HarlowMGM's Reviews

Secrets of a Secretary (1931)

7/10

Good vehicle for Rising star Claudette Colbert

1 March 2024

Warning: Spoilers

SECRETS OF A SECRETARY is a pre-code starring Claudette Colbert a bit before she became a major box office star. Claudette stars as a young heiress who enjoys frivolous parties with the young moneyed set and the film opens at a costume party (where half the guests don't bother with a costume, Claudette's merely being a blonde wig). Also attending is a man half the society debs swoon over, Georges Metaxa, a rather creepy member of the group who unbeknownst to almost everyone, was disinherited by his father three years ago for his decadent and dishonest ways. He pursues Claudette, who is amused by him but keeps rejecting his frequent proposals (unaware he really just wants to marry a heiress to keep a place in society). He's also having an affair with another young socialite (Betty Lawford) who has the hots big time for him even as she is engaged to British lord Herbert Marshall, though it's little more than a business arrangement.

Claudette and George party hard with another couple and after that night of club hopping, the foursome impulsively decide to get married at the justice of the peace around 5 am. They return to Claudette's home where to her horror she finds that her ill father has taken a turn for the worse and he dies just moments after her return. Claudette is devastated and sobers up from her frivolousness but soon gets more bad news the next morning: she learns from family friend Berton Churchill (Betty's father) that her father has been living on credit and is deep in debt and there is nothing left for her to inherit after the bills get paid. New husband George is outraged to learn he has married a pauper and storms out of the house and out of her life. Claudette asks Berton to find her a job, so he hires her as a personal secretary for his wife Mary Boland as well as all-around help in their mansion. Betty is very condescending to Claudette and treats her poorly now that she is "the help." Claudette's estranged husband is hired by a gangster who knows the truth about him to work in his mob-run nightclub where he is to steal jewelry from female guests and give the goods to the boss. Despite being warned, sleazeball George can't help but keep some of the stolen goods all to himself. Meanwhile, Claudette at long last meets Betty's fiancée Herbert Marshall (who enters the picture quite late). They are clearly attracted to each other but repress their affection given his engagement though Betty has no such scruples and is still having an affair with George. It all leads to murder on the wedding day.

This movie takes a bit of time before it becomes interesting but once it does, it's a pretty good melodrama. The print I viewed didn't help matters with an occasionally muffled soundtrack making a few lines difficult to understand. It's easy to tell though this was directed by a stage director (the legendary George Abbott), some of the early shots are seem flat and stage-bound and a few actors, particularly Betty Lawford, occasionally deliver their lines in that severe, artificial manner one frequently finds in (bad) stage acting. This is one of those early talkies where you find rather obscure actors (Lawford and Metexa) in key roles, their mediocre performances here making it easy to understand why they didn't work more in Hollywood.

Claudette Colbert gives a typically expert performance. One of film's greatest actresses, she's believable in both frivolous and virtuous moments, unlike many of her famous contemporaries. I've never been much of a Herbert Marshall fan but he's surprisingly appealing here as the modest and kind hero of the film. This was one of the great Mary Boland's first appearances under her Paramount contract; given it's a melodrama, the film doesn't really make use of her superb comedic talent but she's very good in a fairly straight role.

The movie is loaded with improbable moments and has one of those absurdly quick resolutions where an innocent woman is accused of murder, the press is alerted, everyone in the building knows, the police track down the real killer, and the case is resolved and the woman reunited with her true love all before she can even change out of her blood-stained dress but the acting is generally very good and the star couple so sympathetic you can't help but enjoy it.

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The Deep Blue Sea (1955)

7/10

Vivien Leigh is Always Worth Watching

27 September 2023

Vivien Leigh, in my opinion and that of many others as well, is one of the five or so greatest actresses ever in motion pictures. Poor physical health, mental health issues, and her personal preference for the stage resulted her making a regrettably small number of films, just nine after reaching icon status playing Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND, four in the 1940's and just two in the 1950's and another two in the 1960's. Of these nine films, THE DEEP BLUE SEA was the least successful and it's astonishingly difficult to see, never airing on American cable channels despite moderately good reviews at the time of theatrical release. Perhaps it's a legal rites issue as it's based on a Terrence Rattigan play and many of the major playwrights had clauses in their contracts concerning distribution of a film past it's initial release. The movie is currently on youtube although in a mediocre print, particularly sad given this is one of just four color Vivien Leigh films.

Vivien plays Hester Collyer, longtime wife of a distingushed judge, whose life is thrown into upheaval by being pursued by a slightly younger test pilot Kenneth More. The Collyer marriage is one of comfort, security, and boredom and while she brushes off the initial advances, being pursued by a virile man two decades younger than her sedate husband is too much to fight and they eventually began an affair. When More is transferred to Canada, Vivien leaves her husband to be with him but before the year is up he's transferred again back to England. The couple rent an apartment together and feign being married. The film opens as Hester is discovered in a suicide attempt at the flat. The presumed catalyst being More forgot her birthday (!!) but clearly there's more to the story than that. More hits the roof when he discovers the birthday excuse and storms out, gets drunk, and plans to leave.

Hester is desperate to get him back despite the reappearance of her faithful, abandoned husband and the fact she clearly was unhappy in the liasion with the shallow More.

THE DEEP BLUE SEA introduced to moviegoers the "final" Vivien Leigh persona, the weary middle-aged woman still looking for passionate love, also on display in the later THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE and A SHIP OF FOOLS. Although A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE's Blanche DuBois was also in this mold, Vivien in 1951 still had her lovely voice and girlish figure, with a limp blonde hairstyle and superb acting she was able to suggest a fading woman. Four years later, Vivien actually had been aged by Mother Nature, though still quite beautiful and barely forty. Her voice had now deepened to a wary huskiness, her gait and personality showed a woman who had been frequently been hit by life. The film's director gives her very few closeups, just why is up for debate by I feel her eyes projected a hurt and sadness that was deeper than even this suicidal character was supposed to feel. Her performance is excellent but this excessively talky, fairly cold story (despite the passions displayed) won't please many viewers.

Kenneth More was hyped as "the next Olivier" at the time so it's ironic he's Vivien's leading man here; 20th Century-Fox for a short period tried unsuccessfully to make him an international film star with roles opposite Vivien, Lauren Bacall, and Jayne Mansfield but America at least could have cared less. He's a good actor, of course, but he lacks the dashing quality that would have made a society woman give it all up though he's more effective revealing the immature and rather boorish man underneath the polished uniform. Moira Lester throws in a touch of spice as the nosey neighbor across the hall though her character does not develop into the troublemaking snoop we are expecting.

I believe this was the first Rattigan motion picture financed by the American studios and give its failure at the box office it's a bit of a surprise they were more to come, all of them at least modest successes, THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL, THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE, and the Oscar-winning SEPERATE TABLES.

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Change of Heart (1934)

5/10

Great Cast Wasted in Silly Film

27 September 2023

CHANGE OF HEART is a disappointing, by the numbers drama despite a good cast headed by Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Ginger Rogers, and James Dunn. The foursome is shown on college graduation day as they plan to go as a group to New York to make their fortunes, Janet as a writer, Charlie in big business, Ginger as a stage actress, and James as a radio crooner. They room together in apartment but after several months in the Big Apple fail to make any headway. Curiously, none of the group has ever really dated although Janet is in love with Charlie who is in love with Ginger who is in love with James who is in love with Janet. It strains credibility than no one other James (gently rebuffed by Janet) has tried to make something of it.

Ginger is successful in crashing social circles and is pursued by a millionaire and for awhile leaves the little clique. James achieves his dream of being a radio star in a ludricious plot twist by confronting a radio producer and demanding to be heard (which we hear about but don't see, it would have been too ridiculous as an actual scene). When Ginger announces her engagement to the millionaire, lovesick Charlie is suddenly at death's door with a vague sickness that leaves him bedridden and in need of Janet's constant attention and nursing. Charlie pulls through, announces he is in love with Janet now, she confesses her long crush on him and they become engaged. Meanwhile, fickle Ginger breaks off with the money man, writes Charlie a mush note confessing her love and while Charlie goes through with the marriage to Janet, he and Ginger start seeing each other for "lunch".

It's disappointing to see this likable cast in this silly soap opera which consistently lacks credibililty. Janet and Charlie, of course, are one of the great screen teams yet it's absurd that he could suddenly fall in love with her after years of thinking of her as just a pal. The movie refuses to accept the possibility that his new affection is due to gratitude and sensitivity for all she did for him during his illness but the viewer won't be so unrealistic.

Gaynor, Farrell, and Dunn were all in their late twenties playing young people just out of college and while it's acceptable for actors in that age range to play such, trouble is Dunn, basically a character actor, has no youthfulness in his persona and seems a decade older than his real age. Ginger Rogers, newly a "name" thanks to her first picture with Fred Astaire, does well in an atypical role as a blonde bombshell (though several of her early roles were also flirts) but her character lacks credibility as someone whose supposed to be a close friend yet also a potential homewrecker. She goes through three beaus in a film set in about a year's time and while there is a promise she will settle down with her first choice, can there be any doubt this gal will soon encounter man number four? And don't get me started on the insane subplot of Janet working at a charity shop with elderly Beryl Mercier which discreetly works as a means to find homes for orphaned babies, Mercier and Gaynor convincing the wealthy people who donate their old clothes that what they really want are kids of their own!

