MISBEHAVING HUSBANDS

Ralph Byrd and Harry Langdon

MISBEHAVING HUSBANDS (1940). Director: William Beaudine.

Department store owner Henry Butler (Harry Langdon) has forgotten that it is the 20th anniversary of his marriage to Effie (Betty Blythe). Nevertheless she invites guests to celebrate and waits for him to get home, but a misadventure with a mannequin -- which is mistaken for a real woman by police -- means he gets home very late with a woman's shoe in his pocket. Encouraged by recent divorcee Grace (Esther Muir), Effie hires a sleazy lawyer, Gilbert Wayne (Gayne Whitman), who goes so far as to have his gal pal, Nan (Florence Wright), pretend to be Henry's inamorata so he can get a hefty percentage of the divorce settlement. Meanwhile Henry's niece, Jane (Luana Walters of Drums of Fu Manchu), and Bob Grant (Ralph Byrd of S.O.S. Coast Guard) are instructed to act as chaperons as the divorce proceeds since neither Henry nor Effie will move out of their home; the younger couple try to bring the older pair together even as they fall in love themselves. Misbehaving Husbands is not as provocative nor as funny as the title might suggest, but this cheap PRC production has some spirited players, even if Langdon was far past the days of his successful silent pictures; Betty Blythe [Freckles Comes Home] is terrific as Effie. Some amusing moments but very minor indeed. Billy Mitchell nearly steals the picture as the butler, Memphis.

Verdict: Anything with Byrd in it is always worth a look. **. 

FRECKLES COMES HOME

Mantan Moreland and Laurence Criner

FRECKLES COMES HOME (1942). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Summoned by his old pal Danny (Marvin Stephens of Borrowing Trouble), "Freckles" Winslow (Johnny Downs) comes back to Fairfield, Indiana, accompanied on the bus by a stranger named Muggsy Dolan (Water Sande of Blonde Ice). Muggsy pulled off a bank robbery in which a guard was killed, and has taken it on the lam, figuring quiet, isolated Fairfield is as good a place to hide out as any. He gets it into his head to rob the bank and brings in an associate, Quigley (Bradley Page). Danny lost money that he needed to pay bills for his hotel by buying an alleged gold-finding machine, and wants Freckles' help in using old girlfriend Jane Potter (Gale Storm) to convince her banker father, Hiram Potter (John Ince), to build a new highway into town, increasing business. Freckles is irritated because Jane seems to go for Quigley's oily charm. Meanwhile hotel porter Jeff (Mantan Moreland) has fun trying to convince Quigley's chauffeur, Roxbury (Lawrence Criner), to buy his phony machine. Freckles Comes Home has an amiable cast, including Betty Blythe [The Spanish Cape Mystery] as Hiram's wife and Irving Bacon as the ditsy town constable, but the picture is completely stolen by Moreland and Criner, especially in a very funny sequence when the two argue over which of them is to get the more comfortable bed in their hotel room. These are two great comic actors in their prime. Otherwise this is a typical Monogram quickie. Apparently this has nothing to do with the old Freckles newspaper comic strip.

Verdict: Short Monogram flick is fairly easy to take. **3/4.

THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY

Helen Twelvetrees and Donald Cook

THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY (1935). Director: Lewis D. Collins.

"They're so rich and snooty that half the time they don't even talk to each other!"

Ellery Queen (Donald Cook) and his dyspeptic buddy Judge Macklin (Burton Churchill) arrive in Spanish Cape for some fishing and are instead embroiled in a mystery concerning the household of Walter Godfrey (Frank Sheridan). Some of Godfrey's relatives are gathered on his estate for a meeting to see if they can break an old aunt's will, while Godfrey just wishes they would get the hell out of his house. One by one the heirs start getting murdered, with the suspects including Godfrey; his wife (Betty Blythe of Charlie Chan and the Chinese Cat); his daughter, Stella (Helen Twelvetrees), with whom Ellery becomes involved; Stella's handsome alleged fiance, Leslie Court (Arnold Gray); and other heirs; as well as the butler, Teller (Frank Leigh) and other domestics. Sheriff Moley (Harry Stubbs) does his best to solve the case but is no match for the insouciant wit of Ellery Queen. There are so many murders that the grumpy, intense Judge says, "It's getting so the corpses are in the majority. If this keeps up, we won't have a quorum for the inquest!" The leads and supporting players are competent enough, and Katherine Morrow has a nice bit as the grief-stricken maid, Miss Pitts. A Republic production. Lewis D. CXollins also directed several serials, such as The Mysterious Mr. M  [Universal].

Verdict: Easy enough to figure this one out, but modestly entertaining. **1/2 out of 4.

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT

Sidney Toler and Benson Fong

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT (aka The Chinese Cat/1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

"One Chan at a time is enough! No more murders for me!' -- Birmingham Brown.

Six months after the police are stumped by a "locked room" murder in which Thomas Manning is found shot, a work of fiction, "Murder by Madame," comes out which puts the blame on the widow, Mrs. Manning (Betty Blythe of A Fig Leaf for Eve). It appears that the woman's first husband died mysteriously as well, but this sub-plot is dropped early on. Mrs. Manning's daughter, Leah Manning (Joan Woodbury), who apparently took her stepfather's name, importunes Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) to finally solve the case and remove the cloud of suspicion over her mother. Charlie also makes a bet with the novelist, Recknik (Ian Keith of Cleopatra) as to whether or not the detective will come up with a new solution. There's a hidden staircase (which makes you wonder why anyone considered it a "locked room" puzzle); gems secreted inside cat statues with hidden compartments; and a climax inside a fun house on a pier. Alas, the one thing this movie doesn't have is any real suspense. While different and not as lovable as Victor Sen Yung, Benson Fong is quite good as Tommy Chan. Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland), now a Yellow cab man in New York, gets in on the action whether he wants to or not. Detective Harvey Dennis (Walden Heyburn) happens to be Leah Manning's boyfriend, and the ever-mediocre Cy Kendall is the late Manning's business partner, Webster Deacon. John Davidson [The Perils of Pauline] plays creepy-looking twins.

Verdict: Fairly standard Chan picture is not one of the better ones. **.

A FIG LEAF FOR EVE aka DESIRABLE LADY

Jan Wiley goes into her dance

A FIG LEAF FOR EVE (aka Desirable Lady/1944). Director: Donald Brodie.

 A dancer named Eve (Jan Wiley) is arrested for non-existent "lewdness" but it turns out to be her agent, Dan's (Phil Warren), publicity stunt. But she meets a shady bail bondsman named Hoffman (Eddie Dunn) who tells her she might just be the heir to a hair oil fortune; her life story corresponds to that of an "Eve Westland." Meeting her relatives, the members of the Sardum family, she discovers she has an ally in Uncle Horace (Edward Keane) and his sweet old sister Sarah (Janet Scott), but antagonists in the form of Horace's termagant wife, Lavinia (Betty Blythe), and her daughter, Millicent (Marilyn McConnell), who find her utterly declasse. Will our gal get her fair share of the estate and find true love with Dan? This could have made a cute and funny picture, but it opts for unconvincing melodrama instead. It doesn't even have a decisive wind-up. The acting is okay from a pretty unknown cast, but you can see why Wiley never became a big star; even her dancing isn't that great, and she looked a lot sexier in the serial Secret Agent X-9 made the following year.

Verdict: This is yet another stinky public domain movie retitled for the DVD market.  *1/2.