Main Cast: Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Don McGuire, Howard Freeman
Release Year: 1951
Country: US
Run Time: 80 minutes
Plot
One man's good luck leaves a very bad impression in this comedy. Johnny Dalton (Frank Sinatra) and Mildred Goodhug (Jane Russell) are two tellers working at the same bank who have fallen in love and want to get married. However, neither is making much money, and Johnny doesn't want to set a date until he has some savings in the bank. Emil J. Keck (Groucho Marx), a pal of Johnny's who waits tables at a diner, suggests that it can't be that difficult to "find" some money in a bank, but Johnny prefers to stay on the straight and narrow. However, Johnny enjoys a sudden windfall after he happens upon "Hot Horse" Harris (Nestor Paiva), a racetrack tout being beaten up by ne'er-do-wells, and breaks up the fight. Grateful Harris places a bet on a "can't lose" horse in Johnny's name, and suddenly Johnny is $60,000 richer. But before Johnny and Mildred can enjoy their good fortune, word leaks out that someone has embezzled $70,000 from the bank, and the suddenly prosperous Johnny seems a likely suspect. Double Dynamite was produced under Howard Hughes' supervision at RKO, but bad blood between Hughes and Sinatra led to "Ol' Blue Eyes" receiving third billing for the film's leading role; the film also spent over a year on the shelf before finally hitting theaters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
There's little bang in Double Dynamite, a fairly dull comedy that wastes the talents of its trio of stars. You know there's trouble when you find out that Frank Sinatra and Jane Russell have been cast as bank tellers. With no offense intended to those in the banking profession, there's no way that either of these personalities could ever be believable in these jobs. Sure, they play it meek, but it's totally unbelievable. Sinatra comes off mostly as bored, and Russell is uncomfortable trying to act prim and ordinary. It might have been different if the filmmakers had taken into account the flame that burns within each of these performers; whatever one may think of either's talent, they had a certain something that made them stand out, and if the writers and director had contrasted that with their dull, work-a-day roles, they might have come up with something. Certainly it would have been more interesting than the routine, soggy screenplay that they used instead. Fortunately, Groucho Marx is on hand, ready with enough quips, wisecracks and takes to make the film come momentarily to life whenever he's onscreen. He can't save the film, as the material won't let him, but he does make it watchable. Howard Freeman and Don McGuire also do well as the bank manager who makes things difficult for the stars and as the manager's son, who has his eyes on Russell. And Sinatra sounds good, even if he only sings 2 songs, neither of which are among Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's best efforts. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Filmed prior to From Here to Eternity, the movie involves an innocent bank teller (Sinatra) suspected of embezzling who turns to a sardonic waiter (Groucho Marx) for advice. Although Sinatra has by far the most screen time, he took third billing behind Jane Russell and Groucho Marx. Most of the scenes are devoted to the interactions of Sinatra and Marx, who had just begun televising his radio show You Bet Your Life the year before and was in between his wilder Marx Brothers persona and the more toned-down television Groucho. Both Sinatra and Jane Russell play against type as a shy, timid pair, while Marx portrays a sarcastic waiter who breezily mentors the frightened young couple.
Jane Russell and Groucho Marx each sing a duet with Frank Sinatra written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Marx and Sinatra sing "It's Only Money", and Russell and Sinatra deliver the romantic "Kisses and Tears."