Of note is the (very) fleeting appearance of Shirley Temple as the gang is on the plane to New York. Shirley is an extra in a scene that runs barely ten seconds, has no lines and is only seen in profile for a moment and then just the back of her head. Apparently filmed before but released after STAND UP AND CHEER, the film that was Shirley's big break, the producers of CHANGE OF HEART manage to give her end-credit billing for this, probably one of the tiniest parts ever in a movie to receive screen credit outside of films that billed a supporting actor who actually wasn't in the final cut of a film!

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Frankie and Johnny (1966)

8/10

Elvis and Elly

7 September 2023

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY was for many years considered one of the better if not the best of Elvis' movies made during the late 1960's that's why I'm surprised to see several negative reviews and a rather low rating of the film on IMDb. Regarding some claims about a lack of chemistry between Elvis and Donna Douglas, this movie was aimed at the "family" audience, it's basically Elvis in a Disney picture. You are not going to see any heavy flirting or intense passion in any films of this nature. Even the vampy Nancy Kovack's part is really a one man woman! Although it was released before the ratings code took effect, it's obviously meant to be a "G" picture. Elvis and Donna in fact make a very appealing couple, she's one of his best, most compatible leading ladies, and have the natural interaction of people from the same part of the country (Elvis was born in Mississippi, Donna in Louisiana). And certainly "chemistry" happened off the set, it's widely known they had a romance during the filming .

This movie is set during the late 19th or early 20th century (this may be easy for many to overlook given Elvis acts and is groomed very contemporary 1960's) and is in the tradition of ON MOONLIGHT BAY, CENTENNIAL SUMMER, and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS as a colorful look at days long gone by. This sort of film was enormously popular in the 1930's into the 1960's but Hollywood pretty much stop making movies with that sort of wistful rose-colored nostalgia around 1970 and apparently some later viewers find this sort of setting boring. I'll admit the direction could have been a little more inspired but it's still an enjoyable picture with Elvis is surrounded by one of the best supporting casts he ever had in his movies. I enjoyed all of the cast. I really like Elvis' performance of the title number, a legendary folk song most often associated with Mae West. Mae West kind of jazzed it up when she sang it so certainly Elvis had the right to rock it although it's closer to a Broadway musical number here. It is ironic though that a family movie was made out of this song as it was considered extraordinaily racy in it's day with the suggestion that Frankie shot Johnny in his manhood!! Obviously that is not going to happen in an Elvis Presley picture and that line in the song was dropped. FRANKIE AND JOHNNY is a enjoyable film, it's not on the level of his classic 1950's movies but it's quite entertaining.

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The Girl on the Bridge (1951)

8/10

Excellent Blend of Sentimental Drama and Film Noir

28 August 2023

GIRL ON THE BRIDGE was Hugo Haas' follow-up to his sleeper hit PICKUP, both of them starring statuesque starlet Beverly Michaels. In PICKUP, Beverly was a busted carnival floozy who marries middle-aged railroad track manager Haas only because she has no other options but is soon ready to leave and with some money, thank you. That sex melodrama was an unexpected hit, and the studios were eager for a follow-up. Haas rushed out GIRL ON A BRIDGE, with Michaels as a suicidal unwed mother and Haas a lonely jeweler that starts out as a gentle drama before taking a film noir turn. It was not a sex melodrama, however, which posters promised, and audiences expected, and the movie sank at the box office. It's failure also likely led Haas to look for another leading lady for his next project, finding his ultimate muse in Cleo Moore. The irony is that GIRL ON THE BRIDGE is a much more impressive picture today than PICkUP with Michaels revealing an unexpected ability to play a vulnerable heroine, and Haas easily giving the best acting performance he ever did of any of his movies.

On a foggy late night, Haas is walking on the sidewalk of a bridge when he passes a clearly distressed young woman. He immediately senses she is considering jumping off the bridge and stops to tell her things will look better in the morning and he has been in her situation in the past but now his life is good, and he runs a successful if small jewelry shop at the foot of the bridge. She seems somewhat comforted by his words, and he walks on, hoping he has made a difference (this part seems odd, surely he would have stayed to make sure she would go home.) The next day he is surprised when she shows up at his shop to thank him for his sympathy. She arrives with her baby daughter, explaining she's an unwed mother and she was distressed that she no longer had someone to look after the baby while she works as a waitress. This part is odd, too, she's going to kill herself because she has no babysitter and leave the baby alone in her apartment? Equally odd is her quick agreement to let Haas watch the child for her in his shop, where he lives in the back rooms. Leave your baby with a complete stranger?? These three plot bits seem wildly improbable and may have resulted in the generally bad reviews the movie received in 1951 but they are quickly out of the way as the story goes on. The duo tells each other their sad stories. She was a showgirl whose boyfriend (Robert Dane) left her to tour with his band, thanks largely to his sleazy cousin/manager (Johnny Case) who wanted her out of the picture; he was a married man in Germany who wife and children were murdered by the Nazis. Haas becomes a devoted surrogate father to Beverly's baby, Judy as well as close to her and when Beverly gets a job as a housekeeper out of town, Haas offers to hire her for the same position with more money. Things are going swimmingly until Beverly overhears a nasty neighbor gossiping about them living together and speculation that Haas is Judy's father. Beverly's upset but Hugo is charmed by the fantasy that he could be the father. He persuades Beverly to marry him if to only give Judy a name, promising theirs could be a celibate marriage if she wished. They do marry and actually fall in love and before long Beverly is pregnant with his child. Hugo is overjoyed to have another family at long last. Trouble is in the air when sleazy manager Case is in town with the band and spots Beverly at the jewelry shop, when he tells his cousin Robert Dane, Dane can't resist popping in the shop and starts asking questions like does he have any employees. He then spots baby Judy and realizes this is his child and comes clean with Haas. Haas tells him that's he's married to Beverly, he loves Judy like his own and begs Dane to leave them in peace, offering to pay him to go away. Dane realizes he had done Beverly wrong and tells Haas he won't cause any trouble and leaves, but he tells his cousin what happened later when quizzed about the visit. The sleazy cousin is outraged Dane did not take any money. Presuming the jewelry shop owner is loaded and stops by himself in an attempt to blackmail Haas. When Haas tells him he does not have the $5,000 the crook demands, the sleazeball starts digging around the shop and then tries to enter the back where Beverly and Judy are sleeping. Terrified, Haas impulsively picks up a heavy candlestick holder and clobbers the guy with it, killing him.

This film starts out as a gentle little drama, atypical for Haas when it suddenly takes that film noir turn. It's not a "bad girl" film noir though; indeed, Beverly Michaels is quite the modest, almost mousey leading lady here, far more a Joan Fontaine or Barbara Bel Geddes type than a Ava Gardner or Rita Hayworth. It's a surprising transformation for Michaels and the biggest surprise is how well she pulls it off, never once with a hint of the raunchy tramp that was Beverly's stock persona. She is matched with Hugo Haas giving the best acting performance of his career. Haas often gave too many little overdone "character actor" touches to his acting whether playing a reclusive cheapskate (PICKUP) or gregarious chatterbox (HIT AND RUN, ONE GIRL'S CONFESSION). He did give good performances playing a villain (BAIT) and an erudite (THE OTHER WOMAN) but here he is at his very best, sensitively playing a lonely, troubled man who has happiness land in his lap out of the blue before it seems to be in danger of disappearing just as quickly. As the other man, obscure actor Robert Dane is also terrific, one is never sure if he's a good guy or a bad one. Most of Dane's other film work was just as an extra; Hollywood is a hard nut to crack.

The final plot twists are unexpected and while for once Haas is successful at earning audience compassion for his character (which really didn't happen in PICKUP and THE OTHER WOMAN despite being tilted toward it), I suspect 1952 moviegoers were unhappy with this film's ultimately tragic spin and kept it from being as popular as PICKUP and his later Cleo Moore vehicles. Nevertheless, THE GIRL ON THE BRIDGE is one of his best movies, made with great taste. Alas, like tuna fish, most fans of 1950's B movies don't want movies with good taste, they want movies that taste good, like a juicy bad girl melodrama.

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Goin' to Town (1935)

10/10

Wild, Wild Mae West

24 August 2023

GOIN' TO TOWN was Mae West's fifth film and even if the Hays Office was now trying their best to clamp down her sexy persona, Mae was still very much a red-hot firecracker in this 1935 release getting some surprising saucy lines and actions past the censors. Set in rural Texas, Mae is quite the uninhibited prairie playgirl. The movie was even publicized with the tag "Variety is the Spice of Life" and the fact that Mae has seven lovers in the film (actually, it's "just" five - two of the men are merely devoted and platonic associates). As Mae notes in the picture, "Where there's a man concerned, I always do my best." And best she does, GOIN' TO TOWN is easily one of her top five pictures.

