I was interested to learn that the source for this film was a Broadway play of the
same name. The Night Of January 16th was a play authored by Ayn Rand. To my
viewing eye it certainly looked like all that objectivist philosophy was boiled out
of the script and we are left with a reasonably entertaining B picture from
Paramount.
The plot centers around business executive Nils Asther who is being called to account for 20 million dollars missing from his company books. Among those doing the accounting is Robert Preston who is the heir to the company founder and attends the board meeting in his sailor suit.
Before Asther can account, Ellen Drew his private secretary gets into a jackpot accused of his murder. It's thought by the police that Drew helped out his apartment window. There's still the missing money.
Preston and Drew make our law enforcement machinery look like fools as they escape and avoid recapture. Hats off to Cecil Kellaway for his part as a soused playboy whom they use in their escape. Kellaway is a marvelous drunk.
It's a quick trip to Havana where the two figure out where the embezzled money is located. There's quite a surprise in that also.
Preston and Drew are quite breezy in their leads. A little bit of Preston's most famous role Professor Harold Hill from The Music Man is found in his performance here. That's all to the good.
I'm sure the Broadway play was radically different than this.
The plot centers around business executive Nils Asther who is being called to account for 20 million dollars missing from his company books. Among those doing the accounting is Robert Preston who is the heir to the company founder and attends the board meeting in his sailor suit.
Before Asther can account, Ellen Drew his private secretary gets into a jackpot accused of his murder. It's thought by the police that Drew helped out his apartment window. There's still the missing money.
Preston and Drew make our law enforcement machinery look like fools as they escape and avoid recapture. Hats off to Cecil Kellaway for his part as a soused playboy whom they use in their escape. Kellaway is a marvelous drunk.
It's a quick trip to Havana where the two figure out where the embezzled money is located. There's quite a surprise in that also.
Preston and Drew are quite breezy in their leads. A little bit of Preston's most famous role Professor Harold Hill from The Music Man is found in his performance here. That's all to the good.
I'm sure the Broadway play was radically different than this.