Fast and Loose (1939 film)

For other uses, see Fast and Loose (disambiguation).

Fast and Loose is a 1939 American thriller film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell and Reginald Owen. It is a sequel to the 1938 film Fast Company and was followed the same year by Fast and Furious. In each film, different actors played the crime-solving couple.

Fast and Loose
original theatrical poster
Directed by	Edwin L. Marin
Written by	Harry Kurnitz
Produced by	Frederick Stephani
Starring	Robert Montgomery Rosalind Russell
Cinematography	George J. Folsey
Edited by	Elmo Veron
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's Inc.
Release date	February 17, 1939 (1939-02-17)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

Rare booksellers Joel and Garda Sloane try to solve a murder, which hinges on a missing scrap of a William Shakespeare manuscript.^[1]

Cast

• Robert Montgomery as Joel Sloane
• Rosalind Russell as Garda Sloane
• Reginald Owen as Vincent Charlton
• Ralph Morgan as Nicholas "Nick" Torrent
• Etienne Girardot as Christopher Oates
• Alan Dinehart as David Hilliard
• Jo Ann Sayers as Christine Torrent
• Joan Marsh as Bobby Neville
• John Hubbard as Phil Sergeant
• Tom Collins as Gerald Torrent
• Sidney Blackmer as "Lucky" Nolan
• Donald Douglas as Inspector Forbes
• Ian Wolfe as Mr Wilkes
• Mary Forbes as Mrs Torrent
• Leonard Carey as Craddock, Mrs Torrent's butler

Reception

In the March 9, 1939 issue of The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote: "a sense of humor, a facile style, genial performances and just enough puzzlement to keep us from suspecting the least suspicious member of the cast".^[2]

On July 27, 2008, Dennis Schwartz gave the film a B, concluding: “It’s cleverly hidden who the guilty party is until the last minute of the third act, as until then many of the characters wind up with shiners and the son of the tycoon gets cut off from his father’s will for being such a jerk. This enjoyable film is the final pairing of Rosalind and Montgomery, who appeared in several successful films during the 1930s together.”^[3]