Mae stars as Cleo Borden, goodtime gal in a Texas saloon who states "I'm a good woman for a bad man." She is particularly pursued by Buck Gonzales, a wealthy rancher who nevertheless engages in stealing cattle. The sheriff is on to Gonzales and warns him, which both he and Cleo dismiss. "Buck ain't got nothing bad on his mind but me," says Cleo. Cleo is not exactly a one man woman though, romancing another cowboy (Grant Withers) on the side. Buck is determined to have her for himself and proposes marriage which intrigues but not necessarily thrills Cleo, who decides to play a game of dice with him to decide whether she will marry him or not. Buck wins and in his eagerness to claim her as his wife, makes a will declaring her his sole heir and they plan to marry within two weeks. On the eve of their wedding though, Buck is caught cattle rustling and is shot to death by the law. Cleo learns of his death as she arrives to be married and is soon informed she has now inherited his estate.

It doesn't take Cleo long to pursue her next man, a British geological engineer Edward Carrington (Paul Cavanaugh) working Buck's property with whom she engages in a cat and mouse routine. She tries her best to vamp him and almost suceeds but is aware she is not the typical woman such a well-bred gentleman pursues. Oil is discovered on the estate and Cleo is wealthier than ever but Carrington's work is now done and he leaves. With the help of the ranch's bookkeeper Winslow (Gilbert Emery), also British, who has stayed on to help her "with the cattle and the men" who work there (Cleo immediately replying, "Just the cattle, I'll take care of the men'), Cleo decides to polish herself up and upon learning Carrington is currently in Buenos Aires to attend the horse races, she decides to enter Buck's racing-trained stallion Cactus in the race and goes down there herself to deliberately bump into Paul again. The blonde bombshell is a hit with the international males in Argentina and Carrington seems happy to see her again but there's trouble brewing when she clashes with a wealthy socialite (Marjorie Gateson) and Paul is appalled by her flirting with a sleazy gigolo (Ivan Lebedeff).

This comedy is packed with lots of Mae's delicious wisecracks and sass and has one of greatest ever slams, directed at the Russian gigolo whom she's now sized up, "We're intellectual opposites...I'm intellectual and you're opposite." Cleo and Paul have a classic love-hate burgeoning romance in then brand-new IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT fashion but is there any doubt Mae West will get what she wants? Mae is wonderful and looks great dolled up in minks and high fashion and vamping her way through three songs as well as an aria from the opera "Samson and Delilah".

Leading man Paul Cavanaugh is quite good in one of his more notable movie roles, but I do agree with another reviewer that Leslie Howard would have been better cast in the part as Cavanaugh doesn't quite have the sex appeal of a man a woman would chase around the world. Standing out in the cast are three classic 1930's supporting players. Marjorie Gateson was perhaps the most formidable advisory Mae ever had on the screen. Elegant and middle-aged (three years Mae's senior), Ms. Gateson specialized playing frosty socialites and here was at her most malevolent. When Monroe Owsley was in a movie, you knew there was going to be trouble for the leading lady with this untrustworthy beau and he serves that purpose here for Mae as he did for Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young, and scores of other movie queens (sadly, he passed away two years after this film's release at age 36.) Owsley was such a good actor at times he fooled the audience as much as the female star. There was no such shading in sinister Ivan Lebedeff, the international equivalent to Owsley, playing sleazy bad guys the likes of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich were sorry they had crossed his path, though here Lebedeff is more of a birdbrain than his stock character yet just as predatory.

There's some pretty racy and controversial stuff here for a post-code; Cleo's blithe attitude toward marriage, her later marrying society figure Owsley just to crash society and the circles Carrington socializes in with the intent to divorce once she's achieved her goal. There's even a couple of derriere jokes (riding a horse for an extended period for the first time, Mae cracks "Usually it's my feet that hurt" and later looking over a map opened up on a table by Paul she coos, "You can find some amazing things on a map," and proceeds to sit on the edge of it.) The raciest line though doesn't go to Mae but to young character actor Jack Pennick, a regular supporting actor in John Ford films, playing a tongue-tied cowboy who has a hard time getting his words out right. Informing the other cowboys who wonder what's going on behind closed doors with Cleo and Mae at the saloon (which Jack learns by peeping through the keyhole!), he tries to say"She's got him tied, roped, and ready for branding" but it comes out, "She's Got him tope (sic) rided (sic) umm ride toped (sic) umm tied roped and betty for randing (sic) umm randy for bedding umm she's got him ready!" GOIN' TO TOWN is a fabulous showcase for one of the cinema's most delightful stars, Miss Mae West.

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If Walls Could Talk... (1998– )

10/10

Best Ever HGTV Show

21 August 2023

I loved this show back in the day! HGTV was pure gold in it's first decade with interesting home and garden shows with excellent hosts and this was my top favorite. Mike Siegel was perhaps the best host, he was comic but never putting his personality above the program which alas most hosts of shows like this do now. Phillip Palmer (very different) was a close runnerup, smooth and professional; Grant Goodeve was good, too. I loved how the new owners of these vintage homes celebrated and honored the late residents of the past; I'm afraid most new owners of old homes probably trash any momentos left behind in attics and cabinets, particularly things like photos and ephemera which is not worth much. I recorded several of these in the good old days of dvd recorders (alas, as gone today as the old treasures the new homeowners found in these houses.) Back in the first decade of this century I barely watched any television other than Turner Classic Movies and HGTV, sadly the glory days of HGTV are long since gone,

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One Romantic Night (1930)

7/10

"A Most Undeserved Happy Ending"

14 August 2023

Warning: Spoilers

"ONE ROMANTIC NIGHT was for many decades Lillian Gish's most elusive sound era film. This 1930 release was her "talkie" debut after fifteen years of being one of the silent screen's greatest stars and widely considered its best actress. The film was rarely seen after initial release only to be resurrected circa 2010 via airings on Turner Classic Movies and dvd release by Warner Home Archive. It's understandable how this elegant romantic comedy about nobility failed at the U. S. box office in 1930 when snappy musicals starring earthy heroines, racy pre-code melodramas, and rough jailhouse and gangster pictures were packing in moviegoers at the time. Compared to what was going on in films set in contemporary America, this film must have looked like it was not only set in another country but on another planet.

The film is an adaptation on Ferenc Molnar's classic play "The Swan" (its original title used in both the earlier 1925 and later 1956 versions and indeed this version was reissued with the original title in 1932 and the print now circulating has that name on the screen). The first version was made just five years earlier starring Adolphe Menjou and Ricardo Cortez as the Prince and the tutor, with stage actress Frances Howard (who soon after retired and married Samuel Goldwyn) given the female lead. The 1956 remake headlined Grace Kelly in her final film just before she became a real-life princess and is one of her least remembered and least successful films.

Lillian Gish stars as Princess Alexandra, whose royal family retain their titles although they no longer reign over a country. Since childhood Alexandra has been discreetly infatuated with Prince Albert (Rod La Roque) of another nation who is still in active duty in his monarchy. Albert, however, has grown into party animal, going from one racy party to another and bewitching and romancing bimbos from all levels of society. He is loathed to see Alexandra again, aware of the long talk between their families of their prospective marriage at some point. Alexandra's pre-teen brothers are aware that their beloved tutor, Dr. Haller (Conrad Nagel) has an unrequited crush on their sister, and they tease both parties about it. Alexandria is, at the very least, flattered and intrigued by the idea and just perhaps feeling a bit of affection for him as well. Their mother (Marie Dressler) however is most anxious that the royal union takes place as soon as possible since there are really no other opportunities for Alexandria to become a Queen on the horizon.

When the reunion as young adults finally happen, Albert is pleasantly surprised how straightforward and agreeable Alexandria is, she aware of Albert's "party Prince" image via the newspapers and realizing he is in no hurry to marry. They become good friends and Alexandria voluntarily frees Albert of any obligations. Mother Dear is not happy though. She correctly senses Albert's ennui and realizes the best way to get a man interested is to suggest he has a rival. She talks Alexandria into inviting Dr. Haller to the gala they are throwing for Albert and to request he dance with her and spend time with him to make Albert jealous. Alexandria feigns reluctance but clearly is delighted for a chance to finally interact with Dr. Haller on a more personal level. Needless to say, Dr. Heller is thrilled and comes to believe the class barrier can indeed become a nonissue, but the situation becomes more complicated by the minute, and nobody knows exactly where things stand. Indeed, as Alexandria notes, "Tonight, anything might happen."

Molnar is very much a European writer, not going for the American ideal of the time of at all points rooting for the common Joe. Neither man is patently "wrong" or "right" for Alexandria in the story. Indeed, one is never sure which of the two men will win the Princess until the very end, which is really how movie triangles should be, in my opinion. "The Swan" gives its players "a most undeserved happy ending" as one character notes at the finale. The resolution is also quite clever though not exactly the same as in the play although with the same results.

