Deck the Halls December: Mr. Soft Touch (1949)

It's the holiday season and we are watching movies. Why don't you join us?

RODNEY BOWCOCK: Mr. Soft Touch is a noirish Christmas comedy (but not really a comedy, just kind of lighter in tone) about a complicated con-man named Joe Miracle (Glenn Ford) who takes refuge in a settlement house run by Jenny Jones (Evelyn Keyes). There’s a series of amusing situations as Joe tries to acclimate himself to his new surroundings, but there’s also an ominous tone as the mob and a shady newspaper reporter are on his trail trying to figure out what happened to $100,000 that Joe got from a robbery.

SAMANTHA GLASSER: This is a very nuanced story. Our loyalties switch throughout the film. We begin following Glenn Ford, a recognizable and likeable star, so we like him. Then we realize he just robbed someone, so we become suspicious of whether this is our hero. He turns out to be friends with a wife-beater, another strike against him. Now we learn that he stole money that rightfully belonged to him from the mob that took it first. Okay, now we like him again. But then he treats a woman who shows kindness to him and other down-and-out people with contempt and ridicule. Maybe he isn't so great. It is a roller coaster ride of a movie that way, especially for a film set during the holidays.

RB: Joe is definitely a complicated character, which is, I suppose, the whole point. He exhibits many signs of having lived a rough life on the other side of the law, but at his core has the ability to be a kind and generous person wanting to help other downtrodden members of society.

SG: The concept of a diversion program to help rehabilitate people rather than sending them to jail is modern, and I was surprised to see it in action here. Jenny mentions that domestic abusers routinely come from impoverished circumstances and alcohol is involved. She spoke from experience and had to wear a hearing aid due to her father's beatings. That rings true today. Maybe for the sake of entertainment they've been excised, but I didn't notice any counselors working to find the root of the violence in these offenders and forcing them into new routines, which is the modern approach.

RB: It’s possible that there were no scenes with that happening because it doesn’t really have much to do with the greater story, but you still make a point. The main focus seems to be simply on giving these folks a place to live.

SG: Speaking of drinking, Joe seems drunk in many of his scenes, slurring his words and smiling at Jenny with sleepy, unfocused eyes. I found his method of romancing her to be disturbing, made even more so because she responds so favorably to it. He tells her to smile more and mansplains her job to her.

RB: I didn’t notice that, but I did notice that he engages in that old movie trope where a man doesn’t take no for an answer and the woman eventually falls in love with him for it. There was one scene where Jenny did not want Joe to engage with her, and he pressed himself uncomfortably close to her. I found that very unsettling when watching with modern eyes.

"What's that smell?" "Poverty."

SG: Showmen's Trade Review pointed out, "Judging from the fact that two directors and two cameramen are credited, Mr. Soft Touch apparently had a thorough going-over before emerging in its completed form. Frequently too many hands spoil the broth, but in this instance they seem to have made it quite palatable for most moviegoers. This is no epic by any means, but it's good solid entertainment for the masses with its human touches, comedy and drama."

The scene of the firefighters working in the aftermath was beautifully done. We only hear the muffled sounds of them working, a silence that starkly contrasts the frantic loud energy of the previous moments when the building is ablaze.

RB: We can assume that one director took over for the other, but I was unable to find any clear information regarding who did what. Regardless, while the tone changes considerably off and on, you never get the impression that this film is not consistently directed. There are no discernable stylistic differences to their credit.

SG: I recognized Stanley Clements right away as the punk kid in Tall, Dark and Handsome. Beulah Bondi, also known for a Christmas classic (It's a Wonderful Life) appears, though she gets very little to do.

RB: Parker Fenley has a very funny role as kind of a crackpot philosophizer that provided a couple of genuine laughs for me.

SG: Harrison's Reports called the film, "Fairly interesting, but it is overlong and does not rise above the level of program fare... On the whole the story is dramatically ineffective and not always believable."

The ending was too abrupt for my taste, but I was surprised at how much Christmas was in this movie, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I imagine it will work its way into my holiday rotation. 3.5 stars.

RB: The ending provides a stark shift in tone from much of the rest of the film, and I admittedly enjoyed the leadup to the climax more than the actual climax. Still, I agree that this is a surprisingly good holiday film. Three and a half stars.