, William B Davidson, Paul Everton, Elmer Jerome and Carl Faulkner.

The Judge Steps Out was re-titled Indian Summer in the UK.

The film was shot between mid-January and late March 1947, and released in London on 1 February 1948, but its US premiere was held up till 2 June 1949, with its release on 11 June 1949, by which time four cast members, William B Davidson, Paul Everton, Elmer Jerome and Carl Faulkner, had died.

Unsurprisingly with a lack of star power, even after all the careful work, it flopped, losing RKO $650,000.

The Judge Steps Out [Indian Summer] Boris Ingster, runs 92 minutes, is made and released by RKO Pictures, is written by Boris Ingster and Alexander Knox, is shot in black and white by Robert De Grasse, is produced by Michel Kraike, and scored by Leigh Harline and Constantin Bakaleinikoff.

The 1940 classic film noir thriller Stranger on the Third Floor is the director debut of writer and later TV producer Boris Ingster (including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series and the film spinoffs One of Our Spies Is Missing, The Spy in the Green Hat and The Karate Killers). He directed only two more films: The Judge Steps Out (1947) and Southside 1-1000.

The cast are Alexander Knox as Judge Thomas Bailey, Ann Sothern as Peggy, George Tobias as Mike, Sharyn Moffett as Nan, Florence Bates as Chita, Frieda Inescort as Evelyn Bailey, Myrna Dell as Mrs Joan Winthrop, Ian Wolfe as Hector Brown, H B Warner as Chief Justice Hayes, Martha Hyer as Catherine Bailey Struthers III, James Warren as John Struthers III, Whitford Kane as Dr Charles P Boyd, Harry Hayden as Judge Davis, Anita Sharp-Bolster as Martha the Maid, William B Davidson, Paul Everton, Elmer Jerome and Carl Faulkner.

In 1939, Robert De Grasse was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on the Ginger Rogers film Vivacious Lady. He worked on more than 100 films, including Vigil in the Night (1940), The Leopard Man (1943) and The Body Snatcher (1945), and later the TV shows I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,403

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