Film Snail

6.0

Lucky Jordan

NR·1942·84m

Comedy

Crime

Drama

Comedy

Crime

Drama

Summary

Lucky Jordan is a gangster living in New York City and when he's drafted into the army, he tries to escape duty by using an old con woman named Annie to convince the draft board he's needed at home. When that fails, Jordan is sent to boot camp, but he doesn't stay there long. He takes a beautiful USO worker hostage and flees back to New York. There, he learns that a rival gangster is plotting against America.

Cast

Alan Ladd

Lucky Jordan

Helen Walker

Jill Evans

Sheldon Leonard

Slip Moran

Mabel Paige

Annie ('Ma')

Marie McDonald

Pearl

Lloyd Corrigan

Ernest Higgins

Dave Willock

Angelo Palacio

Russell Hoyt

Eddie

John Wengraf

Herr Kesselman

Miles Mander

Kilpatrick

Clem Bevans

Gas Station Attendant

Anthony Caruso

Hired Gun

Charles Cane

Sergeant

George Meader

Clarence

Virginia Brissac

Clarence's Wife

Kitty Kelly

Vera Maggotti

George Humbert

Joe Maggotti

Al Hill

First Killer (as Al M. Hill)

Fred Kohler Jr.

Second Killer

Kirk Alyn

Pearl's Boyfriend

Georgia Backus

Toy Shop Clerk

Jack Baxley

Passerby with Quarter

Sara Berner

Helen

Dorothy Dandridge

Hollyhock School Maid

Joe Downing

Harrison

Danny Duncan

Cigar Store Clerk

Ralph Dunn

Army Guard

Edward Earle

Government Courier with Briefcase

Edythe Elliott

Second Secretary

Albert Ferris

Gardener

Frederick Giermann

Bulky Gardener

Roy Gordon

Colonel

William Halligan

Miller

John Harmon

Big-Ears

Carol Hughes

Girl in Back Room

Olaf Hytten

Charles

Arthur Loft

Hearndon

Edwin Max

Sergeant

Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart

Second Soldier

Harold Minjir

Flower Shop Clerk

Jimmy O'Gatty

Mug

Ralph Peters

Brig Sergeant

Paul Phillips

Pick-Up Man

Terrance Ray

Sentry

Keith Richards

Third Soldier

Ronald R. Rondell

Florist

Paul Stanton

George Hunnicutt

Elliott Sullivan

First Soldier

Crane Whitley

Gardener

Crew

Director

Frank Tuttle

Screenplay

Karl Tunberg

Screenplay

Darrell Ware

Story

Charles Leonard

Reviews

Geronimo1967

May 27, 2024

I never really rated Alan Ladd but he's quite decent in this wartime thriller. He's the gangster "Lucky" who finds himself drafted! Despite the best efforts of his lawyer "Higgins" (Lloyd Corrigan) to get him off, he is duly posted - and promptly absconds. Not before, though, he encounters "Jill" (Helen Walker) who disapproves heartily of his unpatriotic attitude. She ends up his hostage and the briefcase she was carrying becomes the hottest property in town. We discover it contains some top secret army designs and that there's a group of Nazi fifth columnist's out to retrieve it. Now "Lucky" has to make some tough choices (and a fairly impassioned speech at the end) before their secrets fall into enemy hands. The drama itself is quite well put together and decently paced. There's a solid, if unremarkable, effort from Walker and a few scene stealing quips from Mabel Paige's rather astute "Annie" - the sharpest, shrewdest and wittiest of the bunch. It's all fairly standard fayre, but is an easy watch as it sows the seeds for US involvement in WWII.