It All Came True

It All Came True finds Humphrey Bogart as a gangster on the lam from killing a police stoolie and using a gun that was registered to club piano player Jeffrey Lynn to do the deed. With the stoolie probably telling the cops about his regular hideouts, Bogart has Jeffrey Lynn under a blackmail threat about the weapon hide him in a boarding house that is run jointly by Lynn's mother Jessie Burley and Una O'Connor who is the mother of Ann Sheridan.

Sheridan and Lynn were childhood sweethearts, she's a chorus girl, he's an aspiring composer and the Moms hoped that they'll be joint grandmothers some day. Bogart is hiding under an assumed name at the boardinghouse, but Sheridan recognizes him.

Perhaps the fact that he's away from the police spotlight, fooling them even temporarily makes Bogart fall under the charms of the place which is a theatrical boardinghouse. O'Connor and Burley wax nostalgic about the Gay Nineties and Bogart kind of does also. Bear in mind that this was probably when he was a kid in the film.

It All Came True is the kind of film that would have been better suited to James Cagney. In fact he did several fine nostalgic type films in his career like Frisco Kid, Johnny Come Lately, Strawberry Blonde, and The Time Of Your Life. I'm betting this was a property that Warner Brothers developed for Cagney, but for some reason or other Cagney couldn't do it.

Sheridan's feet are firmly in the 20th century however, she delivers a few zingers that were quite up to date for the audience. Until Rita Hayworth was established, Ann was Hollywood's number one redhead and she had a bit more wit in her scripts than Rita got at Columbia.

Maybe with Cagney in the lead and someone like Frank Capra directing and someone like Damon Runyon doing the screenplay, It All Came True could have been a real classic. It's an amusing comedy as it is with Ann Sheridan at her career height and Humphrey Bogart on the crest of becoming a legend.

This movie has everything but the kitchen sink. A preposterous movie that is nevertheless enjoyable.

There's Ann Sheridan, always totally likable--plus, in this movie she sings "You're Just an Angel in Disguise." There's also a funny dog act.

Humphrey Bogart plays his stock gangster role, but this time he has to deal with ZaSu Pitts and Una O'Connor as two spinsters, one a feisty spark-plug and the other delusionally lovelorn.

At one point, tough guy Bogie as much as says, "Hey, gang, let's put on a show!" And they do. That's where the dog act comes in.

Plus there's a nostalgiac Gay Nineties review, including a barbershop quartet.

And a number of Irish songs in the background and, ultimately, in the spotlight, including a rousing version of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."

I won't give away the ending, but trust me, you'll say, "Aw, ain't that nice!"

Kind of a fun movie.

In this comedy-drama directed by Lewis Seiler, Bogart was a fugitive killer who hid out in a rundown boarding house harboring a collection of talented amateur performers and maternally oriented older women…

Bogart convinces them to convert the place into a night club and on opening night he is caught by the police, clearing an innocent man (Jeffrey Lynn) of suspicion in the murder he had actually committed…

Bogart was evidently having a good time as he delivered such lines as: "I hate mothers: all this silver threads among the gold stuff!" and had a very funny scene where he is "mothered" by Una O'Connor and Jessie Busley… However, The New York Times' critic, B. R. Crisler, summed up the film correct1y when he said that "It All Came True went from simple to simple-minded."

It isn't often a movie can change a mood, but this little piece of fluff did. Whether it was a chance to see a young Bogie doing some comic acting, or Jeffrey Lynn doing something besides standing in the shadows, or Ann Sheridan being more than a wisecracking dish, I don't know - but I expect it was the latter.

On one level this is a poor man's YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, with a dash of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE thrown in. It isn't oscar bait, but it does make you realize how much simple joy the hard working people at Warner Brothers gave to audiences during the Depression and the second world war. When I finished watching, I could just imagine pushing out into the evening air after the show, taking my date to get a piece a pie and cup of coffee someplace, and basking the warm glow of a simple happy time.

Taken for what it is, you'll have a heck of a good time with IT ALL CAME TRUE.

This is a really offbeat idea for a Humphrey Bogart movie, but it ends up working pretty well as light entertainment and as something of a showcase for co-star Ann Sheridan. It combines a lighter version of the kind of gangster character that used to be Bogart's specialty, a pleasant if silly scenario, and ample opportunities for Sheridan and some of the supporting cast to steal a few scenes.

The story is lightweight and goofy, with barely any plausibility at all (if that much). Fortunately, the good acting makes all of the oddball characters likable, and makes the story worth following for the sake of entertainment. Sheridan gets a good character and a chance to sing a few songs, and the minor characters include good roles for Zasu Pitts and Felix Bressart, among others.