Lucky Jordan

Trailer—Lucky Jordan

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source: Lucky Jordan

The "Little-Bitty Pretty One", Alan Ladd Became a Sudden Star with "This Gun for Hire" (1942). A Bona-Fide Hard Boiled, Excellent Film-Noir. In His Long Career, Ladd Only made a Few other Excellent Movies. "The Glass Key" (1942), "The Blue Dahlia" (1946), and "Shane" (1953) among His Best. His Small Stature (5'6") and a Frail, Boyish Appearance Limited His Roles. His Acting "Style" of Swallowed Lines and Stone Face was also somewhat of a Set-Back. But He was a Big Movie Star and Very Popular. This Film is a Throw-a-Way War Time, Comedy Thriller, that has some Good Sarcasm and is an OK if Unmemorable Effort from All Involved. It can be Fun for Ladd Fans and a Peek at Hollywood at War. One Quotable Line... Lucky Jordan: 'Til I ran up against you, Nazi was just a word in the newspaper to me. Now it's another way to spell cockroach. Film Debut for Nancy Walker with a Show-Stopper where She Distracts a Nazi by Raising Her Skirt Higher and Higher. Worth a Watch with Limited Expectations.

After Alan Ladd's success in This Gun For Hire and The Glass Key, roles more traditionally associated with him, Paramount decided to give him top billing in Lucky Jordan, a film remarkably similar to Humphrey Bogart's All Through The Night in which gangster Bogart foils a Nazi spy ring. Although Ladd does well in the part, this was something given Ladd's diminutive stature that James Cagney would have breezed through. In the title role Ladd is a gangster who's most reluctant to go into military service and leave the lifestyle he's become accustomed to. His number one subordinate Sheldon Leonard is most anxious to see him leave so he can move in on everything including Marie McDonald. Ladd and lawyer Lloyd Corrigan try all kinds of gambits, the last being to hire an Apple Annie type to fake being Ladd's mother so he can claim he's her sole support. Mabel Paige who played the gin swilling old souse is the best one in the film. Ladd finally goes in the army, but he crashes out like you would in a prison film and accidentally gets some secret plans for a new airplane in the car he hijacked. Furthermore Sheldon Leonard is doing business with people who'd like those plans as the old rackets are drying up do to the war. All this doesn't faze Ladd, not even the pleadings of Helen Walker who is an Army WAC, but when the spies beat up on Paige our boy is not about to see the institution of motherhood defiled. Lucky Jordan is played tongue in cheek just like All Through The Night. It made a profit for Paramount and confirmed Ladd's box office appeal. But it's firmly rooted in the time and place that the story is set in and hasn't really aged all that well. During his years at Paramount in the Forties Alan Ladd made far better films than Lucky Jordan that have come down as classics. This one is quite a bit less than a classic.

Alan Ladd was the perfect actor to play a tough guy. Handsome, underplayed, with kind of a monotone delivery, he can come off as a swine. Hard-boiled detective or western hero with ease. Here he's a mobster named Lucky Jordan, who is so repulsive he hires people the same height and coloring to double for him and exit a building first in case someone tries to shoot him. When he gets drafted, Lucky insists that his lawyer (Lloyd Corrigan) get him out of it. The attorney isn't successful and suggests that Lucky find himself a parent that he has to support. He offers a drunken bag lady (Mabel Paige) begging for quarters $50 if she will pose as his mother. It doesn't work. Lucky, who likes to sleep late, finds himself rousted out of bed at 5 a.m. For breakfast. Hanging out at the canteen more than he should, Lucky finds himself attracted to no-nonsense WAC Jill Evans (Helen Walker). It doesn't take Lucky long to steal the car and coat of an army scientist, who just happens to be carrying confidential tank drawings in a briefcase, left in the car. He is also forced to kidnap Jill. Lucky wants to sell the plans to foreign agents, despite Jill's protests. One of Lucky's nefarious associates, Slip (Sheldon Leonard) locates some spies who will pay mucho bucks for the plans. This film combines drama, comedy, and propaganda and does it beautifully. We get to that Lucky isn't a bad guy after all when he develops a soft spot for "Ma." Ladd does a wonderful job in a great role for him. This was the debut film for Helen Walker, whose career was cut short by scandal. Here she is an attractive ingenue and gets to show a dynamite pair of gams - quite different from her role as a ruthless psychiatrist in Nightmare Alley. Sadly her career withered away when she gave three soldiers a ride to LA. She was in a horrible accident, and one of the soldiers died. The survivors accused her of being drunk, and she was brought to trial. Though acquitted, the bad press signalled the end of a promising career. This movie is such a surprise and highly recommended.

