Dir: Rouben Mamoulian | Cast: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar, Shepperd Strudwick A | US Comedy drama 86’
Dismissed by Rouben Mamoulian as “the least important of my films”, Rings on Her Fingers was only made to work out his contract with Fox, but is nevertheless a diverting trifle in its own right.
Made in imitation of Preston Sturges’ The Lady Eve it permits Gene Tierney to extend her range by casting her against type as a gum-chewing salesgirl selling girdles “born on the wrong side of the counter” taken under the wing of a pair of confidence tricksters (one of whom describe her as “ten cent baby in a million dollar business”) reunited with a personable young Henry Fonda playing a $65-a-week accountant – self-described as “wage slave #65” – who the pair naturally mistake for a millionaire; although Spring Byington warns her partner in crime “Don’t try to short change him, this one can count!”
As one of the pair it provides an always welcome opportunity to see Laird Cregar – an actor who possessed a talent as massive as his girth and died far too young – who ironically was Mamoulian’s original choice as Waldo Lydecker before being manoeuvred out of directing Laura. @RichardChatten
OUT OF THE SHADOWS: THE FILMS OF GENE TIERNEY season kicks off at the BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE from 26 MARCH 2024