Love That Brute (1950) Online

Although heavy set Paul Douglas is no match for a pretty young thing like Jean Peters, the movie works. Peter Price, the wise-cracking youngster - whom Douglas hires to pass as his son in order to get Peters's attention - is probably the funniest kid that has ever appeared on the big screen. There's a well choreographed musical number, which Miss Peters and some eight men in tux perform. Telling too much about the movie may give away the element of surprise at the end. It takes place in the roaring twenties, complete with gangsters and molls. Arthur Treacher does his famous butler, Joan Davis is quite funny, and Cesar Romero (who played the main character in the original version TALL DARK AND HANDSOME) is great as Doublas's foe. Even the romantic elements are a joy to watch and make you laugh. I hope Fox markets this one on VHS soon.

PAUL DOUGLAS, JEAN PETERS, KEENAN WYNN, CEASER ROMERO, JOAN DAVIS, ARTHUR TREACHER. I don't know about anyone else, but when I see a marquee like this, I just can't resist watching the movie. I never tire of so-called second string movies starring second string stars, so-called. "Love That Brute" is a perfect example. At less than 90 minutes, it doesn't wear out its welcome. Light comedy, yes, but so very well worth watching. To me, the best performance here is by kid actor PETER PRICE as a tough talking, pint size sized mug with an adults eye for a cute tomato. He appeared in only four more movies, which is a shame. Perhaps his role here as junior gangster type cast him. I don't know, but he's just great. The rest of the cast is good too. I'm a fan of each and very one of them. Packing them all into one flick is heaven for someone like me who's a fan of both under appreciated movies and their stars. Also tossed in for good measure are CHARLES LANE, JOE GRAY, JACK ELAM, SID TOMACK and noir regular JAY C. FLIPPEN. They're all faces you know even if ya don't know the names. And if you really love movies, then you're always on the lookout for entertaining films that fall below the Oscar radar but are still fun to see. "Love That Brute" certainly fits the bill. The only thing I really didn't like was the title. Anyway, if you feel like you've seen every movie ever made EXCEPT "Love That Brute" and find it on the Fox Movie Channel one afternoon as I did, tune in. Having felt as though I'VE seen every movie ever made, "Love That Brute" was a great discovery. If it's ever on again and I know about it, I think I'll tune in for another go-around.

LOVE THAT BRUTE is a comedy tailor-made for the unique talents of PAUL DOUGLAS as a soft-hearted gangster with designs on a pretty governess (JEAN PETERS) who's willing to take on the job of supervising his rebellious son (PETER PRICE), actually a relative Douglas gets to pose as his son so that he'll have an excuse to hire Peters. Price gets the most laughs with his tough guy lines, sounding an awful lot like "Lampwick" to Pinnochio.

For added amusement, JOAN DAVIS, ARTHUR TREACHER and CESAR ROMERO have some snappy bits of business--although the script never gives any of them the chance to really do their stuff.

There's some nice chemistry between Douglas and Peters, but they don't make a believable romantic pair and this has its drawbacks since the whole story concerns Douglas and his obsession for the pretty governess with show biz ambitions. He uses his influence to get her a job as a singer in a nightclub he owns--and the resultant musical number, while not exactly perfect, shows that Peters had more sides to her personality than the role really suggests. Good choreography makes the sequence amusing and pleasant enough to watch.

Biggest scene stealer is Price, with some sharp grown-up observations to go along with his tough guy facade. Story develops at a fast pace and leads to a good payoff for crime boss Romero revealed to be the brute responsible for a number of gangland deaths.

Summing up: Good mixture of comedy and gangster crime circa 1920s Chicago.

What a disappointment this was. A basically absurd story, with only occasional sparks from a cast of often brilliant players (Douglas, Wynn, Kelley, Davis, Romero, and others). The young boy (Harry) came across to me as very unlikeable, unfunny, and a bore. For the most part, his lines were not funny or even clever, just stupid and aggravating. Keenan Wynn, as was most of the cast, was essentially wasted. His Bugsy character, perhaps meant to be comic relief, didn't make it as such and came across as dumb and forced. "....Brute" is not even close to the film "Angels in the Outfield" in which Douglas appeared and was excellent. Then again that film had good writing. Even skilled experienced players can't overcome weak and forced material, which "Love That Brute" is.