Mr. Soft Touch is technically a film noir— it opens with a stunningly tense car chase shot on location in the streets of San Francisco following a robbery committed by the protagonist to even the score after he returns home from fighting in World War II to find his partner missing and his nightclub overtaken by the mob— but it’s just a couple tonal shifts away from being a charming Christmas comedy. Perhaps the 1949 Columbia Pictures film’s somewhat shaky identity has to do with the fact that it has two credited directors, the prolific and flexible Gordon Douglas and Henry Levin (I haven’t been able to determine the production backstory that led to this occurrence). Regardless, it’s largely successful both as a hard-boiled crime movie and an inspiring romantic comedy, marrying the two pretty seamlessly.
A lot of that success has to do with the lead actors. Mr. Soft Touch marks the sixth and final screen pairing of Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes, and it’s their best outing. Ford stars as that aforementioned protagonist, who ironically bears the seasonally-appropriate name Joe Miracle. Joe has passage on a boat out of the country after absconding with $100,000 from his former business, but it doesn’t leave for another two days (on Christmas Eve), meaning he has to hide out from the cops until then. He ends up at a settlement house run by Jenny Jones (Keyes), a kind-hearted social worker. The bulk of this middle part of the film is comprised of a series of amusing mishaps as Joe cons various shady individuals into making donations to the settlement house and tries to make things right with Jenny (like replacing the piano he breaks while hanging Christmas decorations). Naturally, the pair begin to fall in love with each other, but with the mobsters and a suspicious journalist hot on Joe’s tail, they only have so much time.
Mr. Soft Touch’s weakest point— one that steers it firmly back into bleak noir territory— is its awkwardly ambiguous conclusion. But there’s plenty to recommend it up to that point, from Ford and Keyes’ easy, sweet chemistry, Keyes’ warmth and Ford’s performance specifically (the way he walks the line between charming and suspicious makes him a perpetually great portrayer of good bad guys) to the holiday setting, including a climax that sees Joe dressing as Santa Claus to blend in with a group of costumed homeless men distributing gifts to children at a settlement house fundraiser. It’s that tension between the cheery season of goodwill and the robbery and deception that Joe and those pursuing him are engaged in— within the first couple minutes of the film, Joe’s car, bag of stolen money on the floor, is accosted by a streetcar Santa soliciting donations while “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” plays in the background, not to mention the subtle commentary about society discarding veterans returning to civilian life after the war— that prevents Mr. Soft Touch from venturing into schmaltzy territory, and makes it compelling and provocative seasonal viewing.
Mr. Soft Touch can be watched on YouTube. Runtime: 93 minutes.
Katie at the Movies 