The Admiral Was A Lady (1950)

A young woman (Wanda Hendrix) is jilted by her boyfriend and ready to take the bus back home when she is taken under the wing of an ex-WWII airman (Edmond O'Brien) and his friends. What she doesn't know is that the airman is being blackmailed by a millionaire (Rudy Vallee) to keep the girl from going home. The reason? The millionaire's ex-wife (Hillary Brooke) has run off with the girl's fiance and he wants to rejoin the couple so his ex will come back to him. Directed by Albert S. Rogell, this is a listless attempt at screwball comedy. O'Brien is a fine dramatic actor but comedy is not his forte and he's really a character actor, not a romantic leading man. Thin material like this needs charismatic Stars to overcome its weaknesses, not second tier players. It's not bad really but neither the cast nor the director seem to have a grip on comedy technique. Chalk it up as a miss. With Steve Brodie, Richard Erdman, Lurene Tuttle and Johnny Sands.