Once Upon A Time (1944)

A Broadway producer (Cary Grant) is at risk of losing his theater unless he can come up with $100,000. When he stumbles upon a kid (Ted Donaldson) who has a pet caterpillar that can dance, he exploits the caterpillar with the intention of taking the caterpillar away from the kid and selling it to Walt Disney. Based on the radio play MY CLIENT CURLY by Norman Corwin by way of the short story by Lucille Fletcher (SORRY WRONG NUMBER) and directed by Alexander Hall (HERE COMES MR. JORDAN). This could have been a charming whimsical fantasy in the right hands but what we get is a heavy handed attempt at an eccentric fancy. This is one of Grant's rare unsympathetic characters, he's a conniver and a liar out for himself (of course, he redeems himself in the end) but who wants to see a nasty Cary? Not much to recommend here except to the Grant completists but I'll concede the sappy ending is very effective. With Janet Blair, Lloyd Bridges, James Gleason and William Demarest.