This may or may not be the night

I've stated before that there's something about the gloss of the MGM production values that, while they're professionally and competently produced, often has a tendency of making them seem like there's something not quite right about them. A good example of this is This Could Be the Night.

Jean Simmons stars as Anne Leeds, a new teacher in the big city who's come from small-town New England and is not quite wise to the ways of the world as a result. Teaching doesn't pay enough, so she decides she's going to get a second job to help pay the bills. She finds this working as a secretary at the Tonic, a nightclub run by Rocco (Paul Douglas).

Now, with a name like Rocco, you might think this is a joint run by mobsters, and you might be right, except for the fact that there's that pesky Production Code and Rocco is clearly supposed to be a good guy here. Rocco shows Anne her duties, which Anne takes to fairly well, to the point that Rocco not only likes her in a fatherly way, but almost considers her indispensible.

However, Rocco has a junior partner in Tony (Anthony Franciosa), who gives off greater vibes of being connected to the Mob in some way, and when faced with Anne's virginal nature and honesty, doesn't think she's right for the type of place that the Tonic is. If I had to guess, I would guess that Rocco and Tony may have had some sort of gangster relationships in the past, much like James Cagney's character in Picture Snatcher, but that they're going straight now. This, I think, is bolstered by the fact that one of their guests one night is Waxie (Murvyn Vye), who recently got out of prison and is thinking of opening his own place.

Along the way, Anne helps everybody who works at the Tonic, including Hussein (Rafael Campos), son of Arab immigrants who wants to become fully American, even by changing his name; and the St. Clairs, Mom Crystal (Joan Blondell) and daughter Patsy (Nelle Adams), the younger wanting a stove of her own for their apartment. Also along the way, Tony begins to find himself falling in love with Anne, despite having relations with a lot of women, including showgirl Ivy (Julie Wilson).

There are a lot of good ideas here, yet I found that the movie felt a bit flat and not quite having the bite is should. It's a comedy, in a vein that goes a long way back to movies like the aforementioned Picture Snatcher and continued through any number of Paul Douglas movies like Love That Brute. Douglas is well cast, but I think it's the other two leads that cause problems for the movie. Jean Simmons isn't quite believable in what is supposed to be her naïveté, while Franciosa is too wooden and lightweight. It also doesn't help that they don't seem to have much romantic chemistry together.

Still, This Could Be the Night could have been a lot worse. It's just that there are other movies in the genre that are a lot better. The movie is available on DVD courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection should you wish to watch for yourself.