"One Romantic Night" is a big expensive picture with lavish sets and was obviously filmed at least partially on an estate not just at a studio. Lillian has the perfect sensibility for this Princess, intelligent, charming, modest, and just a bit wistful. She looks quite youthful, and the cinematographer is wise enough not to give her too many closeups to keep the illusion. I was charmed by one scene in the garden in the early morning light that gives Lillian a lovely glow like an angel or fairy though amused the cinematographer couldn't quite limit the effect to just Miss Gish in the scene, giving the elderly actor playing her uncle a bit of a halo as well (well, he was in the monastery, perhaps he was a saint.) Lillian is every bit "the Swan" though envisioned by her character's late father, "Regal, beautiful, and aloof," though aloof in the reserved sense not haughty and removed as some define the term.

Her leading men in this talkie were also veteran silent stars. Conrad Nagel was one of those matinee idols with a stunning profile but rather ordinary looks face forward; he's very good though as the young man's whose fantasy romance just might come true. Rod La Roque correctly plays his part with a touch of unappealing decadence, the pampered Prince, who just might know when to be decent even if he doesn't bother with it too often. Marie Dressler is the most comic of the players (no surprise there) as the meddling mother but much as I'm a fan of hers I can't help but think the part might have been better served by one of the iconic senior actresses of theatre, particularly the legendary Mrs. Fiske, still around and active in 1930, though not for long, whose two silent films were very well received by critics in the 1910's, or perhaps Maude Adams or Julia Marlowe. This was really just another part for Marie, but it would have meant preserving for posterity one of these theatre legends on film and the part had just enough size and bite that it might have tempted them without having to worry about carrying a project in a new medium.

This is one of those long elusive films that you can't help but be disappointed by the first time you see it, the anticipation being so strong and unrealistic with the excitement of it at last unearthed. Give it a second viewing though and you just might appreciate a lightly entertaining, classy effort well done by talented actors.

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Mr. Chump (1938)

"No Use Locking the Gate After the Horse is Gone"

8 August 2023

MR. CHUMP is a slight, fairly funny comedy musical toplining trumpeter-comedian Johnnie Davis and Penny Singleton, months before she became famous as Blondie. Davis is Bill Small, a lazy musician with big ideas but no job. He rents a room in the house inherited by his girlfriend Betty (Singleton) and her sister Jane (Lola Lane) but is behind in his payments. Jane, a young harridan, has enough problems with her considerably older husband Ed (Chester Clute) only bringing home $20 a week as a clerk in a small bank and is ready to kick Bill out. Another bank clerk, Jim Belden (Donald Briggs) has eyes for Betty and she's also getting tired of Bill's lack of ambition. Bill plays fantasy stock market regularly and brags to everyone he'd be rich if he had invested for real, pulling out years worth papers showing he'd have millions from his projections influenced by a stock tip newsletter he receives. Penniless Bill moves out and churchmouse Ed decides to try his luck on the stock market with Bill's old system but foolishly using unauthorized "borrowed" money from the bank.

This little B" comedy is not even seventy minutes long so it flies by pretty fast. Warner Bros. Briefly had Davis under contract for about two years and worked him nonstop but he never caught on although he is no worse (or better) than most second or third-tier movie comics. He and Penny Singleton worked several times together; Penny was also worked to death in her one-year Warners contract knocking out twelve films for them in 1938 in addition to three films elsewhere that year! She lucked out big time when her contract was not renewed and she was free to audition and land a starring role at Columbia as "Blondie" which became a series and led to her being a Columbia star for a dozen years. Davis' career in Hollywood, on the other hand, was over after Warners let him go.

Lola Lane is given second billing due to her fame as one of the Lane Sisters but her role is the smallest of the five main characters. Penny is delightful, chirping the comic "It's Against the Law in Arkansas" and doing the eccentric dance moves that brought her a touch a fame in early talkies like "Good News" under her real name, Dorothy McNulty. Johnnie Davis also a pretty good jazz number "As Long as You Live (You'll Be Dead When You Die)" delivered in a performance style very reminiscent of Cab Calloway. Obscure character actor Chester Clute is fun too as the hen-pecked Ed. "Mr. Chump" was a pleasant enough little B movie that I suspect 1938 audiences enjoyed and completely forgot the next day after seeing it.

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Masquerade in Mexico (1945)

9/10

Lamour in the Afternoon

13 July 2023

Masquerade in Mexico was a musical remake of the classic comedy Midnight starring Claudette Colbert. It was made just six years after the original film and starred Paramount's other brunette superstar, Dorothy Lamour. Paramount needed a new film for Dorothy and director Mitchell Leisen, who had future plans for a musical adaptation of his original, decided to go ahead and work up a rush job for the project. The end result is a pleasant though unexceptional film most notable for Dorothy Lamour at perhaps her loveliest in glamorous and elegant costumes by Edith Head.

The story has been changed a fair bit from the original but fans of the first film will easily recognize it's origins. Lamour flies into Mexico to meet her fiancée only to learn the guy is a con artist and thief and finds he has hidden a stolen diamond in her baggage. Seeing the police at the airport searching the travelers she (not too upright herself) drops the diamond in the jacket pocket of another traveler, Patric Knowles, and scoots away but she is penniless in a foreign country. A friendly cab driver (Mikhail Rasumny) takes her around to audition to at the nightclubs, first as a dancer, then as a singer and finally, she is hired. Alas, her first night on the job she is spotted by patron Knowles, who is attending the nightclub with his soon-to-be ex-wife Ann Dvorak and her lover, bullfighting legend Arturo De Cordova. Seeing how bewitched De Cordova is with the American beauty, Knowles, knowing Lamour was the one who hid the diamond on him, decides to blackmail her into vamping De Cordova to get him out of the way and win his wife back.

As mentioned, Dorothy Lamour is beyond beautiful in this picture and does very well as the cynical Cinderella. The emphasis here is on romance and music rather than comedy like the original; Lamour's character is not the sharp-witted handful of a coquette Colbert was in the first film. Patric Knowles' part is a combination of the John Barrymore and Don Ameche roles, while De Cordova has the Francis Lederer part which is beefed up considerably here. DeCordova was a major star in Mexican films and Paramount briefly tried breaking him into American films; in a year or two he was back on his home base and his old success.

Knowles is no Barrymore when it comes to comedy (the bogus sick child phone call notably does not pack the punch of the original) but then his role here is not really written as comic; as the new Ameche, however, he is more of a dashing gentleman and makes the ultimate romantic connection seem more credible than perhaps in the original where Claudette was virtually harassed in to giving in to Ameche's designs. Ann Dvorak's role as the cheating wife is much the same as Mary Astor's but Dvorak gives a better performance, not bothering with the sugary insincerity that Astor played. The biggest change from the original was transforming the brazenly gay, drama-loving Astor confidant played by Rex O'Malley into an equally gossipy socialite buddy for Dvorak played by Natalie Schafer but alas without the good lines from the original.

While this movie really should have been in Technicolor, it's glamourous Mexican settings work very well in stylishly photographed black-and-white. Lamour's singing is wonderful and she dances surprisingly well for someone who rarely did so in pictures. One mistake is an extended amateur (though lavish) opera Dvorak throws for her friends at her home; the segment is dull and ends rather abruptly as if Leisen realized it wasn't working and just stopped it, keeping the footage already shot. Masquerade in Mexico doesn't have the bubbly perfection Midnight's champagne, but it's a perfectly acceptable evening cocktail. Both films seem an ideal candidate for a restored, double-feature release for Criterion if Universal ever decides to let the original slip out of print on dvd.

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The Kettles in the Ozarks (1956)

7/10

Funny Entry with Funny Animals and Endearing Una Merkel

19 June 2023

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS was the penultimate film in the Ma and Pa Kettle series, the first one without Percy Kilbride, who had retired, and the only one without the Pa Kettle character. Ma and fourteen of her children take the train down to Arkansas to help Pa's brother Arthur Hunnicutt whose farm is in danger of foreclosing. The brood arrives shortly after brother has been fooled into letting Northern gangsters rent his unused barn where they set up a moonshine unit and plan to take over the local bootlegging racket. Ma meets brother's longtime finance Una Merkel who is still waiting after twenty years to walk down the aisle and decides to help make Una's dream a reality.

