A Likely Story
| A Likely Story | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | H. C. Potter |
| Written by | Bess Boyle |
| Starring |
Barbara Hale Bill Williams Sam Levene |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | J. Roy Hunt |
| Edited by | Harry Marker |
| Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Likely Story is a 1947 film directed by H. C. Potter. It starred real-life husband and wife Bill Williams and Barbara Hale. It is also known as A Fascinating Nuisance and Never Say Die.
Bill Baker (Bill Williams) has recently returned from war service as an aerial gunner in the Pacific where he had been hospitalized for mental illness. On his way to New York he meets a group of new characters on the train: painting artist Vickie North (Barbara Hale) and her brother Jamie (Lanny Rees), plus Louie (Sam Levene), an ex-convict. Louie mistakes Bill for a fellow gangster when he says he has "just got out" and offers him to come work for his gangster boss, Tiny McBride (Nestor Paiva). Bill talks to Louie about his numerous dizzy spells and his severe case of hypochondria. Later on the train, Bill ia accidentally knocked unconscious when a case falls down from a shelf onto his head.
Bill wakes up again in a hospital in New York. When he hears two doctors speak about the fatal heart condition of the patient, he mistakenly believes it is him they are talking about, and that he only has two weeks left to live.
With nothing to lose, Bill decides to get a little excitement. He finds Tiny's place and try to get the gangsters to fight him, but they see no reason to, so instead he goes to a nearby bridge to jump off it. Because of his severe vertigo, he is unable to jump, but gets dizzy. Vickie happens to pass by and convinces him to come down. Bill is smitten by Vickie and kisses her, but is knocked unconscious again by a truck driver who thinks he is harassing the girl. This time he wakes up in Vickie's apartment in the Village. Bill sees Vickie's paintings on the walls and encourages her to sell them. She puts them on display at an exhibit, but hey fail to attract enough attention, even though both Bill and another man smitten by Vickie, Phil Bright (Dan Tobin), do their best. Discouraged Vickie gives up, but lacks the money to go back home to Wisconsin from where she came. Phil asks Vickie to marry him, but she rejects him.
Bill goes to Tiny and asks him for a loan of $5000 in exchange for making him sole beneficiary on his life insurance policy. He also tells Tiny about his heart condition. Tiny refuses, since the insurance money would be paid in small amounts over several years. Instead he suggests Bill get another policy from another agent, which will give the beneficiary $100,000 if Bill dies. Bill reluctantly agrees. Phil, who is an insurance salesman, gets the commission, promised to get his share of the money.
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Wikipedia