IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER

Bette Davis and Leslie Howard

IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937). Director: Archie Mayo. Colorized.  

Basil Underwood (Leslie Howard of Pygmalion) and his battling lover and acting partner Joyce Arden (Bette Davis) are appearing in a production of Romeo and Juliet (which they aren't very good in) when starstruck heiress Marcia West (Olivia de Havilland) comes to his dressing room dripping with adoration. Her fiance, Henry (Patric Knowles of Five Came Back), begs Basil to come out to the West estate and disillusion Marcia, act the cad, so that she will fully belong to him. (Apparently he's unaware that Marcia did not expect to see Basil again). With his faithful retainer Digges (Eric Blore of Swiss Miss) in tow, Basil arrives at the estate and puts his plan into motion -- only everything he thinks up backfires on him! Then Joyce shows up and is told by Marcia that she must step aside, Basil belongs to her. Indeed?

de Havilland with Howard

It's Love I'm After is a delightful screwball comedy that has a funny script and situations and some wonderful performances. Howard throws himself into the spirit of the thing from the very beginning and is a lovable egomaniac and ham. Davis, generally too intense for comedy, is fine in this as the angry woman whose long-awaited wedding to her paramour never quite seems to take place. Olivia de Havilland is also excellent, and she gets fine support from George Barbier as her consistently befuddled father and Knowles as the eternally unamused fiance. Bonita Granville and Spring Byington add to the fun as members of the West household, and Eric Blore nearly walks off with the movie as the wise and long-suffering Digges, who excels at bird calls. 

Verdict: Cute picture. ***. 

THESE THREE

THESE THREE (1936). Director: William Wyler.

College friends Karen Wright (Merle Oberon) and Martha Dobie (Miriam Hopkins) decide to open a girl's school together. Into their lives comes a handsome doctor, Joe (Joel McCrea), with whom both fall in love. Joe, however, only has eyes for Karen. (A memorable scene has Martha watching him as he sleeps, with the passage of time indicating that she's done this for hours.) This not being a soap opera, Joe and Martha do not get involved and Martha never makes a play for him. Unfortunately, a nasty little girl named Mary (Bonita Granville) implies that the good doctor spent the night in Martha's room, and forces another child (Marcia May Jones) to confirm it. This leads to disastrous complications.

These Three was based on a play by Lillian Hellman called The Children's Hour. It, too, was about the destructiveness of gossip, but the lie was quite different -- that the two women were lovers (It turned out that Martha was a self-hating lesbian). Naturally Hollywood even in the 30's wouldn't tackle such a subject, so it was toned down and changed to alleged pre-marital sex and infidelity. Years later Wyler filmed the play again (as The Children's Hour) with the original story intact. In that version Miriam Hopkins played Martha's Aunt Lily (played by Catherine Doucet in These Three).

Miriam Hopkins and Merle Oberon

Even in its adulterated version These Three is a powerful story, and the film is well directed and very well played by the entire cast. In addition to those already mentioned, Alma Kruger makes an impression as Mary's grandmother, who starts the word-of-mouth campaign against the two women and their school. Margaret Hamilton plays the woman's stern maid, who can see through Mary, and in perhaps the movie's most satisfying scene, gives her a good slap.

Verdict: Superior, thoughtful drama. ***1/2.

THE GLASS KEY

Alan Ladd

THE GLASS KEY (1942). Director: Stuart Heisler. 

Politician Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy), essentially a crook, is trying to clean up his reputation for re-election by going after hood Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia). Paul has formed an alliance with wealthy Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen), and also fallen in love with Henry's daughter, Janet (Veronica Lake). Meanwhile Paul's sister, Opal (Bonita Granville), is head over heels for Janet's brother, Taylor (Richard Denning), a gambling addict with serious debts. Paul's associate and best friend, Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd), stumbles across Taylor's dead body, and wonders if Paul, who hated Taylor and his influence over his sister, could possibly be responsible. Apparently both Opal and Janet think that he is. The truth may be a little more complicated.

Ladd and Lake

Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, The Glass Key is a reasonably absorbing but rather unpleasant bit of film noir. For one thing, there isn't a single really likable major character; even the hero played by Ladd is a creep. Ladd is as swell at the hardboiled routine as anyone, but he never quite comes off as a real person. He's handsome, but almost as bland and artificial as a Ken doll. Brian Donlevy is as good and forceful as ever, but it's a typically brusque and bristling Donlevy performance like he gives in virtually every movie, including The Creeping Unknown. Similarly Joseph Calleia is excellent in his very familiar gangster role. Veronica Lake has been seen to better advantage in other movies (such as I Married a Witch). 

