There's a deep sadness involved in this film as it is absolutely a waste of everyone involved. Frank Capra is clearly at the shallow end of the pool here and his, excellent, cast can do nothing but flounder in it. Laughs are few and laboured and the whole, overlong, film runs out of steam about 30 minutes before it officially ends...by which time...it just doesn't matter who ends up with whom. One of those glossy, empty films of the late 50s where studio control has taken a hike and over the hill and irrelevant big name directors of the past struggle. This is a misfire, pure and simple and as artificial a product as anything turned out in this time period. Thelma Ritter, you tried so hard to breathe life into it. Carolyn Jones you were a magnetic and highly individual actress who simply just didn't get the respect or the roles you deserved. Sinatra, you try hard here, it has to be said. And you can be charming. But this material was beneath you.
Review of A Hole in the Head
