THE BANK DICK

THE BANK DICK (1940). Director: Edward F. Cline.

W. C. Fields is simply splendid as Egbert Souse (pronounced Sousay, and don't you forget it!), who inadvertently foils a bank robbery and is given a job as a bank guard as a reward. Egbert's future son-in-law, Og (the wonderful Grady Sutton) borrows money from the bank for an investment opportunity and discovers to his horror that the bank examiner J. Pinkteron Snoopington (the superb Franklin Pangborn) is in town to look over the books! Egbert does what he can to prevent Snoopington from discovering the missing loot until Og can return it and has other assorted misadventures as well, even winding up directing a film. Una Merkel and Cora Witherspoon are terrific as members of Egbert's family. Jan Duggan from The Old-Fashioned Way has a cameo as a customer in the bank, and Pierre Watkin [Atom Man vs. Superman] is actually excellent as the bank president.

Verdict: This is a very funny and well-acted movie. ***1/2.

LOVER COME BACK (1946)

George Brent and Lucy

LOVER COME BACK (1946). Director: William A. Seiter.

"Jealousy is a particularly crude manifestation of the uncultured."

"Your complete and unashamed lack of principles almost amounts to integrity." 

"That's different -- I'm a man!"

Executive Kay Williams (Lucille Ball) cleverly fobs off a variety of wolves, including her boss, while her husband, Bill (George Brent), a war correspondent, is overseas. When he returns home, Kay discovers that he had a number of dalliances with women, including his photographer Madeline (Vera Zorina of On Your Toes). She decides to get even by pretending that she also saw different men while he was gone -- and after. Madeline waits hopefully in the wings, while Kay's in-laws -- Bill Sr. (Charles Winninger) and his wife (Elisabeth Risdon) -- offer conflicting advice to both parties and bicker with each other. Will the younger couple work out their problems or wind up in Reno? 

Elisabeth Risdon and Charles Winninger

Lover Come Back is a breezy and delightful film bolstered by excellent performances from the entire cast, with Lucy being especially bright-eyed, effective, and resplendent. This is a clear example that Ball's talent did not begin and end with the wonderful I Love Lucy. Brent gives one of his more memorable performances, and one can't say enough about the terrific Winninger and Risdon, who make quite a pair of nattering lovebirds. Then we've got Austrian actor Carl Esmond as dapper and aggressive Paul, who wants to marry Kay; William Wright (of Philo Vance Returns) as photographer Jimmy, who makes frequent passes; Raymond Walburn (of And the Angels Sing) as Kay's amorous boss J. P. Winthrop; Wallace Ford as the lawyer Tubbs, who switches sides in this battle of the sexes after he gets punched; and spirited Louise Beavers as the couple's lovable domestic, Martha. Others in the cast who appear briefly are Franklin Pangborn as a hotel clerk; Ellen Corby as a secretary; and Joan Shawlee as one of Bill's rather bitchy ex-girlfriends.

Lucy!

One could easily argue that Lover Come Back is a slight picture were it not for the feminist sub-text. The picture argues against the double standard that it's acceptable for men to cheat -- "I'm a man, after all!" -- but that it's somehow worse for women to do so. The screenplay by Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano is also full of good dialogue, and while the flick is not a laugh-riot it is consistently amusing. Brent is a likable enough performer so that his slightly sleazy character -- despite his love for his wife -- is made more palatable. This was the last of nine films for the German actress and dancer Vera Zorina, who has a certain undeniable appeal. As for Lucy, she is just splendid and looks absolutely gorgeous throughout!

Verdict: Lucy leads a cast of pros in an amusing comedy. ***.

HATS OFF

John Payne

HATS OFF (1936). Director: Boris Petroff.

"Why don't you give yourself up to Ripley?"

Twin cities are having competing centennial exhibitions and both hire press agents to make theirs the biggest event ever. Jimmy Maxwell (John Payne) finds himself in competition with "Joe Allen," unaware that the pretty lady he's squiring around is actually Mary Jo Allen (Mae Clarke), the rival press agent. Both of them are hot to have wealthy Tex Connelly (Robert Middlemass) pay to bring impresario Caesar Rosero (Luis Alberni) to town to put on one spectacular show complete with dancing girls. Will duplicity smash this budding romance, or will true love win out in the end?.Hats Off is a release from Grand National, so there's no MGM gloss, although the production values are better than Republic's. Clarke and Payne [The Boss] are both fine, Alberni [The Mad Genius] is amusing, Skeets Gallagher makes a pleasant Buzz, Helen Lynd seems to be doing a Gracie Allen impersonation as his girlfriend, Ginger, and Franklin Pangborn [Reveille With Beverly] pretty much steals the show as Churchill, who is hired to pretend to be "Joe Allen." There are some okay songs by Oakland and Magidson, and the production number, "Little Odd Rhythm," is snappy.

Verdict: Amiable if second-rate musical. **1/2.

GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE

GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (1942). Director: William Keighley. Based on the stage play by Kaufman and Hart.

