JUNIOR PROM

Freddie Stewart

JUNIOR PROM (1946). Director: Arthur Dreifuss.

"You're all acting like a bunch of drips!"

At Whitney High School there's an election for student body president, with the two nominees being Freddie Trimball (Freddie Stewart) and Jimmy Forrest (Jackie Moran of Barefoot Boy). Jimmy's father tells the principal, Professor Townley (Milton Kibbee), that if his son doesn't win the election the school won't get new uniforms or any donation from him. Initially Freddie drops out of the race for the good of the school, although Townley refuses to buckle under. But eventually Freddie and Jimmy run a heated campaign, with Jimmy's manager, Roy (Frankie Darro), going so far as to romance school reporter Betty Rogers (Noel Neill of Superman) to get his man favorable publicity, leading to an estrangement between Betty and her two sisters. Every once in awhile someone, mostly Freddie, breaks out in a song ...

June Preisser and Freddie Stewart

Junior Prom was the first starring role for the now-forgotten Freddie Stewart, an amiable and nice-looking crooner who sang for Tommy Dorsey. Unfortunately, his Hollywood offers only included one from cheapie Monogram studios, who cast him in a series of "Teen Agers" films, of which Junior Prom was the first. His love interest was generally June Preisser [Strike Up the Band], herein cast as Dodie Rogers. He made eight more "Teen Agers" movies even though he was already 21 at the time of filming this flick, and the other "teens" were a bit long-in-the-tooth as well. His various attempts at a comeback were not successful.

Harry the Hipster: This was once the epitome of "cool"

As for Junior Prom, it is also amiable, with some snappy dance numbers and an especially good routine from Preisser during a lively "Teen Canteen" production number, which also features bandleader Abe Lyman (black musician Eddie Heywood appears in an earlier sequence). Another cast member is Warren Mills, who plays the borderline camp and take-charge Lee Watson. "What if you didn't have a boy to take you to the prom?" Dodie asks Lee. "What if I did?" replies Lee, who doesn't seem adverse to the idea even if he's going with Dodie's other sister, Addie (Judy Clark). Murray Davis is cast as fat soda jerk Tiny, but his supposedly funny shtick can sometimes he painful. The picture has the usual tiresome swing vs classical music business. Harry "the Hipster" Gibson, playing himself, does one irritating number. This was his only film appearance.

Verdict: Enthusiastic and talented players, but for most of them this was not an auspicious debut. **3/4. 

CAMPUS RHYTHM

Reaction to a kiss: Gale Storm and Johnny Downs

CAMPUS RHYTHM (1943). Director: Arthur Dreifuss.

Joan Abbott (Gale Storm) sings on the radio for her sponsor, Crunchy Wunchy cereal, but she'd really rather go off to college. When her guardian, Uncle Willie (Douglas Leavitt), renews her contract without her knowledge, she takes off for Raleigh College by assuming the name of the sponsor's high-spirited secretary, Suzie Smith (Marie Blake). There she encounters the oh-so-serious editor of the campus paper, "Scoop" Davis (Johnny Downs); the dreamy, likable lover boy, Buzz (Robert Lowery); the weird if lovable Harold (Candy Candido); saucy, singing Babs (GeGe Pearson); and the venomous Cynthia (Claudia Drake of The Face of Marble), who's out to get her because she caught the eye of Buzz. In an attempt to find their wayward songstress, the sponsor holds a contest, and the funniest scene has to do with Uncle Willie traveling to Raleigh to find his niece and winding up in the hands of the law. The cast, led by a sparkling-as-ever Storm, is more than capable, and the film is pleasant. Babs sings "Oh, you character!" while Joan warbles "But Not You" to Buzz. GeGe Pearson has a nice voice and a lot of personality to go with her horse face; Candy Candido is the weirdest of novelty singers (and speakers) as his voice can go from falsetto to bass all within the same sentence. Both of them later did a lot of voice-over work for television and movies. John Duncan plays one of the fraternity boys; six years later he would team with Robert Lowery for the serial Batman and Robin, wherein he played the latter. The strange thing about this movie is that there's no fade out clinch between Storm and Downs, although it's intimated that they've gotten together again, but considering Scoop's behavior it's even more likely that they didn't. Downs [The Mad Monster] also starred in a movie called All-American Co-Ed, which is also known as Campus Rhythm, but it is not the same picture.

Verdict: Easy to take. **1/2.

JUKE BOX RHYTHM

JUKE BOX RHYTHM (1959). Director: Arthur Dreifuss.

So Princess Ann (Jo Morrow) has come to New York to find a coronation gown and she winds up getting into a wild swing thing with handsome Riff Manton (Jack Jones, son of Allan Jones). Riff is the son of down-on-his-luck Broadway producer George Manton (Brian Donlevy), who is keeping time not with Riff's mother (Marjorie Reynolds) but with a hotter blonde (Karin Booth) -- for shame. Then we mustn't forget former junk man Balenko (Hans Conreid) who fancies himself the greatest fashion designer in the world. He thinks Riff and the princess are "just like that" and asks him to somehow get Her Highness to look at his designs. But will the princess' uppity Aunt Margaret (Freida Inescort) allow it?

So let's see. We've got Freida Inescort of Return of the Vampire, Brian Donlevy of the Quatermass films, "Mr. Livermore" of I Love Lucy (Hans Conreid), Edgar Barrier of The Giant Claw, Fritz Feld of a zillion features (almost always playing the same role and doing it well) and the son of Allan Jones -- all in the same movie!

Jack Jones [dig that groovy haircut!] can act and has a pleasing personality, so it's a wonder his movie career didn't go further. Jo Morrow (who also appeared in 13 Ghosts) is decorative [she's the ginchiest!] and competent. Donlevy and Conred are fine, which is to be expected. Inescort adds a touch of class to the proceedings, which are perfectly amiable and utterly forgettable.

Low point: George Jessel shows up, tells bad jokes, and sings -- very badly!

Verdict: You probably won't dig it the most but some might think Jones is "the most"! **.