Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952) - film review

With no living relatives of his own, ageing multi-millionaire Samuel Fulton decides to bestow his entire fortune on the Blaisdell family, the descendents of the only woman he loved.  It was thanks to his sweetheart’s rejection of him, many years ago, that he went off and made his fortune as an oil tycoon in Alaska and Texas.  Fulton has never met the Blaisdells and, to make sure he has made the right choice, he decides to inveigle his way into their household by posing as an anonymous artist, Mr John Smith.  The fact that the Blaisdells agree to take him in as a lodger assures Fulton that his unwitting heirs are short of money and will benefit from the wealth he intends to put their way.  He arranges that a cheque for $100,000 be paid to the family but is shocked by what ensues.   Mrs Blaisdell sees the windfall as a chance to realise all of her social ambitions, so she insists that her husband gives up his business and that they move into the largest house in town.  She is equally adamant that her daughter Millicent must stop seeing her boyfriend, Dan Stebbins, so that she can become engaged to the son of another wealthy couple.   The Blaisdells’ youngest daughter Roberta even has to trade in her beloved mongrel for a pair of French poodles!  When he sees the misery that has resulted from his intervention, Fulton does what he can to remedy the situation...

Whilst not generally considered one of Douglas Sirk’s better films, Has Anybody Seen My Gal? is an enjoyable morality play that makes a superb introduction to this director’s work.   With its authentic 1920s sets and costumes and jaunty period music (which include the title number and the original Charleston), this is one of Sirk’s most vibrant and life-affirming works, a feel-good romp that is not weighed down by the darker undertones, subtle ironies and scathing social critique of his later films.  For his first colour film, Sirk employs a bold feminine palette (dominated by pinks, greens and blues) that both emphasises the Art Deco design elements and evokes something of a kitsch fairytale – a distinctive visual style that the director would employ to great effect in his subsequent melodramas.

The film marks Sirk’s first collaboration with Rock Hudson, an actor who would appear in no less than nine of his films.  Hudson was virtually unknown at the time but, through his association with Sirk, he would rapidly become one of the best known and highest paid actors in Hollywood.  Another film icon makes a fleeting appearance in this film – James Dean.  The unknown 21-year-old actor plays a customer at a soda fountain in one scene, three years before he found his all-too brief taste of stardom in Hollywood.  

Has Anybody Seen My Gal? boasts some memorable performances (including that of 11-year old Gigi Perreau who almost steals the show), but the real star is Charles Coburn, the 74-year old character actor who plays the eccentric millionaire Samuel Fulton with immense charm and wonderfully understated humour.  Coburn had enjoyed success on Broadway for twenty years, forming a popular double act with his first wife.  It was not until he was 60 that he began his career in Hollywood, where he found regular work, almost right up until his death in 1961.  It is largely Coburn’s presence that makes this such a warm and engaging film.  It may not be Sirk’s masterpiece but, as a flapper girl might say, for a piece of brisk entertainment with a cogent moral subtext, it is most definitely the cat’s pyjamas.

© James Travers 2009

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