MovieChat Forums > The Hoodlum Saint (1946) Discussion > A Simple Comedy with Odd Pacing

A Simple Comedy with Odd Pacing


Powell is a fun actor and he plays these con-man-with-a-heart-of-gold roles in his sleep. Powell plays Terry O'Neil, a returning WWI vet who is struggling to adapt to life in 1919 Baltimore. He and a couple of his former street grifter pals are looking for work. Terry is an opportunist and he crashes a socialite's wedding where he meets the sweet Kay Lorrison (played by the always lovely Esther Williams). Kay's uncle owns a newspaper and Terry finagles his way into a job. As he climbs the ladder and becomes more and more successful, he ditches Baltimore, Kay, and his former buddies for New York. He inadvertently gets linked to a charity run by his former pals that many suspect is a scam The Wall Street Crash of 1929 costs Terry everything and he finally begins to figure out what is important in life.

The movie has an easy, breezy feel about it. However, the characters are all pretty one-dimensional and the plot zips so fast, it doesn't really take the time to flesh them, or the plot, out. Terry's rise to the top of the publishing world is pretty meteoric as well as ridiculously simple. There is very little progression to the character's various transformations. It makes it hard to really feel any empathy for Terry when he falls because we never get to invest in the character.

The really odd thing about this movie is the synopsis and the title. It refers to Terry as a "hoodlum" but he's more of a con man and opportunist than any definition of a hoodlum. Even if you try to put it into historical perspective of 1946 when the movie was made, the etymology of the word refers to criminals. Also, the synopsis says he's running the charity scam when, in reality, he isn't part of it. Its his buddies running it. Even the synopsis on TMC refers to him as running the scam to bilk the rich. Just a really strange way for this movie to be marketed.

My memory foam pillow says it can't remember my face. I can tell its lying.

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