And in "Red Chief," Fred Allen and Oscar Levant make a strange but fun team. As an old thespian friend of mine would say, "The Last Leaf" could bring a tear to a glass eye. If I had to single out one performer who delighted me the most it would be David Wayne, doing a twitchy down-and-outer playing off of Laughton's haughty tramp (especially just having seen him play a totally different character in ADAM'S RIB just a week ago). "The Cop and the Anthem" is probably the most tightly written of them all, with subtle touches of humor throughout (besides the most obvious gags). This is a gem that has something for everyone: sentimentality, humor, pathos, and loads of good performances. I first saw this movie on TV as a child in the 1960s, and never watched it again until now (2005), but it's strange how many characters and even specific shots lingered in my mind all those years.
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