Despite being very late in the series this is an often quite funny entry even without Kilbride's presence. Arthur Hunnicutt, a well-known character player of the era, as brother is just as shiftless as Pa and is very good. It's also delightful to see the endearing actress Una Merkel with a role this large late into her career, she's as lovable as ever and has even a poignant moment or two when, helping Ma out with her brood, she wistfully realizes it's "a little late" for her to have children of her own even if she can manage to become another Mrs. Kettle. There's also a fun segment on the train where Ma and her "young-un's" manage to wreac havoc and particularly annoy another passenger, Elvia Allman, who a decade later would create a memorable hillbilly character of her own, belligerent Elverna Bradshaw on multiple episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies". I particularly enjoyed this segment: who hasn't been in Allman's shoes when a stranger talks your ear off telling you all sorts of information you are not remotely interested in or are encouraging them to proceed, and a particularly funny and real bit is when Ma's youngest, listening in with gusto, adds to the patter with intimate family details even chatterbox Ma doesn't want shared. Best of all are some terrifically trained animals on brother Kettle's farm, particularly a unforgettable galosses wearing duck and there's a hilarious segment when the whole barnyard gets drunk getting into the dumped mash from the corn squeezing.

Of course, the gangster plot is absurd (as if there would be big money from moonshine in the 1950's) but then you don't expect credibility from a Kettle film, after all, "Ma" is well into her sixties and her youngest is all of six! Just sit back and enjoy. Marjorie Main remains one of the best character comediennes in film and has a good supporting cast helping her make this little family comedy highly entertaining.

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The Little Ranger (1938)

10/10

"Oh, You're Wonderful!" - Cowboys and Coquettes

19 June 2023

THE LITTLEST RANGER was the first Our Gang film to be produced by MGM, after years oof the studio distributing the series by producer Hal Roach. It also happens to be one of the best entries ever in the series and possibly the best of all the MGMs.

Alfalfa Switzer is waiting outside the movie theater for his "date" Darla Hood to show up with their movie pass. Lovestruck Mugsy (Shirley Coates), a taller and considerably less pretty girl than Darla, unsuccessfully begs Alfalfa to go in with her on her pass. Darla suddenly shows up with her new date, bully Butch (Tommy Bond), and they stride into the theatre, leaving Alfalfa to take up Mugsy's offer of using her pass.

The dueling duos sit next to each other and watch the cowboy picture; Alfalfa soon falls asleep in the middle of the cowboy's song and dreams it's he and Darla as the screen's western sweethearts in a neat editing segment that fades from the screen couple to Alfalfa and Darla in their roles, with Alfalfa doing one of his classic song manglings as he takes over the number. But their screen/dream happiness quickly ends when villain Butch appears on the scene with his gang, kidnapping Darla and tying up Alfalfa. Walking on to the scene, Mugsy discovers Alfalfa's predicament, and he tells her to alert sheriffs Buckwheat (Billie Thomas) and Porky (Eugene Lee) to meet him at Butch's hideout. Alas, Butch's gang ties up all three good guys and leaves them at the site with a lit dynamite keg.

This is a very cute and funny little picture and it's particularly delightful for film buffs to see a phenomenon of the era being portrayed on the screen- the 1930s/1940s B western afternoon movie matinee playing to a packed house of children.

THE LITTLE RANGER was the largest and best role in the series for child actress Shirley Coates; she was only in eight Our Gang episodes, usually in fairly small parts. Although she didn't have much luck with the series, Ms. Coates was one of its more fortunate cast members in real life, one of the few to live deep into her senior years and into the 21st century. Little flirt Darla Hood is adorable in bonnets and old-fashioned garb as the inner movie's heroine playing pint-sized Scarlett O'Hara. Darla was usually Alfalfa's official girlfriend; she did occasionally play the field in the series with Butch or Waldo and sometimes made love-struck Alfalfa jump through hoops; even her fans though will enjoy seeing the little coquette for once getting her comeuppance.

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Suds (1920)

10/10

Mary in an endearing comedy-drama

24 April 2023

SUDS is one of Mary Pickford's finest hours, a multi-faceted comedy-drama that runs the gamut from slapstick to heart-touching poignancy. Set in 1800s London, Mary stars as Amanda, a homely little laundress in a dump of laundry. Her only friends are the boy and an old, half-dead horse that deliver the cleaned clothes. Amanda gets through her grim existence nursing a crush on a well-dressed if smug customer, her only link to a better world, who eight months earlier dropped off a shirt to clean which he's never returned to pick up. Twice weeks she washes the shirt in hopes of his eventual return. The other women laugh at her delusions as she claims he's her boyfriend and they are both from the upper classes, her father having kicked her out for their romance to see if anyone will love her for herself and not her inheritance. It's all baloney, of course, but it seems Amanda half believes it herself. There's an enchanting segment where Amanda tells her coworkers her story that allows Mary to be beautiful and glamorous (her faux boyfriend's looks and clothes also having improved from reality) as she is shown in her castle of her home, with Amanda, the beau, and her father all speaking via screen titles in the broken Cockney English of Amanda and her earthy associates. Misfortune continues to plague Amanda and when she least expects it, the phantom "boyfriend" returns for his shirt at long last (or rather, comes in with another shirt to clean).

Mary is wonderful in this charming movie often compared to a Chaplin vehicle but perhaps more of a realistic fairytale with touches of D. W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, often wearing a tight grin that suggests a poor girl hiding bad teeth and also force optimism. The supporting cast has only small parts but then Mary never did really need any help to make a movie an extraordinary experience.

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Fine Manners (1926)

6/10

Gloria Kisses Paramount Adieu

10 April 2023

FINE MANNERS was the last film of Gloria Swanson's contract with Paramount which had built her from an obscure Mack Sennett actress to one of the greatest stars in the industry, perhaps second only to Mary Pickford among women. La Swanson could play it all, from a moneyed diva to an earthy little broad and in FINE MANNERS she ends up playing both in one role! Gloria is a gal named Orchid who meets a Prince Charming on New Year's Eve. He's Eugene O'Brien, a socialite bored with the way the rich celebrate the Holiday who decides to go out and mingle among the hoi polloi. He is charmed by the beautiful but somewhat uncouth Orchid and they fall in love. When he announces his plans to marry the girl to his stuffy aunt who is aghast at his choice. She reluctantly agrees to try to polish up the girl while O'Brien is out of the country for months. When he returns he is horrified that his unpolished gem has turned into a frosty snob just like the social set he had abandoned.

This is a pleasant if unmemorable film, rather sharply divided with the first half a comedy and the second half a drama. Gloria is always a delight but I couldn't help but feel her performance had undercurrents of slumming, as if she couldn't wait to get out away from Paramount and move to projects she had more control over. Eugene O'Brien is reasonably good, he was a rather colorless leading man of the era and few of his films circulate now. Gloria went on to some of her biggest triumphs in the years after this film and more than twenty years later she finally returned to the Paramount lot for another movie, the name of which escapes me for the moment -not lol!!!

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The Widow from Monte Carlo (1935)

6/10

Highly watchable light comedy romance

2 April 2023

"The Widow from Monte Carlo" is a short comedy that is surprisingly entertaining and as good as many 90-minute comedy romances of the era. Dolores Del Rio is the Duchess of Rye, a young widow who is restless as she is closing in on one year of mourning. She sneaks out to the casinos of Monte Carlo and watches the games as a stranger beside her (Warren William) makes small talk and flirts a bit, asking her age so he can wager on that number, not particularly a good pickup line for any woman, although Del Rio goes along with it, albeit not speaking, nodding as he points toward "24" (in the real world, Dolores was actually a decade older though she could pass for mid-twenties). He wins, he impulsively kisses her (potential harassment in today's world and maybe then, too) and as he collects his earnings, she slips away like Cinderella, leaving him to ponder just who was this mystery lady. Back at the hotel with her late husband's parents, they persuade her to accept the proposal of the rather sexless acquaintance, Lord (Colin Clive) so she can go on with her life.

Williams is friends with a wealthy middle-aged couple. The husband has made his fortune in marmalade, the wife (Louise Fazenda) an ambitious social climber who has long been trying to make contact with the duchess next door - Del Rio. When Fazenda spots Del Rio on a barge at the beach, William swims out to meet this elusive woman whom he begins to realize was the mystery woman at the casino. He tries to talk her into going to a British equivalent of Coney Island with him on a date, which she agrees to after several requests, tired of being bored sitting at home with her staid in-laws and the colorless Clive. They have a ball and, returning home, pick up an American (Warren Hymer) who happens to be a friendly, garrulous gangster!

The next morning, Del Rio comes to her senses and sends William a note telling him they should no longer see each other, considering she is engaged. Visiting William, Fazenda finds the note, steals it and decides to use it to blackmail Del Rio into attending her party.

This is a cute little comedy/romance with Del Rio (stunning as always) and William making a good screen couple. The movie is notable for casting Clive and Fazenda in roles against type. Clive, famous for the man scientist who created Frankenstein and similar roles, plays a milquetoast albeit pleasant royal while Fazenda, best known for playing earthy hicks, plays a pushy social climber who is not averse to using dirty tricks to get what she wants. Fazenda, a comedy star of the silent era, here is into her six-year contract at Warner Bros, where she was a supporting character actress. She's excellent in a Mary Bolandish part as a chatterbox wife with added menace edge. Warren Hymer is also very good as the gangster on the lam who decides to buddy around with new "pal" William.