"Let's have a drink." William Bendix with Ladd

Part of the problem is that the characters in this are mostly one-dimensional and the actors can't do enough to flesh them out. One exception is William Bendix, who honestly steals the movie as the sadistic gunsel who nearly beats Ed to death. Bendix also has a splendid scene, again with Ladd, when they sort of share a drink together as a semi-drunken Bendix tells Ladd what horrible things he's going to do to him. It's not in the script, but Bendix makes this miserable character come alive and almost makes your flesh crawl. (Why Ed would want to be anywhere near the psychopath who put him in the hospital is another question.) Before he became the lovable hero of TV's Life of Riley, Bendix frequently played distinctly malevolent characters and played them superbly.

Tramp and Dickhead: Margaret Hayes and Ladd

A tip of the hat also must go to Margaret Hayes, who briefly plays Eloise Matthews, the trampy wife of a newspaper publisher who makes a play for Ladd right in front of the man after she learns her hubby is flat broke. A true gentleman -- not -- Ladd fervently responds to her sexual entreaties. Again, even with this character being played by the pleasant and inoffensive- looking Ladd it can't disguise what an utter dickhead Ed is! Others in the cast include Frances Gifford as a friendly nurse; Donald MacBride as the easily-influenced district attorney; and Billy Benedict as an office boy. Bonita Granville does a nice job as the grieving girlfriend of the dead Denning.

Verdict: If ever a "hero" didn't deserve a happy ending! **1/4. 

FORTY LITTLE MOTHERS

Scene stealer: Baby Quintanilla; Odd duo: Cantor and Anderson

FORTY LITTLE MOTHERS (1940). Director: Busby Berkeley.

"Maybe he has a charm we know nothing about?" Mme. Cliche

I doubt it." -- Mme. Granville

Out of work professor Gilbert Thompson (Eddie Cantor) runs into and saves a suicidal woman, Marian (Rita Johnson), unaware that she has left her little baby boy (Baby Quintanilla) in a depot. When he discovers the child later on, he doesn't know who the mother is, and takes him home to his boarding house. He finally gets a job at Mme. Granville's School for Girls, but learns that babies aren't allowed there. Another complication is that the girls, who are pining for a handsome professor who was fired, are dismayed by his replacement. "I've seen better heads on an umbrella!" says one disgruntled co-ed. They cook up a scheme to get him thrown out of the school by pretending all of them are in love with him, but when Gilbert is forced to take in the baby from the friend who was watching him, he discovers the girls may not be quite as awful as they seem. Forty Little Mothers is an unusual and charming  comedy-drama with lots of sentiment and a warm and winning performance from Cantor. It is a little astonishing that he is teamed with -- of all people -- Judith Anderson [Rebecca] as the headmistress, but these two pros (from very different disciplines) work very well together. Bonita Granville [Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble] is cast as the main "mean girl" and she is effective, although it is unlikely that she and the other cruel young monsters would suddenly develop a pleasant nature just because Gilbert shames them. Nydia Westman is very amusing as Anderson's assistant, Mademoiselle Cynthia Cliche, and Baby Quintanilla -- who was actually twin girls and not a baby boy -- is the most adorable scene-stealer since Baby Leroy. Cantor even gets to warble "Little Curly Hair in a High Chair." With her highly expressive face, Rita Johnson [Honolulu] makes a decided impression as the woman who hopes, eventually, to be reunited with her baby.

Verdict: How much cuteness can you stand? ***. 

ANDY HARDY'S BLONDE TROUBLE

Herbert Marshall and Mickey Rooney

ANDY HARDY'S BLONDE
TROUBLE (1944). Director: George B. Seitz.

"We always think the lady smiles at us. It's only our masculine conceit that makes us think so. I'm afraid this time you were not irresistible." -- the dean to Andy.

