Ginger Rogers seems to have held to the classical idea that actors are supposed to create distinct characters rather than repeatedly play variations on themselves (or at least on their established acting personas). I think that her changes of hair styles, hair colors, especially her changes of voices, sometimes confuse her audience, who expect these things from character actors (say, Alec Guinness) rather than from Hollywood stars. Janie from TOM, DICK AND HARRY is about as different as it can get. The typical Rogers character had been established as a tough cookie, guarded but caring, quick-witted yet possessing a hidden vulnerability. Janie, on the other hand, is kinda dumb, too self-centered to be particularly caring or vulnerable, and probably a pretty tough kid, though we hardly get a chance to see it. She is most definitely not your typical movie heroine.Actually, Janie is pretty much a proto-Valley Girl, right down to the muddied pronunciation and frequent porpoise-like squeals that Rogers endows her with. We have Janie's younger sister's word for it that Janie is older than she acts ('She gets more adolescent every day'). She seems to have been a telephone operator for some time, and her parents were courting "thirty years ago", so the girl must be somewhere in her twenties. Rogers was 29 at the time. I don't think she was too old for this part, she was merely playing an immature young woman.Janie's immaturity especially comes out in her inability to say no to any marriage proposal. Those three proposals are the whole movie, and happily director Garson Kanin moves things along briskly so that tedium never really sets in. We see Tom (George Murphy) first. His relationship with Janie seems passionless (he tends to show his affection by tapping her on the shoulder rather than kissing her), and Janie seems to realize it. She receives his proposal with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, yet Tom does seem the proverbial 'good catch', being handsome, cheerful, and giving every indication of becoming a good provider. When he finally gives out an off-handed, "I love you", it's enough for her to jump on. Janie's subsequent dream quickly gives her second thoughts.The dream sequences in TOM, DICK AND HARRY were probably more innovative than they now seem. I, at least, don't recall seeing anything like them before TD&H came out, but I have the impression that they were done to death in subsequent television sitcoms. MANY SPOILERS FOLLOW: Anyway, I believe that there's less suspense in Janie's final choice than Kanin intended. Tom, a character usually played by Ralph Bellamy, is out by virtue of being dull. True, George Murphy has a lot more bounce in his step than Ralph ever did, but love absent eroticism was not the movie way even during the heights of the Hays Code.Burgess Meredith gives a charming performance as our proto-hippie Harry (actually, all three suitors are excellent at what they're expected to do). An auto mechanic who wants no part of the rat race of success, many things other than 'the bells' tell us that he's the one for Janie in the end. Their meeting is deftly cute in the finest screwball tradition, they quickly traverse the 'hate/love' path so often traveled by Ginger with Fred ("It's the right dress. I got the wrong fella."), and Harry is even able to bring out the latent intelligence in Janie, who listens to his musings with an open mind and even grasps his statistical arguments better than a large majority of the population would manage. And, dare I say it? Meredith and Rogers make a very nice couple.The courtship with Dick (Alan Marshal) seems the weakest of the three psychologically, though it may be the funniest. He's amused by her, he likely would find her attractive, but the idea that someone like Dick would actually ask Janie to marry him before their first date is over lacks any plausibility whatsoever. Harry, on the other hand, has been established as rather flaky himself, and his conversations with Janie have been positively deep compared to anything shared between Dick and Jane.The movie is funny and in some ways unusual. The acting is good and sometimes inspired (Rogers and Meredith). Two problems keep it from being better remembered. First, Janie is simply too self-centered for us to care very much what happens to her (does she ever have a thought concerning other people's feelings?). Second, who could believe that a marriage between Janie and anybody, even Harry, could last more than a couple of weeks? TOM, DICK AND HARRY isn't likely to give anyone a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, but it is good for quite a few laughs. That's more than most comedies can say.