This movie is so short it never has any time to drag and could have gone on for another twenty minutes if the producers had wanted but then Warner Bros. Usually did keep most of their programmers fairly brief in the early and mid 1930's, all the better to watch two or three of them in one sitting.

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Show Girl in Hollywood (1930)

7/10

"If I Felt Any better, I'd be A National Menace!"

22 December 2022

Alice White was a unique comet of a movie star in the early talkie years. She played floozies in an brief era when a bimbo could be the movie's heroine. Alice was quite cute though only slightly pretty and her odd delivery of her lines often suggest she had never seen a play - or a director - in her life, nevertheless she was quite endearing and likeable and her earthy shopgirl personality apparently resonated with a lot of people in the early Depression though not for long, her time at the top was very short. "Show Girl in Hollywood" was one of the best movies she ever made, a mixture of music, comedy, and pathos with a blunt look at the Hollywood industry where a director could be in a meeting while his name is being scraped off the other side of his office door.

Dixie Dugan (Alice) is a New York showgirl featured in a Broadway musical that has just flopped. The playwright Jimmy Doyle (Jack Muhall) blames the producers for not casting her in the lead but in a supporting role. Dixie and Jimmy go on the town to drown their troubles at a nightclub when famous Hollywood director Frank Buelow (John Miljan) is also there. Dixie doesn't have to be asked twice to perform a song at the nightclub in front of the director and while her half-song is sung in a wobbling voice, Buelow is impressed and promises her a movie contract at a major film studio. Jimmy sneers (with accuracy) that Buelow is the type to "feel a girl's ribs as he offers her a screen test" but Dixie sees this a chance to crash Hollywood and agrees to go back to his hotel room to "talk business" (a scene we don't see). Presumably, Buelow got what he wanted and Dixie's now out to get what she wants, showing up in Hollywood unannounced at the studio. She learns studio executive Sam Otis (Ford Sterling) knows nothing about this idea and that it's long been Buelow's habit to promise young girls such roles. Defeated, she runs into Buelow at the studio and he convinces her his promise was legit. Later, she spots veteran actress Donny Harris (Blanche Sweet) on the lot. Donny had been Dixie's childhood idol and they hit it off like gangbusters, both of them needing a friend. Donny is now unemployable in Hollywood at the grand old age of 32 but still clings to hopes of a comeback and knows the hard times in store for Dixie. She also happens to be the abandoned wife of playboy dirtbag Buelow.

Tried of Buelow's stunts, Otis fires him after he learns his newest screenplay is plagiarized from a Broadway musical, that very musical being the one Dixie was in that had bombed. Sterling signs original author Jimmy to a contract who then insists Dixie get the lead. Only weeks into filming, Dixie gets a diva mentality and insists on script changes and other demands even though she hasn't yet had a single film released! Urged on by Buelow to walk off the picture to get her demands accepted, she follows through, unaware he is being vengenful against the studio, knowing fully well she will canned and unemployable and the studio will lose a fortune with the aborted film.

This little movie is a frank look at the film industry with all it's postives and negatives, one of the first films to do so. There are several snappy lines in the script like my review's title and there's one priceless scene where the viewer might be presuming to watch a bad guy committing murder only to have Dixie walk by the background window - she'd been snooping around a film set on her first day in Hollywood and walked into a scene being filmed!! It's one of the most hilarious bits ever.

Alice White is terrific in her own adorable little way in a role that runs to gamut from star-eyed wannabe to delusional hot-head, but the movie is stolen by legendary silent film actress Blanche Sweet as the fairly tragic Donny. For those disbelieving you could be washed up at 32, one only has to look at Miss Sweet's actual career in this period. With no offers for a lead role for a while, this supporting part was really her "comeback" and sadly, it lead to nothing more than another supporting role or two although she is sensational here, quite moving and even putting over the film's best song, "There's a Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood". A similar fate happened to Miss Sweet's longtime rival, Mae Marsh, who was reduced to being an unbilled extra within a few years. Also very good are Jack Mulhall as the devoted Jimmy and John Miljan as one the first on-film examples of a Hollywood sleazeball (you know he's going to be a creep by the way he chews his food in his first scene). I also enjoy seeing silent movie comedian Ford Sterling in a change of pace role. Well-directed by Mervyn LeRoy, "Show Girl in Hollywood" is not on the level of "Sunset Blvd" and "A Star is Born" as a drama or "Bombshell" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" as a comedy yet definitely deserves to be acknowledged when discussing some of the best films made about behind the scenes Hollywood.

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Brief Moment (1933)

4/10

Not "Brief" Enough!

22 December 2022

I adore Carole Lombard and was looking forward to seeing this early starring vehicle. Lombard's initial Paramount films in her starlet years were hit and miss, but when she was loaned out to Columbia that so-called "poverty row" studio gave her the red carpet treatment, with beautiful photography, elegant productions, and above all, good roles and scripts, as was the case with "Virtue", "No More Orchids", "Lady By Choice", and eventually, "Twentieth Century", the film that made her a major star. The one Columbia vehicle I hadn't seen was "Brief Moment" and it was not only the one dud in the bunch it also gives Lombard her least appealing character ever, more of a castrator than the helpful spouse she is suggested to be.

Social heir Rodney Deane (Gene Raymond) has fallen in love with sexy nightclub singer Abby Fane (Lombard). He proposes but she is wary how his affluent family will react to her. He brings her briefly to meet the folks where she spends all of five minutes in their presence. They are cordial but frosty and it's clear to the couple they don't approve of the match. The duo go ahead with their plans, apparently cutting the family off completely and then going to Paris for a months-long honeymoon. Returning from the trip, Abby is annoyed that Rodney's best friend Sig (Monroe Owsley) has gone ahead and furnished their new apartment without any request from them although Rodney is happy with the results. Six months into the marriage, Abby is tired of their nightly socializing and bar-hopping and especially the eternal presence of Sig in their lives who she thinks is a bad influence. Abby all but demands Rodney go out and get a job (they've been living on $4,000 a month checks from Deane Sr., though apparently neither of them has bothered with the family since the honeymoon) or she'll leave him. Rodney gets a job on the ground floor of his father's business but is so bored with the low-level job he quits without telling Abby and is off to old tricks, hanging out at the racetrack with Sig when he pretends to be at the office.

This movie is rather boring to begin with but Lombard's character further wrecks the story. First, it's hard to believe a posh nightclub singer would have such an unyielding middle-class mentality that a man has to work even if he doesn't need the money and her delusionment with Raymond seems strange given this this the Rodney she had always known when dating, the on the town playboy. Sig at one point refers to Rodney as "henpecked" and while that's not what the screenwriters were suggesting, it's undeniably true, Abby tells Rodney what he is to do with his life and there is no if's, and's or but's for her. Her control freak edge is indicated early with her cutting his family completely out of their lives after one five-minute meeting, never trying to make build bridges and make amends and yet the movie makes it like Abby is in the right at all times. The script clearly has an anti-upper classes stance that presumes the general working-class moviegoing public of the era will agree that the rich are the real ones without class.

Lombard is gorgeous in this as always but this unpleasant characterization is hard to take. When she's not barking orders, Abby is crying - more than getting a job, Rodney needs to run like hell! I hate the see the wonderful Carole playing such a harpie Gene Raymond was never one of the better actors among the era's leading men but he's ok here. Arthur Hohl as Abby's sole friend, the unhandsome nightclub owner who has an unrequited love for her is the one sympathetic character in the film. Sole acting honors go to Monroe Owsley as caustic, shallow buddy, Sig, a role in which the famous theatre critic Alexander Woolcott made his stage acting debut to great acclaim.

I could not believe this dull, anti-rich drama was based on an S. N. Berhman play. Behrman made his name for his social comedies on the stage and this would really be biting the hand that buttered his bread. I looked up the plot of the play and while Abby and Rodney are both nightclub singer and playboy in it, there's little else in common with this hokum. In the play, Rodney proposes to Abby because he likes her drive, having none of his own. She admits he's not the love of her life but she agrees to marry him for the chance to crash society. When Abby again meets the playboy polo player who was her true love but wouldn't marry her, she plots to humilate him as he did her, flirting with him as if they might resume their affair as they hit the town and cause a scandal. Her plans backfire though and it's Rodney who wants out and Abby realizes she needs to stick with what she has, even if it burns out after a "brief moment". Behrman's play was a sharp comedy but certainly Hollywood was not going to make a glib movie about semi-open marriages in the 1930's so screenwriters Brian Marlow and Edith Fitzgerald came up with this bucket of self-righteous slop. Hopefully Behrman was well paid for the bastardization.

