Roxie Hart (1942)

Thanks for the memories!

Simply Perfect

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Streetwise dancer Roxie Hart (Ginger Rogers) confesses to a murder she didn't commit, hoping the publicity will help her career. Not looking to pass up the publicity himself, flashy lawyer Billy Flynn (Adolphe Menjou) takes her case. Fun, light comedy from William Wellman based on the play Chicago, previously filmed in 1927 and more famously turned into a stage and screen musical. Nunnally Johnson wrote the screenplay. It's a funny movie with a good pace and some fine performances. Ginger is outstanding in one of her best roles. She's backed up by a stable of solid comic actors. Most people today will be more familiar with the 2002 version but hopefully will find the charms in this one.

There's still a lot of bite in this adaptation of the play, even some scenes are downright (and refreshingly) nasty. Overall, though, this is an uneven film. They haven't quite made the leap from stage to screen. I understand there were problems with the censors and this shows. The direction wavers from very good to awkward at best. Someone like Preston Sturges in charge would've been awesome. Ginger is miscast. Sorry, fellow reviewers. She's great when she gets to show her dancing feet, but she just can't talk trash and mean it. I think Alice Faye would've pulled it off nicely. She did a lot of girl gone wrong roles and there's talk she was actually a gangster's moll in her early days. George Montgomery is OK as the smitten journalist, but he can't quite pull off the hard-boiled, either. The musical outbursts are fun but also remind us of the wonky tone of the film. Again, probably because of the censors, Roxie's character doesn't make sense a lot of the time. Even her parents disown her, not surprised in the least that she may hang, and she's a pretty cold cookie even with Montgomery. SPOILER. This makes the tacked-on happy ending with Montgomery absolutely ridiculous. In the play she did it and got away with it. That inevitable fact is sorely needed to make this film succeed. Still, the film has its pluses and I wouldn't discount it completely.

Wow this was one funny lady of her day. Can you imagine transforming yourself from a dancer into a physical comedienne? She did it and did it well.Basically what we get is a murder committed by Roxie's husband out of jealousy but a ruthless promoter tells her if she confesses to it she can't possibly go to jail or get convicted cause she's a woman and she's in Chicago and no woman ever gets convicted in Chicago. Plus, it'll help her dancing career.From here on it's just fun hi-jinx and a really spiffy dance number in the jail with the whole cast getting involved.Your gonna get some quick wit, a cool dance number and Ginger Rogers. That's enough for me...should be enough for you.

ROXIE HART is a fun film. Its tone is correct. The dialogue is sometimes really sharp, even for today. And the cinematography is unusually gorgeous, for a comedy anyway. But the story lacks depth and it never goes beyond the "let's play the jury with Roxie's charms" bit, which became tiring one hour into the film. The film lacked interesting secondary characters which would have added much needed depth and change from the Roxie Hart storyline. In the end, the constant focus on Roxie and her assets and the wacky court case antics reminded me of the long lasting TV show NIGHT COURT. The film, which is 90 minutes long, is at the same level of a standard 30 minute NIGHT COURT episode. Not good.It's a shame really because Ginger actually gives a great comedic performance. I completely forgot she was the same actress that starred in all of those Fred & Ginger flicks. And the cast is pretty good. The whole project just seems underdeveloped. It's just a one note comedy. It's worth watching for Ginger though.