Perilous Holiday

One of the problems with "Perilous Holiday" is that it cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a romantic comedy, musical or thriller. Tis himself Pat O'Brien, then under contract to RKO Radio but here on loan out to Columbia, plays one part of a romantic triangle, the other parts being supplied by amorous Audrey Long and ruthless Ruth Warrick. It strains credulity that portly, decidedly middle-aged O'Brien could be the object of one heroine's desire let alone two. Re the musical element, O'Brien unfortunately has the opportunity to sing a couple of Oirish ditties (don't give up the day job Pat!). After a few reels, the thriller element involving some quack medicine and a counterfeiting ring is added on almost as an afterthought. There is a case to be made out for Ruth Warrick as a crusading newspaper reporter being the main protagonist of this film. She also gives the best performance in that she is quite believable as a liberated woman bent on revenge.The film is a bit ahead of its time because both female stars are participants in the climatic battle. This brings up the other major fault of this film in that the leading heavies (with the notable exception of Jay Novello who really looks the part of a thug) appear and behave too benignly to be the leaders of a brutal criminal organisation on this scale. It would have been a much better film if Columbia's resident villain George Macready had replaced the leading villainous actor. This film is one of those which comes in under the radar in that O'Brien forgets to mention it in his memoirs "The Wind at My Back". This movie is mildly diverting without ever becoming really engrossing or exciting. Instead it's a bit like painting by numbers.....