At the end of Andy Hardy's Double Life our Andy (Mickey Rooney) is traveling by train to Wainwright College when he encounters a pretty gal who tells him that the school is now co-ed -- oh boy! At the opening of Blonde Trouble this gal, originally played by Susan Peters, has been replaced by Bonita Granville and her name has switched from Sue to Kay -- ah, the magic of movies in the days before DVDs. [I could also swear that Andy handed the conductor his ticket at the end of Double Life but it turns out Dad forgot to give it to him in the sequel.] That really isn't a problem, however, although this movie has plenty of others. Andy finds himself a rival for Kay, who digs older men, and in a highly contrived bit of business one of those older men turns out to be the dean (Herbert Marshall)! Because of this, Andy, for a well-raised young man, more than once speaks way too bluntly and rudely to the man who runs the college. Worse, there's a ridiculous sub-plot involving two twins (Lee and Lyn Wilde) who can't stand the notion of being separated and pretend to be one person, giving Andy conniption fits. There are admittedly some amusing sequences and Rooney, always outstanding, seems to be getting even better as he gets older, but, especially compared to Double Life, this picture comes dangerously close to being poorly-scripted schlock. This is a shame because there is some good dialogue, as well as some dramatic potential, but it's dissipated by a surplus of silliness. Bonita Granville [Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase] is lovely and gives a very good performance, but looks too old and sophisticated for the role even though she was a year younger than Rooney. Lewis Stone and the others -- only Marian is missing -- are excellent, and Herbert Marshall [The Letter] excels, as usual, in his oddly-written role. His scenes with Granville have such a certain sensuality to them (the dean admits to Judge Hardy that there is a definite, two-sided attraction) that you're presented with a middle-aged college dean basically making time with a freshman co-ed; she even kisses him. Keye Luke as the new Carvel doctor, and Connie Gilchrist [Two on a Guillotine] as a house mother are both notable. It's interesting that Andy reads a magazine called Horror on the train, and even more interesting is a rare editing gaffe in a major movie: in a scene with the twins one of them is reaching towards her sister when there is an abrupt and awkward cut. and in the next shot she is repeating the motion. Rooney appears more youthful in this than he did in the previous picture.

Verdict: Not one of Andy's best, but Rooney is magnificent! **.

LOVE LAUGHS AT ANDY HARDY

Dorothy Ford and Mickey Rooney

LOVE LAUGHS AT ANDY HARDY (1946). Director: Willis Goldbeck.

"I'm an innocent victim of circumstance." -- Andy Hardy

Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) is back from a two-year stint in the Army and anxious to get back to Wainwright college -- and Kay (Bonita Granville), his college sweetheart from Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble. The easily-agitated Mrs. Hardy (Fay Holden) is convinced her "baby" is going to get married -- and not to someone worthy of him. In these assertions Mother Hardy may well be correct. Andy's parents at first confuse his girlfriend with Coffy Smith (Dorothy Ford), an extremely tall young woman with whom Andy attends a dance (in a lively and amusing sequence) and who is too fond of calling people "uncle." ("She's a very pretty girl," says Mrs. Hardy "but do you think she'll stop growing?") In the meantime, Kay proves to be a little insensitive and rather stupid considering what she asks of Andy just as he's trying to propose to her. Love Laughs at Andy Hardy is a big improvement over Blonde Trouble, with Rooney, Lewis Stone and Fay Holden giving their usual excellent performances. Six foot two Dorothy Ford is very appealing as Coffy, and Lina Romay scores as the sexy Isobel, who does her best to get Andy out of his funk. Sara Haden appears as Aunt Millie, but Cecelia Parker is missing as Marian. There's a very funny sequence when Andy is locked out of the house in what looks like his mother's bathrobe. While Mrs. Hardy had always been portrayed as a woman who was a little naive and unsophisticated, in this they make her seem like a dope when she often offered sage advice to her husband and son. This was the last Hardy film for twelve years.

Verdict: A return to form for the Hardys. ***.

CALL IT A DAY

Olivia de Havilland has a crush on Walter Woolf King

CALL IT A DAY (1937). Director: Archie Mayo.

"For utter indecency, give me the high-minded!"

Spring is in the air and romantic thoughts are surrounding the members of the veddy British Hilton family. Catherine (Olivia de Havilland) is thoroughly and painfully infatuated with a married painter named Paul (Walter Woolf King of Swiss Miss). Her brother Martin (Peter Willes) is smitten with the pretty next-door neighbor, Joan (Anita Louise). His father, Roger (Ian Hunter), finds himself pondering the possibility of an illicit relationship with a flirtatious client, while his wife Dorothy (Freida Inescort of Juke Box Rhythm) is pursued by Frank (Roland Young), who thinks she is the prospective bride his sister has picked out for him. You really want to like this movie with its memorable cast but it just sort of sputters along without reaching any great comedic or dramatic highlights and generally the characters are more types than real people. Yet de Havilland is wonderful, limning young unrequited love with unbridled passion, and King expertly portrays the man who is sorely attracted to her but also respectful of his wife, Ethel (a notable Peggy Wood of The Bride Wore Boots). Inescort, Hunter and Young also give excellent performances, and there's fine support from Bonita Granville and Una O'Connor. Archie Mayo also directed the superior Give Me Your Heart.

Verdict: Great cast and some good scenes but it's just nothing special. **.

NANCY DREW AND THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE

NANCY DREW AND THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE (1939). Director: William Clemens. 

