User Reviews

I watched this on YouTube as a curiosity piece. Being wild about all things Irene Dunne, I wanted to take in her last acting role. At age 63 (and looking about 10 to 15 years younger)she brings all her famous sass and wit to the part of Anita Farrell, a famous actress who has been coaxed out of retirement by Nick Adams' budding playwright. All is smooth sailing until Adams' character is swindled by a con man posing as a producer. When Dennis Morgan, Anita Farrell's manager, foils the plot, the con man wrecks her comeback by revealing that she has terminable cancer--a fact he discovered by purloining her medical records. Miss Dunne's acting genius is displayed during this climatic scene as she goes in one split second from a carefree, born again star to a woman who learns to her shock and horror that she has very little time left to live. The scene is made all the more powerful in so much that there is no dialogue, only Miss Dunne's masterful facial expression. While perhaps not a fitting swan song for Miss Dunne's career, she handles her part with all her trademark sparkle and aplomb. Dennis Morgan, another Hollywood veteran, is also great as Dunne's manager--a man who has loved her for many years and enabled her to escape the slings and arrows of life's misfortunes. Miss Dunne's comments about her retirement are as endearing and wise as the woman herself, "Acting isn't everything, living is. I drifted into acting and drifted back out again." Bravo, Irene! Well done!