Tell It to the Judge (1949)

the leading man is my tpye

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Lawyer Rosalind Russell (Marsha) wants to be a judge but there is a committee that is judging her before her appointment. And they are not happy about her recent divorce. Fellow lawyer Bob Cummings (Pete) is her ex-husband who still loves her and wants her back but several misunderstandings concerning witness Marie McDonald (Ginger) in one of his cases makes sure that Roz doesn't feel the same way. It's a screwball comedy so we know the outcome. Roz Russell is a total bitch in this film and Cummings is unrealistically in love with her. The story makes absolutely no sense and will have you groaning every time Cummings bangs his head. When is that ever funny? The answer is never. There are actually a few moments that made me laugh, eg, the alphabet conversation between Roz and suitor Gig Young (Darvac) at a bar when Roz is trying to make Cummings jealous. However, no way would he still be interested in this awful woman. It should be quite clear to her that she has been mistaken and he is doing his job by helping a witness. She's in the same industry as him!Of more interest is the storyline with Marie McDonald which never really takes off. The lasting image I have of the film is the end shot of her in the closet. I have read her profile on IMDB after watching the film and it is way more interesting than the film. She killed herself at age 42 and seems to have crammed in quite a lot before that point. The film is one of those 1940s comedies that you either like or don't like. It proves that comedies are the most difficult genre to carry off and a lot of the humour is dated along with the stereotypical characters of bumbling husband running after wife and total bitch of a wife who wants a career over being a nice human being. Roz needs to sharpen up on her cooking skills - see the fish sequence - and concentrate on pleasing her man.

a nice film. seductive for the flavor of "40. and for Robert Cummings. for naive story and the amusing scenes. and, sure, for the unrealistic script. short, a nice film about a love story not original as duel between him and her but for few scenes who are good chances to remain, for long time, memorable. one of the temptations, at first sigh, could be the presence of Rosalind Russell. unfortunately, only at first sigh. because her performance has two sides - too loud, too bizarre in front with the partner work. but , in essence, it could be perceived as a page of history. this is the key of a charming film about the fight in couple.

Thin comedy rests solely on the appeal of the stars, and Rosalind Russell and Robert Cummings are a very companionable screen-team. She's a smart, sharp, yet somewhat clumsy lady lawyer--being nominated for judgeship--whose career may be hindered by her association with Cummings, the no-goodnik ex-husband still in love with her. Some funny set-pieces (such as Roz's bit involving a lipstick mistake) and a predictably sunny, smooth supporting performance by Gig Young as a dashing Romeo make it tolerable, but the script and characters are really second hand. There's a curious, but ridiculous skiing sequence that serves no purpose (except to make Cummings look foolish) and Norman Foster's direction is balky. ** from ****

Rosalind Russell is the Judge in "Tell it to the Judge," a 1949 film also starring Bob Cummings, Marie McDonald and Gig Young. Russell plays Marsha Meredith, a recently divorced woman up for a judgeship, encouraged in her career by her judge grandfather (Harry Davenport). The ex-husband, however, Pete Webb (Cummings) wants her back. The two are still in love. The divorce was basically a misunderstanding - Webb was working with a beautiful blond witness (McDonald) and Marsha mistook it for something else. Even though it puts her career in jeopardy, Marsha remarries Pete. On their wedding night, her grandfather kidnaps Pete so that Marsha thinks he's up to his old tricks. She then takes off and announces to the press that she's married to someone else, and makes up a name. When Alexander (Gig Young), a man she met previously appears, she has him play the part of her husband.This is a typical screwball comedy centering around the struggle that the independent woman has between being a career person and a wife - and apparently back then, it was one or the other. I thought Russell was fine as Marsha, unlike another reviewer - I've seen her miscast, and I didn't think she was this time - but I agree with another remark the poster made, that Bob Cummings steals the movie. Cummings is thought of as a bland film actor, and perhaps he was. What made him a tremendous television star was his sense of comedy, which he didn't get to use much in films but which was his strength. Here he gets to show it off, and a few years later, he made his mark in television.A fun movie, not earth-shattering, as films were going through a difficult transition. So apparently were women, and in the '40s, they lost the career battle, only to pick it up again a couple of decades later.