Sunday, April 26, 2015

Fast and Furious (1939)



Fast and Furious is a 1939 comedy-mystery directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Franchot Tone and Ann Sothern. In the fashion of The Thin Man's Nick and Nora, Franchot and Ann play Joel and Garda Sloane, a married couple of booksellers who moonlight as private detectives. Franchot and Ann have fantastic chemistry and come off charmingly. 





Franchot Tone and Ann Sothern


















They are equally quick-witted, intelligent, and comical. Garda has been craving a vacation alone with Joel and thinks she's finally getting one. She soon realizes that Joel is using the trip as a cover-up for a secret investment and the chance to ogle young beauties as a beauty pageant judge. Before long, a murder is committed and Joel and Garda must turn their attention to solving a mystery (but there are still many laughs mixed in for fun!)
 


Franchot in a hilarious swimming scene.
























Franchot Tone was gifted at bringing a lightness to his detective/investigative roles and would go on to play several clever private detectives in the 1940s.

The characters of Joel and Garda Sloane shared laughs and solved crimes in three separate movies. Each time, the characters were played by different actors: by Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice in Fast Company (1938); Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Fast and Loose (1939); and Tone and Sothern in Fast and Furious (1939). Warner Archive has released the set as a triple feature DVD. It is available for purchase through:


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