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Private Number (1936)

6/10

Maid in Heaven

1 December 2022

"Private Number" is a nice little romantic picture about love between the haves and have nots. Representing the latter is lovely Loretta Young, a penniless young woman who decides to apply for a job as a maid and on the other side is handsome Robert Taylor, who happens to be the son of the wealthy couple who employ her. Back home from college for the summer, Taylor presumes Loretta is one of the guests for the party welcoming him home but even after discovering her actual status is bewitched enough by her beauty to still pursue her. Looking on with malice is head butler Basil Rathbone who wants Loretta for himself (his creepy demeanor and malevolent running of the house staff cancels any possibility Loretta would want him). Taylor persuades Young to secretly marry him, planning to announce their marriage after graduation. Trouble is Loretta with child while he is away at school, leading a jealous Rathbone scheme to destroy her relations with the family.

Robert Taylor was only a year into his stardom when this film was made in 1936 and he is once again in the type of role he specialized in at the time, the dashing young heir pursuing a young woman in a Cinderella romance but one that has turns with misunderstandings and mistrust. It's almost the same story as "Small Town Girl", a better picture he also made that year. On loanout here to 20th Century-Fox, the MGM hunk was the undisputed heartthrob of the moment and among the top five box office stars (he would have been unrivalled in the late 1930's had Fox not quickly developed their own matinee idol in Tyrone Power later that year.) Taylor's very good but since Loretta Young was a Fox contractee, her character dominates the story. Gentle and graceful, Loretta was a moderately talented actress very capable in light stories like this one.

The supporting cast is hit and miss. Earthy chatterbox Patsy Kelly steals the film as Loretta's best friend, one of the family's other maids, and the excellent, elegant character actress Marjorie Gateson is quite good as Taylor's mother, taking a shine to Loretta early on and making her a personal maid. Basil Rathbone, alas, was always unsubtle when playing a villain and here he's such a creep it's hard to believe the family would ever believe he was looking out for their best interests. Paul Harvey was also a little excessive as Taylor's father. On the other hand, the underrated Monroe Owsley, is a bit of a surprise. Always cast as untrustworthy dalliances for movie queens (Stanwyck, Mae West, etc.) here he comes across a believable nice guy. We (and Loretta!) should have known better! Kane Richmond, a Robert Taylor type for B movies in that era, has a brief role as the family's chauffeur.

The film audaciously has many parallels with Loretta Young's private life, one wonders if the studio had concocted this little story to put some confusion in the public re speculation about her private romances, as if the public hearing the Hollywood whispers might conclude it was all just a movie plot. Unwed Loretta had just given birth to Clark Gable's child which much of Hollywood suspected but it was never acknowledged until the 1990's when Loretta was near the end of her life. In this movie, Loretta has to fight an annulment so that her baby will remain "legitimate". If that's not nervy enough, how about a scene where Patsy Kelly rhapsodizes about Clark Gable's screen sex appeal to which Loretta whole-heartedly agrees!

"Private Number" is basically just a pleasant but unremarkable romantic drama, the screen equivalent to a paperback romance novel but with beautiful stars and a smooth production to hold your interest.

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Playhouse 90: The Hostess with the Mostes' (1957)

Season 1, Episode 25

5/10

Not the "Mostest" but Always Nice to See Shirley Booth

14 November 2022

Shirley Booth was into her decade of filmmaking in the 1950's, after over 30 years as a Broadway actress. She, of course, won the Oscar with her film recreation of her greatest stage role "Come Back Little Sheba" but in her fifties (though publicly passing at in her forties) there weren't that many starring roles for women in that age range back then and there were only three additional films, all of them quite well-received by the critics and, to a lesser degree, by the public. This Playhouse 90 adaptation of Perle Mesta's life story was Booth's first major entry into television where in the 1960's she would enjoy her greatest fame, starring in the sitcom "Hazel".

Perle Mesta was a rich widow from Pittsburgh who moved to Washington DC in the forties and became one of the most popular society hostesses with the political community, eventually appointed by President Truman as one of the first female Ambassadors. Her story became the basis for a Broadway comedy-musical starring Ethel Merman, "Call Me Madam", which was such a hit there was also a film version. Mesta's life story, however, was turned into a cartoon, not unlike Annie Oakley's in Merman's more enduring musical smash "Annie Get Your Gun". This "straight" drama based on Mesta's life, opens with admiring words about the musical but it's clear this drama wants to set the record straight about Perle, still alive and well in 1957 and appearing at the end of this teleplay to comment on her current charity work inspired by her period as an Ambassador.

Though as long as a feature film, this drama seems a little too rushed as it jumps through the episodes of Perle's life, starting with her childhood as the daughter of an Oklahoma oil man. Litte Perle deams of being an opera singer and as an adult, moves to New York to study voice. Unfortunately, she's not very good (one feels for Shirley, singing in her own voice that was able to pull off several Broadway musicals, with the scripted comments about her lack of singing talent). Perle's cackling does however provide an opening for an introduction to her upstairs neighbor (Robert Lowery) a steel magnate from Pittsburgh who begins to fall for her. They marry and move to Pittsburgh but Perle's other childhood dream of being a party hostess is crushed by a Pittsburgh socialite who wanted to marry Lowery herself as she and her friends freeze Perle out of society. Widowed early, Perle decides to settle down in Washington D. C. She also revives her dream of being a society hostess to great success and her subsequent friendship with Truman (unseen but voiced by a mimic) leads to the Ambassadorship.

Broadcast live in 1957, this program enjoys one of the better kineoscope copies I've seen of one of these vintage live shows. Unfortunately, the drama itself isn't all that interesting. The program badly needs a light touch a times, but even Perle's disasterious first D. C. party isn't really played for humor. Booth is elegantly dressed in the show, appropiate for the moneyed heiress, and while she always gives a sweet performance, I do feel she played her role a little too timidly . This was perfect for her troubled screen heroines in "Come Back Little Sheba", "About Mrs. Leslie," and "Hot Spell" but Mesta was apparently a confident chatterbox able to charm apples off a tree and that does not quite come through here in this characterization. Shirley could certainly play such roles as "The Matchmaker" and "Hazel would later prove.

None of the supporting cast really has that much to do although it was wonderful to see longtime film character actress Louise Beavers in a live production and I enjoyed the obscure actress Carol Veazie as a Republican senator's wife who becomes Democrat Perle's first D. C. friend, a nice touch emphasizing Mesta's diplomacy skills. Given this is a biopic of the recent past in 1957 and a couple of the supporting roles are unflattering characterizations, one wonders if these were real people, composites, or just fictional characters. We don't have all that much recorded for posterity on the great actress Shirley Booth beyond the "Hazel' sitcom so while "The Hostess with the Mostes'" is at best a qualified success, one is grateful it still exists.

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Girl in the Cadillac (1995)

7/10

Good but Almost a Disneyesque Film Noir

26 September 2022

Warning: Spoilers

GIRL IN THE CADILLAC is based on "The Enchanted Isle", of the last novels written by the legendary James M. Cain ("Double Indemnity", "The Postman Always Rings Twice") . The book was rejected by publishers during Cain's lifetime and not published until 1985, almost a decade after his death. Given it's history, it's a bit of a surprise someone decided to make a movie of it but here it is, an unheralded film from 1995 but not a bad one. Much of the plot of Cain's book has been changed, making this one of the most genteel film noirs you will ever see.

Erika Eleniak plays a teenager who runs away from home and hooks up platonically with a slightly older petty thief who is broke and on the way to participate in a bank robbery. Needing money, Erika is persuaded to drive the getaway vehicle but the robbery goes bad and McNamara's associates get shot, leading him and Erika to flee with the cash. Those bad guys are not too badly hurt though and manage to get away and are in pursuit of tracking down the young couple.

When I saw this was based on a Cain book, I was expecting a much grittier film and apparently the little-read novel was in classic Cain tradition (if not, apparently, in quality) but this is a ratherpretty almost family-film. The movie does manage some good tension, in part because one is expecting a gruesome classic Cain turn that never really happens. William McNamara is excellent as the kleptomaniac turned bank robber. His career seemed to be headed to the big time in the 1990's but alas a couple of wrong turns derailed him but he's still acting and perhaps one day will get a deserved comeback. One problem is you never know what era this film is exactly set in. The prices for a used Cadillac in terrific shape and a bus ticket seem pretty cheap for the 1990's yet color tv is everywhere so this can't be any earlier than 1970. It's also absurd how easy the bad guys find the young couple, not once but twice. Texas is not that small! Also crazy is the crooks shooting at them as they get away at close range but never do any real damage, never attempting to aim at their tires so they can't get away. This movie actually reminded me of 1950's B movie knockoffs of Cain themes, particularly Hugo Haas films with Michael Lerner (who actually looks and sounds more than a little like Haas), Erika in the Cleo Moore blonde bombshell role and McNamara in the John Agar-Vince Edwards part but it's actually not even as good as one of those films but still it's pretty entertaining if rather timid for a crime film.

