DELIGHTFULLY DANGEROUS

DELIGHTFULLY DANGEROUS (1945). Director: Arthur Lubin. 

15-year-old Sherry Williams (16-year-old Jane Powell) lives in a girls' school that is paid for by her sister, Josephine (Constance Moore of Buck Rogers), a big Broadway musical comedy star -- or so Sherry thinks; Josephine is actually a burlesque queen known as "Bubbles" Barton. Things come to a head when Broadway producer Arthur Hale (Ralph Bellamy) comes to the school and is impressed with Sherry's talent, but not with her youth. As for her sister, he just can't see putting a burlesque star in one of his "classy" shows. But this being Hollywood, chances are good that one or both ladies will wind up starring in a Broadway show. 

Ralph Bellamy and Jane Powell

Delightfully Dangerous features some excellent performances, with a very young Powell on top of things even at that early stage of her career (this was only her second film). Constance Moore has such style and class that one can't imagine anyone objecting to putting her on Broadway. Ralph Bellamy is Ralph Bellamy, his lack of sex appeal stripping the film of any sexual tension. Arthur Treacher and Louise Beavers are fun as Bellamy's butler and Moore's maid, dresser, and confidante. Ruth Tobey is cute as Sherry's best friend, Molly, and Shirley Hunter makes her mark as a bitchy classmate named Nadine. Christian Drake is appealing as Jimmy Burns, a young sailor and friend of Hale's who is attracted to Sherry when she's all dolled up and looks older than her years. 

It's interesting that at one point Josephine does a parody of the high-pitched soprano style of singing when that's just the sort of thing Powell specialized in. The show that Hale finally puts on is a combo of the old and new, with Straussian melodies interspersed with jive. While some of the production numbers are just plain weird and even a bit dull, the finale is colorful and features some excellent dancing. By far the best number features "Bubbles" on the stage at the burlesque house, doing a sharp, fun and sexy rendition of "I'm Only Teasing." There are some plot similarities to Doll Face which also came out that year.   

Verdict: Another typically unreal but somewhat entertaining Hollywood musical. **1/2. 

WIVES UNDER SUSPICION

Warren William and Gail Patrick

WIVES UNDER SUSPICION (1938). Director: James Whale.

James Stowell (Warren William) is a tough district attorney who rarely sees any side but his own. Ambitious and dedicated, he generally neglects his lovely wife, Lucy (Gail Patrick), going so far as to cancel a vacation at the last minute so that he can prosecute Dr. MacAllen (Ralph Morgan), who has murdered his wife. Stowell is convinced that the murder was premeditated while MacAllen's attorney argues that it was a sudden crime of passion. Stowell is unconvinced, until he thinks that Lucy is carrying on with her handsome friend, Phil (William Lundigan) ... The performances are zesty enough to keep this rather creaky old melodrama entertaining, although the script is fairly obvious and generally superficial. Ralph Morgan [Sleep, My Love] has a great scene when he confesses to Stowell, and the pic benefits from two comic performances from Cecil Cunningham [Daughter of Shanghai] as Stowell's secretary, "Sharpy," and Lillian Yarbo [Presenting Lily Mars] as the maid Creola, although the character is handled in the usual racist fashion of the period. Constance Moore is Phil's girlfriend, Elizabeth, and Milburn Stone is Stowell's assistant. This is a remake of the 1933 A Kiss Before the Mirror, which was also directed by James Whale and is considered to be superior.

Verdict: William performs with his usual flair and the others are fine. **1/2.

YOU CAN'T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN

YOU CAN'T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN (1939). Director: George Marshall.

W. C. Fields is, as usual, excellent in this comedy, even if most of the material and supporting cast aren't on his level. Fields plays Larson E. Whipsnade, who is always trying to out-run and outwit his circus's creditors. His daughter Victoria (Constance Moore) decides to marry a persistent, wealthy suitor (James Bush) to help out her dad, even though she's really in love with Edgar Bergen, playing himself. [Bergen was a fairly lousy ventriloquist and his obviously moving lips are a perpetual distraction. In any case Bergen's dummies, especially Charlie McCarthy, exhibit much more personality than he does.] You Can't Cheat an Honest Man only really comes alive in the final quarter, when Fields arrives at the home of his future son-in-law's snobbish parents (Thurston Hall and Mary Forbes). He has a hilarious ping pong game in a scene that also features the amusing Jan Duggan [Cleopatra Pepperday in The Old-Fashioned Way.] Grady Sutton [The Bank Dick] and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson are also in the cast.

Verdict: You can't beat Fields playing ping pong! **1/2.

BUCK ROGERS

BUCK ROGERS (1939). Directors: Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind.

Colonel Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe) and his young pal, Buddy ( Jackie Moran) wind up frozen in suspended animation after a dirigible crash and wake up five hundred years later in the 24th century. [Neither Buck nor Buddy have any reaction to the fact that everyone they know, including all of their loved ones, have died many decades in the past.] There they learn that organized crime has taken over and the world is run by the nasty – and rather colorless -- “Killer” Kane (Anthony Warden). Earth is trying to form an alliance with the “oriental” people of Saturn, but the Saturnians are afraid Buck and his buddies, including Lt. Wilma Deering (Constance Moore), are their enemies and that Kane is a benevolent leader [you would think that his nickname of “Killer” might have given them a clue!] -- and so on. The good earthlings live in a mountain lair known as Hidden City, which Kane is always trying to find the entrance to, and there are mindless, milling creatures called Zugs. There are some impressive matte paintings in this, but the cliffhangers are generally uninspired and often cheat, and the climax is completely unexceptional. This isn't as much fun as the Flash Gordon chapterplays and Kane is certainly no Ming the Merciless! The plexiglass land car or monorail is an asset, as are the art deco sets and ships. The serial features a transporter that disassembles and reassembles individual atoms to move people from place to place many, many years before Star Trek came up with a more sophisticated version of the same idea. The acting is competent, Crabbe is suitably heroic, Moore, pretty and Jackie Moran is a likable and plucky youngster.

Verdict: Okay, but not exactly a must-see. **.