1937 Directed by Roy Kellino
Undercover agent Robert Leyland entraps crooks trying to sneak expensive goods past customs on transatlantic crossings. After Leyland falls for reluctant smuggler Barbara Standish, he convinces her to return with him to France with her cache of diamonds. But she is unaware of a network of thieves onboard their ship, competing against each other to make off with her jewels.
UK
UK
My takeaway from Catch as Catch Can is that James Mason has always been James Mason, and Margaret Rutherford has always been Margaret Rutherford. In only the second year on film for both of them, their vocal tics and screen auras are firmly established - though not quite their personas. Mason plays an outright good guy, which clashes with the expectations set up by decades of dark-edged roles, while Rutherford plays a crooked piece of work, acting posh but more at ease puffing on her ciggy while plotting no good.
Mason is a contraband agent for the US Customs, netting rich dames who plan on smuggling valuables past Uncle Sam's sentries. He gets interested (first professionally then romantically) in Viki…
Goofy antics on an ocean liner where just about everyone is a jewel thief.
James Mason (playing American with an English accent but there’s a joke about him spending all his time on boats so he just sounds like that now) once again is investigating via flirting, getting hilariously knocked out and holding small dogs like they’re babies. There’s also gangster Margaret Rutherford hiding diamonds in her hair piece, accent salad from absolutely everyone and the most bonkers scene transition involving a pig.