Loosely based on The Hidden Staircase, this uses many of the elements of the novel but is basically a new story. Two elderly sisters live in a mansion and have had to abide for twenty years with their late father's ridiculous will, which says they will inherit the place if they live in the house that entire time and if at least one of the sisters is present in the mansion every night. There's two weeks to go, after which the women intend to give the home to a charitable medical facility. When their chauffeur is murdered, the women panic and Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) does her best to convince everyone that his death was actually a suicide. She investigates when the old ladies claim items have been stolen from their home even though all the doors and windows were locked. As usual she inveigles the hapless "Ted" Nickerson (Frankie Thomas) into helping her with her schemes. In the books Nancy was brave and occasionally foolhardy but in this she's irresponsible and stupid -- and even screams in fright at a frog! The idiot police chief lets Ted handle the murder weapon. The climax isn't bad, however, and there are some amusing sequences. John Litel is again cast as Carson Drew. 

Verdict: The last of Nancy on the big screen [at that time] -- and not a moment too soon! **.

NANCY DREW -- DETECTIVE

NANCY DREW -- DETECTIVE (1938). Director: William Clemens.

Although the "original" screenplay is attributed to Kenneth Gamet, this was clearly based on one of the original Nancy Drew novels, "Password to Larkspur Lane." A wealthy woman who is on the verge of donating a large sum of money to Nancy's school suddenly disappears, and Nancy (Bonita Granville) tries to find her. In this she is aided or hindered, depending on the situation, by her father Carson (John Litel), her friend Ted Nickerson (it was "Ned" in the books), and the police. Ted is played by Frankie Thomas, and he's basically been turned into comedy relief, even improbably dressing in drag at one point. Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper and mother substitute in the books, has been replaced by the dizzy maid Effie (the oddly-named Renie Riano) in the movie. Granville makes a spirited (perhaps too spirited) Nancy Drew, and the film is decidedly minor but admittedly charming at times.

Verdict: You could do worse. **1/2.

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS. Carole Kismaric & Marvin Heiferman. Simon and Schuster;

While other juvenile mystery series fell by the wayside, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys have been consistently published for around seventy years! This engaging volume, packed with cover facsimiles and other photos, looks at the creation of the three detectives, the Stratemeyer syndicate that packaged them, some of the ghost writers of the various books, how the books were revised over the years, and the various ways that Nancy and Frank and Joe Hardy have been reinvented and repackaged over the years to keep them interesting and relevant to teens of all ages. Along the way there are sidebars looking at how teenagers steadily grew into an identity and demographic (and sales force to reckon with) all their own -- until now everything seems geared to teenagers. There is also some discussion of the old Nancy Drew movies starring Bonita Granville as Nancy, and the various TV series devoted to the characters, beginning with the serialization of The Hardy Boys' first book The Tower Treasure (as The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure) on The Mickey Mouse Club in 1956.

If there's any problem with the book it's that one senses the authors' were not particular fans of the series they're writing about, which makes the book an interesting collection of info and anecdotes that is, unfortunately, devoid of a certain personal enthusiasm. (And a smart copy-editor certainly should have flagged a line wherein the authors lump homosexuality in with other "nightmares" of modern life such as "divorce and teen suicide.")

While there have been many, many new adventures of Nancy and the Hardys in various formats, the original (revised) books are still available in hardcover from Grosset and Dunlap (everything else is published by Simon and Schuster). The original stories (before the revisions) can be found in used bookstores and on ebay or ioffer.com. The best of these include (for The Hardy Boys): Hunting for Hidden Gold, The Sinister Sign Post, A Figure in Hiding, The Twisted Claw, The Mystery of the Flying Express, The Wailing Siren Mystery, The Clue in the Embers, The Ghost at Skeleton Rock, The Clue of the Screeching Owl, and The Haunted Fort. [NOTE: Some of the earlier titles have been completely rewritten and have entirely different storylines.] Above-average Nancy Drew titles include The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, Mystery of the Tolling Bell, and Password to Larkspur Lane.

As the book relates, some fans were outraged at the streamlining and updating of the books in the 50's to 60's. While it's true that some books and characterizations lost a bit of flavor (the intrepid Nancy Drew, sort of an early feminist heroine, was toned down a bit, and the Hardy Boys' delightful Aunt Gertrude lost a bit of her pepper) and that some of the new storylines were pretty bad, it's also true that the streamlining cut out some dull, meandering passages and some of the revised stories were an improvement over dumb and dated originals rife with racist stereotypes. Deciding whether it's the original story or the revised/new version which is better has to be done on a book by book basis.

NOTE: Other juvenile/young adult mystery series of note include the Ken Holt series by Bruce Campbell (The Secret of Skeleton Island is the first and best) and the Rick Brant science-adventure (and mystery) series by John Blaine, including The Rocket's Shadow and The Lost City. These series did not survive past the late sixties/early seventies, more's the pity.

Verdict: For the inner child in you. ***.