Angels Over Broadway (1940)

An embezzler (John Qualen) has plans to commit suicide after he is caught by his boss (George Watts). But before he can carry out his plan, three strangers: a grifter (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), a naive dancer (Rita Hayworth) and a washed up playwright (Thomas Mitchell) attempt to help him out of his predicament, each for their own personal reason. Written, produced and directed by Ben Hecht (Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS), one of only two movies he directed. The milieu may be Damon Runyon but its heart is pure Capra which makes for an uncomfortable mix. It's an inoffensive effort even if it is unfocused. There doesn't really seem to be much of a point to all of it so we're left with enough time to contemplate the miscasting of Fairbanks Jr., who makes for an unlikely tough con man but since he was one of the executive producers, we can see why he was cast anyway or admiring Hayworth's fresh beauty on the cusp of major stardom. With Ralph Theodore and Constance Worth.