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Private Worlds (1935)

10/10

Rarely seen yet important Claudette Colbert film

11 August 2022

PRIVATE WORLDS earned Claudette Colbert one of her three Best Actress nominations (she should have been nominated more often!) yet it is one of her most elusive movies although it was an acclaimed film when released. I'm guessing it's so atypical for a Colbert vehicle that it didn't have the appeal for potential ratings like her delightful comedies or romantic dramas. Always a sensitive actress, Colbert is superb and ideally cast as a sympathetic psychologist. She and handsome colleague Joel McCrea are something of a team in their modern treatment of patients although some gossips speculate about their relationship. In fact, Joel is happily married to Joan Bennett and Claudette is a great friend to both of them. Trouble starts though when stranger Charles Boyer is brought in as manager to the hospital in a position McCrea had hoped for. Boyer wants to make big changes, including demoting Colbert as he feels her position is "man's work".

Some of this movie's twists can be spotted a mile away. When Boyer's sister Helen Vinson pops in the picture you know trouble is in store for the McCrea/Bennett marriage. The movie has a harder time teaming Boyer and Colbert as a couple; his sexism is so extreme it's hard to believe she could ever find him attractive, or he desire such a "modern" woman. The acting is fine although Esther Dale is so over the top as the shrewish head matron, the director really needed to put the brakes on her. Vinson isn't subtle, either but then both roles rather encourage their actresses to go overboard. On the other hand, there is an extremely well-played cameo by character actor Guinn Williams as one of the most troubled patients at the institution. Claudette is unfortunately dressed in a somewhat masculine wardrobe, complete with a tie, one of Hollywood's absurd ideas of what a professional woman should wear during the era. At least one is grateful there is no "Rosalind Russell ending" here in the battle between the feminist and the sexist (Roz herself bemoaned that fact about her movies in her autobiography). This is still a nice movie and a quite thoughtful for its era when escapism ruled the box office.

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Stage Struck (1925)

6/10

"I Was Only Trying to Be Funny"

8 August 2022

I am a huge Gloria Swanson fan but I was a little disappointed with STAGE STRUCK. La Swanson, of course, was the premiere glamour girl of the silent screen, the stylish queen of romantic dramas but she was a good comedienne too and as an actress always wanted to expand her range. Here she goes into Mabel Normand territory with uneven results. Her looks played down dramatically, she's a waitress in a frenzied riverfront hash house who secretly pines for the dump's pancake maker Lawrence Gray. He on the other hand is obsessed with actresses, and when a riverboat docks in town is bewitched by the diva on the showboat, Getrude Astor.

There are some funny moments here, but this is rather low comedy for the elegant Swanson. Many of the gags are straight out of the playbook for earthy two-reel comedies. Kudos to her bravery for allowing her to be photographed unflattering (of course in her fantasy segments, she is as glamourous as ever) but it's not the Swanson her fans wanted and it's notable she never made another picture in this vein again. Lawrence Gray actually comes off better as the handsome small-town heart throb, alas his film career didn't really go anywhere. His character's revelation at the end does not ring true though.

I have to confess I was disappointed that the movie was not what I was hoping for, a comedy spin on Katharine Hepburn's drama "Morning Glory" with Gloria being an ambitious wanna-be actress. Here, she's mainly interested in pursuing acting only because Lawrence Gray is obsessed with such women, his room walls papered with pictures of them. The Kino print is wonderful though, with early Technicolor footage in it's opening and closing scenes. The title of my review comes from Gloria's frequently repeated comment after her various attempts at attention literally have her falling on her face.

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Fast and Loose (1930)

8/10

Underrated Gem of Wealthy Siblings who meet their match among the Middle Class

8 August 2022

This unheralded little light comedy-drama was a happy surprise; when it is discussed it usually is panned harshly (Leonard Maltin I believe rated it only one and a half stars) but I found it very appealing and a pleasant film. Star Miriam Hopkins is a bit of an acquired taste, there is always a touch of sourness to her performances, no sweet, friendly ingenue she, unlike most blonde star. Give her a role where she is caustic or scheming however and she is superbly cast (Becky Sharp, The Old Maid, Old Acquaintance) and gives a great performance. Here she plays a role a touch in that vein and it's one of best performances and let's her have a warmer edge to her mischievousness. She's a bored heriess engaged to a Lord she's disinterested strictly because her family wants her to marry a title (it's a nice touch while the Lord is in the relationship for the money as per usual, he's not the sleazy creep of other films but rather a dullard.) Miriam adores her brother (Barry Hutchinson) who is secretly engaged to chorus girl Carole Lombard and envies their loving, playful relationship. She breaks the engagement in pursuit of real love and stumbles upon handsome hunk Charles Starrett at the beach. They quarrel a bit that first night but Miriam comes back for seconds the next night, finding romance for the first time. Trouble is she eventually learns he is a mechanic and she is an heiress - and he happens to be employed by her father. When Miriam and Barry's father learns of his romance with showgirl Carole he schemes to buy her off, unaware his daughter is also now in a relationship "beneath" the family.

Charles Starrett would be a popular western movie star a few years later but here is one gorgeous hunk of a romantic leading man (check out those photos on the IMDb page to this movie!) very believable as the sort of Adonis a love-struck woman would chase after despite any obstacles. (I also found it amusing that his somewhat strong Southern accent provokes Miriam's own to come to the surface at times, particularly on certain words.) Carole Lombard is lovely but hers is a pretty small part despite her second billing (understandable since she was the only Paramount contract player in the film besides Miriam) and the rather unknown Barry Hutchinson is very good as the boozy brother. Ilka Chase is a revelation as Carole's horny, man-hungry pal. Ms. Chase is best known for playing elegant society women like Bette Davis' sister-in-law in Now Voyager but here she's a thin, physical comedienne along the lines of Charlotte Greenwood and Joan Davis. Fast and Loose is indeed fast and rather loose, too. Recommended.

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La vieille dame indigne (1965)

10/10

"She Goes to the Cinema!! I Don't Go to the Cinema!""

13 June 2022

I have wanted to see this film for around forty years, since I first read the brief reviews in the Leonard Maltin and Steven Scheuer film guides. And at last I have - and it was worth the wait!! Veteran French character actress Sylvie (whose film career started in the 1910's) stars as Berthe, an elderly woman in her eighties whose husband of sixty years has just died. The duo had lived quietly and apparently not that happily. A rather frosty family whose grown children are distant emotionally if not location-wise and rarely visit. The film follows Sylvie's months following her husband's death as she ventures out from the small apartment and local neighborhood and starts walking around the big city to discover the modern world, making friends with a thirtyish woman of dubious virtue and a eccentric fortyish man who runs a shoe repair shop. The local villagers are scandalized by the old gal venturing out into world, particularly with such questionable associates and Berthe's neurotic, luckless, failed businessman son Albert (Etienne Bherry) is especially concerned, sending his 20ish son Pierre (Victor Lanoux), an aimless young man who plays pop music with his buddies, to check on the old gal.

If you are expecting a Gallic version of a Ruth Gordon vehicle, this is not it. This is a gentle, slice of life drama (some have labeled it a comedy but there is only a mild touch of humor in it) with a moving performance by Sylvie that is so natural it evokes the legend of Laurette Taylor in "The Glass Menagerie". Sylvie and the film both won many deserved honors at film Festivals for this beautiful film but the supporting cast is equally good, especially Lanoux, Berry, and Malka Ribowska as the easy living and easy loving waitress Rosalie. I wasn't familiar with any of these French actors before, sadly this trio all passed away within the last five years or so (2022). The ending is one of the most tastefully poignant film climaxes I have ever seen. A true masterpiece, it sadly is rarely mentioned in film histories of French cinema but deserves to be noted in depth.

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The Misleading Lady (1932)

3/10

Only Worth Watching to see Lovely Young Claudette

3 January 2022

This movie would be a complete disaster without the presence of Claudette Colbert. One of her earliest roles, she's as youthful as anything I've ever seen her in, 28 at the time but seeming several years younger, her voice is also more girlish in this period than the famous throaty coo from her superstar years. Claudette is beautiful, appealing, and proving her talent, giving a good performance in a lousy movie, perhaps the worst of the 40 or so I've seen her in to date. She's cast as a bored New York socialite who declines an heiress' invitation for an stay at her estate for a week only to change her mind when she learns one of the other guests is a famous Broadway producer. Claudette wants an acting career and tries to talk the producer into casting her in his next play to the point of ignoring another guest, well-known game hunter Edmund Lowe.. The producer tells Claudette she's all wrong for the part, a seductress while he sees her as the refined good girl type. Claudette makes a bet with him she can be the coquette by betting she can seduce Lowe and get him to propose marriage within three days. She's successful at this but it blows up on her - she falls in love with Lowe but when he finds she has recorded her proposal (on one of those fascinating contraptions of the period, a recording record player) he's so angry he kidnaps her and takes her off to his own rural lodge. And that's where a promising movie goes all to hell. Lowe's behavior is brazenly sexual harassment and sadistic by modern standards and pretty much so even in that era, at one point ripping her blouse off when she refuses to change clothes and, at another point, chain-locking her to a fireplace mantle. Add to the mix an escaped resident from a nearby mental institution (bland comic actor Stuart Erwin), two apparent drunks seemingly lost, and you have a total mess of a movie, not funny and certainly not appealing.

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