An inane farce where a screenwriter, Dick Powell, winds up marrying a delinquent, 17 years old and played by Debbie Reynolds. They wed so she can stay out of jail and then Powell goes off to write his screenplay.Ann Francis steals the scenes she is in as the jilted fiancée of Powell.There are some interesting characters, one Glenda Farrell. In the end, everyone finds basically what they're looking for out of life.There is a nice dream sequence where the two ladies compete for Powell's attention.Snappy dialogue but the story itself is so ornery.

Restricting our overview to "dirty old men" with young chicks, there's a certain "yuk" factor that hits us in the gut when the guy is 25-years-old and the gal is, say, 12. On the other hand, a 51-year-old college biology prof getting biblical with a 25-ish grad assistant coed barely raises an eyebrow nowadays. In SUSAN SLEPT HERE, the relationship between Mark and his "Christmas gift" from the LAPD vice squad falls smack in the middle of "yuk" and "ho-hum." Mark is a 35- or 36-year-old confirmed bachelor; Susan, a 17-year-old who's never even been to a hotel before. Titillatioin overtly is the goal of the SUSAN SLEPT HERE film makers. If this movie was made a decade or two later, it's hard to guess the number of topless scenes in which Debbie Reynolds would have been chilled as "Susan." Fortunately for Ms. Reynolds, this racy flick came out in 1954, so she appears in suggestive but fully-clothed OKLAHOMA!-style pantomime dream sequences, instead.

I confess to a soft spot for this candy-box confection. Ordinarily 10 minutes of Debbie- Reynolds-spunk is enough to last me for 2 hours. But I've got to admit she brings genuine verve and sparkle to the role. Never mind that Dick Powell is closer to 50 than the movie- claimed 35, and at least twice as old as the juvenile Reynolds. Fortunately their clinches are kept to a minimum, even as the under-age innuendo is exploited to the hilt for titillated 1950's audiences. If the plot skirts the bounds of good taste, director Tashlin keeps things from straying with a speeded-up pace that allows little pause for contemplation. I would love to have been in on the meetings where studio exec's kicked this premise around for the censors.Anyway, Powell is appropriately dour as the sober-sided screenwriter, while Glenda Farrell gets the kind of caustic role that would later suit Thelma Ritter to the proverbial T. And, of course, there's Alvy Moore looking like a college freshman and getting all the clever wisecracks, even if in real life he was a veteran of the bloody WWII battle for Iwo Jima! Too bad Anne Francis doesn't get more screen time as "the other woman". But then she does show why she deserved that drop-dead sexy outfit she wore in Forbidden Planet (1956). Cult director Tashlin manages a few of trademark effects from his cartoonist past—note Reynolds cooling off her libido with a swinging freezer door, and, of course, the fantasy sequences that fit in perfectly.All in all, I think RKO got away with one-- had the movie been handled less deftly, someone might have landed in 1954's county clink.

What would a confirmed bachelor, of a certain age, do with the unexpected arrival of a lively 17 years old girl into his life? Reason would indicate to run away from the situation! But have no fear, in the theater, as well as in the movies, these two unmatched people get to grow fond of one another and eventually they get married. That seems to be the premise of "Susan Slept Here", a movie that proves irresistible because of the two leading stars.Under the direction of Frank Tashlin, this movie, although reflecting a naivete not in synch with the present times, is good fun to watch. The film is done with an impeccable good taste and there is never anything tawdry, or out of place with what one is watching.Dick Powell was at his best when he took the part of Mark Christopher a thirty-something man in the plot, but looking older than that. Debbie Reynolds, as Susan Landis, brought her winning personality and charm to this rebel girl that begins a total transformation as she discovers she is attracted to Mark.The supporting cast is also up to task under Mr. Tashlin's guidance. Anne Francis is seen as Isabella, Mark's present love interest. Glenda Farrell, Horace McMahon, Herb Vigran and Alvy Moore, among others make this delightful film into a winner.Mr. Tashlin includes a dance sequence that plays as a dream in which Mr. Powell, Ms. Francis and Ms. Reynolds are seen as the players. The film is festive and it will delight any viewer looking for an easy time at the movies.