Two Guys from Milwaukee

source: Two Guys from Milwaukee

Trailer—Two Guys from Milwaukee

Two Guys from Milwaukee

Dennis Morgan is highly unconvincing as a prince. He and Jack Carson worked together often and are appealing -- in a way. The supporting cast is fine. Throughout, there are hints at a sexual interest between the two men. (You'd never fins that with Hope and Crosby, who were a more famous, but -- to me -- less appealing team.) Maybe I imagined them but if so, my imagination was working overtime. The notion that a man would be pleased, actually pleased, that he is no longer a prince is very much in step with today's anti-elitist times. Morgan finds out that monarchy was voted out and democracy voted in. Is he upset? At all? No. He is happy to be able to stay in Brooklyn and, well, without giving anything away, maybe return to the title city.

TCM did an interesting marathon of films by Billy Wilder's frequent writing partner I.A.L. Diamond, highlighting primarily films Diamond did not write with Wilder. In this film, Dennis Morgan plays a European prince who tries to hide out as a regular American, which makes for a silly culture clash comedy, with Morgan getting advice on how to act American from cabbie Jack Carson. It's nothing as funny as his work with Wilder, but it's inoffensively entertaining, features a likable cast, and even boast a funny cameo by Bogie and Bacall.

I enjoyed the playfulness / innocence of Dennis Morgan &Jack Carson. They meet, get drunk, and fall into bed together---but this is 1946 & it's all OK ( even Carson's sister says that he brings strange men home all the time}. I thought that the writer of the screenplay gave Joan Leslie a rather confusing role. She's Carson's girlfriend--but he is Only a taxi driver & doesn't earn enough money--so when Morgan comes along she seems to immediately fall in love with him--and he with her. Later, when Carson gets rich,she drops Morgan & gets back together with Carson--who she had treated pretty awful. Is this romantic? I felt very annoyed with her character &was disappointed with the movie.

European Prince Henry (Dennis Morgan) is on a tour of the United States. He's tired of prepared meetings with the powerful. He wants to meet regular folks and Lauren Bacall. He sneaks away from his entourage for a 24 hour escape. He befriends cabbie Buzz Williams (Jack Carson). The prince gets discovered rather quickly but they transition into a fun fake love triangle. It's fun until it's not. The fight is a little too much and would only work if they're falling down drunk. A drunken fight could be fun. It takes a while for it to wrap up. They do finally end this after a lot of praising of America and the common man. It's hokey but it probably won over the post-war audience.

Perhaps unknown to most of the posters here, both stars of this movie, Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan, were born in Wisconsin of which Milwaukee is the biggest city so there is something of an inside joke here! Dennis Morgan was born in tiny Prentice, Wisconsin, and went to college at Carroll College in Milwauke as did Jack Carson. Carson was born in Canada but his family moved to Milwaukee soon after and he always regarded that as his home town. So this is kind of an inside joke in a script full of inside jokes. Carson and Morgan were great friends. Carson died the same day Dick Powell did. This is not a great movie but it is an entertaining one and with the startling cameo from....at the end, what could be better?

It caught me by surprise, having seen previous Jack Carson movies. I felt that this was a nice and light comedy that rivals some of the big budget flicks that lack acting talent in today's world. The story moved with a good flow, the plot was predictable yet acceptable. Kudos for a movie that the whole family can enjoy. Jack Carson was the usual energetic character that he always seems to have been. His dynamism and antics bring light to a film that I feel would have felt short otherwise. The rest of the cast fit in perfectly and the cameos by Lauren Bacal and Humphrey Bogart towards the very end were pleasantly casted and surprising. Highly recommend it.

Dennis Morgan teamed with Jack Carson in an earlier film with Ann Sheridan. What makes this film so good is that eventually the 2 guys will change status and accept what has become of them. The story basically deals with a Balkin Prince (Morgan, in a non-singing role) who comes to America on the eve of his country deciding whether or not to maintain the monarchy or change to a republic. His goal is to spend some time with the common people and of course, he meets up with cab driver Carson. Naturally, Joan Leslie, Carson's girlfriend, falls for our prince and there are some very funny scenes as the FBI trails the trio. The ending is a good one with a big surprise. It has something to do with Morgan's goal throughout the picture.