Themes: Cons and Scams, Crisis of Conscience, Assumed Identities
Main Cast: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar, Spring Byington, John Shepperd
Release Year: 1942
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
Plot
Director Rouben Mamoulian completed a three-picture 20th Century Fox deal with this airy comic romance that attempted to ape the story and style of the previous year's The Lady Eve (1941) but without that film's success. While vacationing in Southern California, accountant John Wheeler (Henry Fonda) intends to purchase a boat, a luxury for which he's saved long and hard on his limited income. Maybelle (Spring Byington) and Warren (Laird Cregar), a pair of grifters on the prowl for a mark, overhear John discussing the upcoming transaction and mistake him for a millionaire. They persuade pretty sales clerk Susan Miller (Gene Tierney) to help them dupe John by pretending to be their daughter and fall in love with him. As the couple spends time together, however, Susan really does fall in love with John. She backs out of her agreement with the con artists, tells John the truth, and learns that he's not a man of means. The truth does nothing to diminish their feelings for each other, and the happy couple marries, but Warren and Maybelle are not quite done with Susan yet, and they embark on a scheme to find her a real millionaire. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Considering the talent involved with it, Rings On Her Fingers must rate as a disappointment. What makes matters even worse is that it's also a blatant attempt to feed off the success of an earlier film, the marvelous The Lady Eve. Both films are comedies about grifters after an easy mark and how one of the grifters falls in love with her prey. The difference is that Eve is blessed with heavenly, witty writing and incisive direction from Preston Sturges, whereas Rings is earthbound in its writing and surprisingly clunky in its direction. Rouben Mamoulian, normally an inventive and interesting director, seems unsure what he's doing associated with this movie; Rings lacks the flair that he brings to his films and is helmed in an almost disinterested manner. Like Eve, Rings does have Henry Fonda, and he's quite the best thing in the film. Once again playing an honest, naïve every-day feller, Fonda is immensely likeable throughout and uses his considerable skills to milk laughs out of situations that don't really deserve them. Opposite him, Gene Tierney looks absolutely sensational, but she lacks the distinctive personality that could take a non-descript role and bring it to life. Much better are Spring Byington and Laird Cregar as the cons who devise the scheme to bilk Fonda. They're a great deal of fun, and they and Fonda could almost convince you that Rings is worth watching. Almost. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
