Sailor Dennis O'Keefe has a two-day shore leave and the wedding is all planned out by bride Martha Scott and her family. Unfortunately, O'Keefe's ship comes in late and that delay is followed by the discovery that Scott's mother has been swindled out of her fortune....Can they manage to get hitched before O'Keefe is called back to his ship?

O'Keefe and Scott are attractive and funny, and Adolph Menjou is outstanding as O'Keefe's father, a con man who means well but never quite hits it big. Menjou vows to help restore the lost fortune and sets about using his connections at the casino.

A wonderful and unique supporting cast includes Billie Burke as Scott's mother, cheerfully goofy as always; June Havoc as a spirited song-and-dance girl who helps Menjou out; and Pola Negri as a temperamental opera singer who loves Wagner ("She half wildcat!" a casino employee exclaims—a clever nod to Negri's wacky 1921 picture The Wildcat.)

The plot itself is just okay but much enhanced by memorable little bits that surprise and delight. One such moment features Burke and friends sitting around a nightclub table practicing doing double takes; another is the musical number in which Havoc duets with a movie of herself. Then there's the slinky babe who keeps popping up in different scenes for no apparent reason—until Burke finally fills us in: "She's a very particular friend of the director who's making this picture. He sticks her in every scene he can."

It doesn't aim too high but it sure is lots of fun.

This period in American movies saw such delights as "Hellzapoppin". Here the actors bring to attention that they are playing in a film. They make faces at the audience, wallpaper comes alive, there is a woman who keeps popping up in scenes where she isn't even acting. The dialog and the plot move lightning fast and there's no time at all to waste in this pleasant and often hilarious comedy. There's a wedding reception before the wedding, fortunes earned and lost in a space of minutes, a married couple disunited throughout. What's not to like? This film has been in public domain and has been copied, often badly and on stock of poor quality, so viewer beware...

Sonny Phyffe (Dennis O'Keefe), a sailor with a conquest in every port, is three hours late to his wedding to Janie Prescott (Martha Scott), whose mother is the very wealthy and scatterbrained Liza Prescott (Billie Burke). Liza harbors doubts about Sonny's sincerity. Sonny is anxious about the wedding because he only has two days ashore before he has to report back to his ship. But minutes before the wedding Mrs. Prescott confesses that she has lost her fortune, swindled out of it by a high society clot who is determined to wed Janie himself. But now that sly old scoundrel, Col. Hector Phyffe (Adolphe Menjou), who is Sonny's father, steps forward and says he'll put things right. All he needs is a few hours. The Colonel, however, is married to the opera diva Genya Smetana (Pola Negri). He hasn't a dime of his own. She keeps him on a short lease. He must do what he does best, come up with a series of improbable schemes and stratagems to replace Mrs. Prescott's fortune. All the while the clock is ticking. Will the Colonel somehow find a way to get back Liza Prescott's money? Will Liza with her ditzy behavior make things better or worse? Will Sonny and Janie work their way through this maze of mix-ups and into bed before Sonny has to leave? Will there at last be a consummation devoutly to be wished, especially by Sonny and Janie.

If this sounds like screwball comedy, it tries hard to be and sometimes succeeds. Menjou keeps the wheels spinning. Burke's character may not be as flighty as Billie Burke. Pola Negri, a great silent star, at 49 is stunning. She could easily pass as Hedy Lamar's slightly older sister. June Havoc has a funny featured role and a couple of songs. What Hi Diddle Diddle really has going for it is a clever twist that is well disguised and two accomplished actors who were right at home with light comedy, Adolphe Menjou and Dennis O'Keefe.

Menjou was never better than playing a man of the world who has seen all the tricks and mastered most of them himself. He moved from a major leading man in the silents (A Woman of Paris, 1923) to a master portrayer of amusing rogues, charlatans, fathers and lawyers. He was at his best as the shyster lawyer Billy Flynn in Roxie Hart, 1942. As an old man he still knew what he was doing. His portrayal of Mr. Pendergast, an irascible recluse in Pollyanna, 1960, is touching, amusing and believable.

I doubt if there was ever a Hollywood leading man, other than Cary Grant, who was as good at light comedy as Dennis O'Keefe. He paid his dues in countless unbilled bits in the Thirties, moved up to second billings and then lead roles in the Forties and early Fifties, but was never able to establish himself in big A movies. He was a tall, handsome guy who could play puzzled bumpkins, tough G-men, doomed noir heroes and nice guys. If you have the time, watch him in these: As Jerry Manning in The Leopard Man, 1943; as Monty Brewster in Brewster's Millions, 1945; as Joe Sullivan in Raw Deal, 1948; as Sam Donovan in Cover Up, 1949; and as Danny Leggett in Woman on the Run, 1950.