Screw Ball

The Crystal Ball (1943) stars Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard, so how could I resist? Goddard is a Texas girl, down on her luck in New York. A fortune teller takes her in and helps her get work at the shooting gallery next door. There, she runs into Ray Milland, being squired around by a rich lady. And so it becomes her goal to break up their romance and get Milland for herself.

The set up is pretty much can't miss, as are the stars, plus a supporting cast including some of our favorites, like William Bendix and Sig Arno. The problem is the haphazard script. It's not just that it has pacing problems and plot holes all over. The characters just don't seem that lovable. So instead of a screwball comedy, you just get a mess.

Still, I've watched worse, and happily. And just getting Paulette Goddard on the scene gets points from me.