Poor Jenny was bright as a penny but couldn't make up her mind. So sang Gertrude Lawrence in the same year's "Lady in the Dark" on Broadway, and so sang Ginger Rogers three years later in the movie version. In this classic romantic comedy, Rogers is in a similar predicament, having to choose between three men in her dream-like world.Those three men are George Murphy, an ambitious man who is obviously on the road to success, feisty Burgess Meredith who has absolutely no ambition and Alan Marshal as the wealthy man who already has everything. Through her fantasies, Rogers imagines married life with each of them, and they get funnier as the film goes on, culminating in a scene where she marries all three! "This is ridiculous!", she shouts as they all approach in their pajamas, a pretty risqué sight gag for the code era of Hollywood!While this may be considered very dated on the eyes of feminists, it remains a classic example of Hollywood at its most original. Ranked as one of the greatest screwball comedies of all time, it is a very funny look at old ideals and hopes for young women of the early '40s. Phil Silvers is very funny in a bit part, playing an extremely obnoxious ice cream salesman. " Glad to see ya!", he screeches, interrupting couples parked at inspiration point, reciting his many flavors. Another very funny moment has a movie audience hissing Hitler in a newsreel, giving this a timely feel, being pre Pearl Harbor. Written and directed by Harson Kanin, this is a practically perfect comedy that does indeed stand the test of time.

TOM DICK AND HARRY gives Ginger Rogers another chance to play an infantile woman (remember THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR, MONKEY BUSINESS and IT HAD TO BE YOU). It's a screwball comedy so it works (to a degree) but she sort of overdoes the job of making this girl a complete dumb-dumb. So, in the end, she makes the right choice when she must choose between three suitors.She has to decide whether to marry a poor, down-on-his-luck bohemian (BURGESS MEREDITH), a wealthy playboy millionaire (ALAN MARSHAL), or a conservative square (GEORGE MURPHY). Considering that she has no brains whatsoever, she chooses--well, you have to see the movie to find out.The cute ending provides an original twist to a decidedly unoriginal story which gets a boost from its personable cast. Rogers is delightful enough when she isn't being a bit irritating with her baby-voiced coyness, and the men are splendid as her bewildered suitors. Alan Marshal is much livelier than usual in his playboy role--so much so that you have to wonder why Hollywood didn't find better roles for him as a romantic lead.Ginger's fans will love this one--but I couldn't help thinking she played it a little too dumb at times.Summing up: A screwball comedy that could have used a brighter script but the dream sequences are well done, thanks to director Garson Canin's way with wacky comedy.

Ginger Rogers is delightful in one of her top films following the split from musical partner Fred Astaire. I still need to catch a few more of the star's vintage vehicles – BACHELOR MOTHER (1939; also helmed by Kanin), her Oscar-winning turn in KITTY FOYLE (1940) and ROXIE HART (1942); thankfully, the latter two are available on DVD.The male leads here are somewhat undercast – though Burgess Meredith is fine (the others are played by George Murphy and Alan Marshal), and there's a brief but nice role for Phil Silvers as an "exuberant" ice-cream vendor. It was relaxing to watch this type of unassuming entertainment right after having sat through such demanding fare as Ingmar Bergman's WILD STRAWBERRIES (1957): that said, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this featured its own surreal (if basically comical) dream sequences! The film's engaging premise – a girl has to choose between three suitors of contrasting temperament and social standing – isn't particularly original (three year later, Ginger Rogers herself would again be faced with the same task in the stylish musical comedy, LADY IN THE DARK)…but Kanin's bright treatment and Paul Jarrico's Oscar-nominated script (deftly mixing mild screwball sophistication with the traditionally homespun qualities of small-town life) make it great fun, even if the version I saw was dubbed in Italian. Perhaps the funniest gag is the casual newspaper announcement of Adolf Hitler's assassination (despite this film having been released prior to America's involvement in World War II) but, equally inspired, is the amusingly fanciful way by which Rogers' character is able to solve her boyfriend dilemma. For the record, the film was later musicalized as THE GIRL MOST LIKELY (1957) but, even if it was done under the guidance of a talented director like Mitchell Leisen, the cast was pitifully lackluster!