dougdoepke Mild comedy played in straight fashion by fine cast. The plot's rather contemporary in its concern for wild animals and exposing political skullduggery. And, by golly, Allyson's headstrong zoo keeper is going to take down crooked politician (Collins) before he does more to glorify trophy hunting. Trouble is her potential ally, the politically ambitious Powell, can't seem to decide which side he's on. Maybe Herman the lion can help him decide. He certainly has Powell clambering over the furniture in acrobatic fashion. Then too, Allyson's winning ways are hard for any guy to ignore, even if the actress allowed herself to be deglamorized.Real life husband and wife, P&A, get center stage, while Wayne gets the many snappy throwaway lines, along with an amusingly bookish Marvin Kaplan. Also look for cult figure Tor Johnson as the mountainous Finnlander next to Powell in that well-crafted scene. Expert writers Panama and Frank come up with a witty script that's mostly amusing, but it's clear they have the two serious targets in mind, even if the animal scenes are likely the movie highlights. Though there's the physical comedy, neither direction nor editing goes for bouncy type humor, relying instead on script and situation for the chuckles. Nonetheless, I love it when Wayne wonders what Powell sees in the shapely Allyson, and Powell archly replies there's "a couple of reasons". Of course, this was back in the day when such innuendo was cutting edge.Anyway, it's a consistently amusing 90-minutes thanks to shrewd MGM craftsmanship. Then too, a special award should go to the kings of the jungle who perform brilliantly. I just wonder what the sets were like during filming. Also, a special nod to P&A who don't mind getting upstaged or sharing the spotlight. True professionals.

drednm Pleasant little comedy about politics with Dick Powell the reformer and June Allyson the spunky redhead. He's running for mayor and ties in with the crooked Ray Collins until he uncovers some dirt about him and exposes him. She's the daughter of a zoo director (Cecil Kellaway) who gets fired for crossing Collins. Not quite a screwball comedy since the politics angle anchors this one in a sense of reality.Allyson and Powell are terrific together, with an easy-going charm and banter that probably reflects their married life together. Also on the plus side are funny supporting turns by David Wayne and Marvin Kaplan (who's still with us) as Powell's office associates. Robert Keith plays a gruff reporter, and the always-watchable Kathleen Freeman has a cat fight scene with Allyson. In bits, Mae Clarke as a cashier and John Hamilton as the police captain.Oh and the animals are good too.

Draconis Blackthorne A small-town Politician falls for a tom-boyish redhead {sporting a very Rosemary's Baby hairdo}, who just so happens to help run a zoo out in the countryside. He meets "Herman", a lovably affable lion whom he is initially terrified of, which sends him literally up a wall, until he eventually gets used to the whole likable menagerie and falls in love. She whole-heartedly supports her man, gathering up all the local orphans to support the party's cause, which eventually takes him to international travels, at one point forgetting where he was at, which leads to an embarrassing yet most amusing scene, with relief in the end.Unfortunately their love becomes tainted when a despicable plan is revealed by a drunken co-worker, and his public standing is threatened with ill-repute. She is obviously hurt by this betrayal, yet his honesty leads to reconciliation, while right around the same time, another lion escapes from the zoo - that 'ol man eater Caesar, who the poor man believes is actually mild-mannered Herman, which displays another one of the more entertaining scenes when he manages to get the lion into the car. He gets his girl, she gets her man, and all is well in the humanimal kingdom.

maisannes Just another TCM time-passer. June Allyson brings her usual earnest charm to a movie that just didn't have much to it. The essential weakness is that the screenplay cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a "look at all those crazy animals" comedy or a political "the honest man will win" film. When the movie finally makes its decision at the end, it just made me wonder why it spent all that time on the other thread. I've also been fairly suspicious of movies that have more than one credited director. Maybe that played a role here too.The high point for me was the performance of Cecil Kellaway as the father. TCM and IMDb make a great combination for learning about the wonderful character actors of Hollywood history.