RICHARD THORPE

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB.5. 

USA, 1953.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  Screenplay by Art Cohn, based on the novel by Adela Rogers St. John and the play by Willard Mack.  Cinematography by Paul Vogel.  Produced by Armand Deutsch.  Music by Andre Previn.  Production Design by Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons.  Costume Design by Helen Rose.  Film Editing by Ben Lewis.  

After a Washington attorney (William Powell) succeeds in getting a gangster (Fernando Lamas) acquitted of illegal gaming charges, he invites him over to his house where the hood spots Powell’s gorgeous daughter (Elizabeth Taylor) and they fall in lust.  She is convinced that he’s the right future for her and drops her more sensible fiance, courting her father’s disapproval and leaving behind her prim society to be with this swarthy man who seems like pure adventure to her.  This minor seventy minute melodrama keeps it light and pretty and gets to its conclusion without any unnecessary complications, along the way allowing Taylor a few lovely moments and benefiting greatly from her chemistry with her co-star.