Last Holiday (1950)

I found this movie to be entertaining at least for 3/4 of the way, before it started to go south on me. The writing is good and the dialogue realistic, and the people the hero meets as he continues his adventure are varied and intriguing.

But there are two developments that ruined the movie for me, both near the end. Trying not to give much away, I will just say that the first problem involved a huge coincidence involving a new guest at the hotel. I mean, what are the odds, you might ask yourself as you watch it. It could have survived that unlikely coincidence if left on its own, but then there came a point when suddenly I knew how it was going to end and I thought, “Surely not!” But yes, the reversal at the end that I suppose was to provide karma and balance instead seemed to me to be amateurish and, as noted a moment ago, horrifyingly predictable.

Oh well.