This is an early starring vehicle for Alan Ladd and like most of his early starring roles, he plays a bad guy. Lucky Jordan is a gangster who has been drafted. However, he has no allegiance to anyone but himself, so when the opportunity arises, he goes AWOL. In the process, he stumbles upon some military secrets and plans on selling them to the highest bidder. He also ends up kidnapping a spunky WAC. Now, with mobsters and Nazis in pursuit, is there any way Jordan can avoid getting killed? One thing I noticed is that Ladd's delivery is different than in later films—a bit higher-pitched and a bit faster. It's obvious that he must have had some voice lessons after this film as it just didn't sound like him. As for the dialog, it was classic gangster lingo—the sort of stuff I love as well as other lovers of film noir. As a result, it was quite enjoyable. However, as it was planned first and foremost as a wartime propaganda film, the gangster aspect always took a back seat to patriotism. As a result, while the film was very effective in bolstering commitment to the war effort, the film itself was a tad of a letdown—especially since the viewer knew all along that by the end of the film Ladd would prove to be 100% American! Still, an enjoyable if slight and predictable gangster flick.

This is one of my favourite Alan Ladd films and one I can watch over and over - has some great one liners. It shows that Ladd was very good at comedies and its a shame he didn't do more - my favourite line is where his lawyer says he tried to get him out of the army draft as 4F which meant "socially undesirable" - Ladd isn't impressed and with an indignant shrug of his shoulders says "Whadaya mean socially undesirable? Dames like me!" Ladd plays Lucky who is a charming, good looking and very successful racketeer who is trying to avoid the draft. However even with the drunk "old bag" (Lucky's words) pretending to be his dependent Ma he is called up. So he ends up in the army but after a spell in the cooler for insubordination he escapes by nicking the car and coat of an army scientist along with, inadvertently, secret tank drawings. It then transpires that Lucky's sidekick Slip Moran has got involved with foreign spies who will pay a fortune for the tank plans. What follows is a tale of double dealing (by Slip), romantic entanglements with Helen Walker ("cute eyes" as Lucky calls her) and Lucky's partial redemption when he realises just how bad the Nazis are (when they beat up his "ma"). There is a really good chase scene when the baddies are after Lucky in the gardens. Lucky of course does the right thing in the end but he isn't overly gushy about why and there aren't any long winded patriotic speeches - he just doesn't like men who beat up old women. The film ends on a funny note too because despite being a good guy and going back to the army a hero, the film ends with Lucky back in the cooler for yet another act of insubordination making it clear that even his goodness/patriotism has its limits. All in all a funny, entertaining film with a great cast.

This is a very entertaining movie. A lot funnier upon repeated viewing (dialogue is very witty and fast). Alan Ladd (underrated actor to begin with) has made very few comedies and shines here in both delivery, mannerisms and excellent timing. Helen Walker is holding her own and has just about as good an on-screen chemistry with Ladd as Veronica Lake in his noir movies. The plot is pretty stupid because of introduction of Nazis (in US ?!), secret plans, treason, etc. The whole patriotic hullabaloo, in my opinion, only gets in the way of otherwise interesting idea of a wise guy trying to dodge draft by any means necessary (especially as the movie was released in 1942). It's a pity Ladd got "pigeonholed" by his studio (Paramount) into tough guy, action hero and/or tragic roles. He would have been a winner in an intelligent, dialogue based comedy, or even romantic comedy (dare I say: the caliber of Cary Grant?!). I'm buying this one for my collection of Ladd's movies. :D

This 1942 film remains an enigma to me. First, it starts out as a comedy where Jordan, a gangster, needs a double as everyone is trying to kill him. The picture then goes into Jordan suddenly trying to avoid the draft and then becoming mixed up with a Nazi spy ring. Just a shame that Alan Ladd, as Jordan, first sees the evil of Nazism when they beat up his "hired" mother, Mabel Paige, who steals the films with her antics. Paige is proof in itself that everyone has and needs a mother, even when she is hired to impersonate this. Sheldon Leonard is the real heavy in the film. He starts off as the guy wanting to rub out Ladd so that he can take over the gang, and then he is fully involved with the Nazi group. This is too much for even a good character actor like Leonard was. The film shows that even a bad guy can redeem himself.