Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

GEORGE WHITE'S SCANDALS


GEORGE WHITE'S SCANDALS (1945). Director: Felix E. Feist.

Joan (Joan Davis), a comedienne with George White's Scandals, wants to marry partner Jack (Jack Haley), but his older sister Clarabelle (Margaret Hamilton) insists he can't wed until she does. And with her looks and personality that's a real problem. This plot -- if you can call it that -- is regularly interrupted by performances by Gene Krupa and his band and others. BetteJane (Jane) Greer is cast as a bitchy chorus girl, and Phillip Terry (Mr. Joan Crawford # 3) plays one of White's staff. The men in this movie seem to have a real disdain for women, or at least chorus girls, whom they dismiss and talk about as if they were so much cattle. Rose Murphy is fun as Joan's saucy maid, Hilda. Fritz Feld, who seems to have been in every other movie ever made, is in this one, too. Glenn Tryon plays George White. Hamilton is swell and her encounters with Davis are very amusing.

Verdict: Anything with Joan Davis in it is worth watching, but this ain't no masterpiece. **.

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