Wonder Man

Danny Kaye pulls double-duty in Wonder Man playing twins, one a nebbish type and the other a nightclub sensation that runs afoul of some gangsters. The ghost of the extrovert possesses the nerd and causes all sorts of shenanigans along the way. Of course, there’s a love triangle adject plotline involving Virginia Mayo, Kaye’s frequent object of affection, and Vera-Ellen. If Up in Arms was thin but entertaining, then Wonder Man is just thin. It’s as though they just told Kaye to go manic in his performance and left it at that. This is just as messy a movie as several of his Samuel Goldwyn films of the era, lots of grinding the plot to a halt to throw out the Goldwyn Girls or have Kaye do one of his patter-songs, but there’s a relative lack of buoyancy here. It’s fine but nothing more.