Double Dynamite (1951)

An underpaid bank clerk (Frank Sinatra) desperately wants to get married to his girlfriend (Jane Russell) but their combined finances won't allow it. Luckily he gets a financial windfall when he gets a tip from a bookie (Nestor Paiva) which enables them to get married. Unfortunately, his bank has been embezzled of a large sum of money so with his new found wealth, suspicion falls on him. Directed by Irving Cummings (DOWN ARGENTINE WAY), this misguided comedy is a low point in the careers of those involved. It's supremely unfunny! Sinatra's career was at a low point (FROM HERE TO ETERNITY would rescue him 2 years later), Groucho Marx (playing Sinatra's buddy) had split from the Marx Brothers and was on his own and Jane Russell would have to wait 2 years for her career highpoint with GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. Can you imagine Groucho Marx NOT being funny? This movie is it! RKO didn't have much faith in it either. It was filmed in 1948 but sat on the shelf for 2 years before being released. Critics disliked it (one critic called it a wet firecracker) and audiences stayed away and who could blame them? With Howard Freeman and Harry Hayden.