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The Perils Of Pauline

1947, Movie, NR, 96 mins

The Perils Of Pauline: Review

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THE PERILS OF PAULINE's producers knew what they were doing when they hired many old-time silent screen comics for this partly fabricated biography of Pearl White, the "Queen of the Serials." Betty Hutton plays the role of White, a young extra who went from $5 a day to stardom and retired happily with a huge fortune in less than a decade. A former circus performer, White went to work as a secretary after hurting her spine falling off a horse, and was later spotted by a producer who cast her in a three-reeler, THE LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL, when the lead actress fell ill. That led to her meeting with Louis Gasnier, who cast her in his "Perils of Pauline serial." This film does a fine job of re-creating many of the silent movie stunts, and the gags are excellent, although the hokum love affair between White and Michael Farrington (John Lund) is only filler between laughs. Director George Marshall went so far as to drag White's original villain, Paul Panzer, out of retirement to reprise his role in this tuneful comedy. Frank Loesser got an Oscar nomination for "I Wish I Didn't Love You So," but Hutton's record of his "Poppa Don't Preach to Me" was an even bigger hit. Fine character acting by Constance Collier and William Demarest round out this infectious combination of laughs and nostalgia. Songs include "Rumble, Rumble, Rumble" "The Sewing Machine" (Loesser), "Poor Pauline" (Raymond Walker, Charles McCarron). leave a comment
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