Susan Slept Here

Powell plays a Hollywood writer (author of 'The Gob and the Geisha'), Reynolds a 17-year-old reform school girl who's supposed to be 'research' for his script on juvenile delinquency. Talk about meeting cute. This started life as a Broadway comedy and remains very theatrical, despite Tashlin's efforts to goose it into life, notably with Susan's dream sequence, a pink and blue affair featuring a sexy spider, a birdcage and a big gold key. Leading noir cameraman Nicholas Musuraca unobtrusively colour codes the characters, the set of Powell's apartment is a cornucopia of early-'50s chic; and Debbie is adept at delivering such lines as her hopeful 'Great additional dialogue, huh?' as she checks out one of her intended's early credits. Incidentally at least 20 seconds go by before Tashlin ventures the first breast joke, something involving an actress with an Oscar clutched to her cleavage.