Bill Fuller (Jack Benny) is a harried husband whose wife, Connie (Ann Sheridan), wants to move to the country, a situation which does not sit well with Bill and even less with the opinionated maid, Hester (Hattie McDaniel), who threatens to resign at any second. The house Connie buys on the sly is a dilapidated wreck that is falling down around them, but Connie is impressed with the story that George Washington may have once stayed there. Unfortunately, Mr. Kimber (Percy Kilbride, playing a role similar to his "Pa Kettle" in The Egg and I  five years later), can't seem to find water in the well; neighbor Mr. Prescott (Charles Dingle) gets them into a legal hassle involving property lines; and unwelcome visitors include scamp nephew Raymond (Douglas Croft of Batman), free-loading Uncle William (Charles Coburn). and a cow who walks in through a hole in the wall of the kitchen. And wait'll you get a load of the seventy-year-locusts! In addition to these great cast members , we have John Emery and Lee Patrick as a couple who stop by during a storm, and the ever-delightful Franklin Pangborn as the manager of the Fuller's apartment house. Joyce Reynolds plays Connie's younger sister, Madge; Harvey Stephens is a helpful neighbor; and William Tracy is Madge's beau. Kaufman and Hart also wrote The Man Who Came to Dinner and You Can't Take It With You.

Verdict: A very, very funny movie. ***1/2.

REVEILLE WITH BEVERLY

REVEILLE WITH BEVERLY  (1943). Director: Charles Barton.

Beverly Ross (Ann Miller) wants to work on the radio in the worst way, so she connives to steal away Vernon Lewis' (Franklin Pangborn) morning program devoted to classical music and replace it with a pop music program. A wealthy man, Barry (William Wright) joins the Army at the same time as his chauffeur, Andy (Dick Purcell), and both bet on whether or not this new Beverly gal on the radio is pretty; she later confuses the two of them with one another. This was one of many wartime alleged morale boosters with a slim plot and many guest appearances by such artists as the Mills Brothers, Frank Sinatra, and Bob Crosby and his band. Irene Ryan has a funny turn as the secretary, Elsie, and Larry Parks plays a soldier named Eddie. Movies from this era either celebrated both pop/swing and classical/opera, with guest stars from various musical genres, or they do what this one does and turn it into a competition, chortling about how people prefer Bob Crosby to Mendelssohn. Franklin Pangborn is as wonderful as ever, cynically cast as the Mean Old Effeminate Classical Music Lover. With her perky, ruthless demeanor and out-sized cheeks, Ann Miller tap dances her way into infinity -- and not a moment too soon. Charles Barton directed many Abbott and Costello movies as well as The Shaggy Dog.

Verdict: No better nor worse than most of these things. **.

THE PALM BEACH STORY

Rudy Vallee and Claudette Colbert

THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942). Written and directed by Preston Sturges.

"Men don't get smarter as they get older, they just lose their hair."

Geri (Geraldine) Jeffers is married to an engineer, Tom (Joel McCrea), who can't seem to get a break. Geri figures that they would be better off if they divorced, and if she married someone wealthy she could get him the $100,000 he needs for his dream project, a "suspended" [!] airport. Although broke, she manages to make her way to Florida via the zany members of the "ale and quail club" and meets a man named J. D. Hackensacker (Rudy Vallee), who is fabulously rich. Tom flies down to stop Geri from getting a divorce and winds up in the clutches of J. D.'s man-hungry sister, the Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor), who thinks he's Geri's brother... The Palm Beach Story is a delightful comedy with fine performances and some hilarious dialogue. Colbert and Astor come off best, and McCrea and Vallee are quite good although they are not especially gifted comic actors. Robert Dudley almost steals the show as a sweet old man who wants to rent the Jeffers' apartment and winds up giving Geri money for the back rent. There's a riotous scene when the Ale and Quail Club shoot up the club car with Fred "Snowflake" Toones [Seventeen] comical as the nervous and then horrified bartender. Other notables in the cast include William Demarest, Mantan Moreland (dining club waiter); Franklin Pangborn [The Bank Dick] as an apartment manager; and Sig Arno as Toto, the princess' latest, unintelligible boyfriend. This is a charming and very funny movie. You may be confused by the frenetic credit sequence, in which there seems to be two Claudette Colberts, but all is explained (more or less) at the conclusion.  Sturges also wrote and directed Unfaithfully Yours, which is vastly inferior to this.

Verdict: A classic comedy. ***1/2.

THE FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS

Marlene Dietrich and Theresa Harris

THE FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS (1941). Director: Rene Clair.

In old New Orleans lady of leisure Countess Claire (Marlene Dietrich) has set her cap for the wealthy older banker Charles Giraud (Roland Young). But Claire has left behind quite a reputation in St. Petersburg, and to deflect Giraud's suspicion she also pretends to be another notorious woman from Russia, Claire's lookalike and [kind of] cousin, Lily. Complicating matters is a lusty sailor named Robert Latour (Bruce Cabot), who has an eye for Claire (and Lili)  and vice versa. One could say that Flame of New Orleans is Dietrich's Two-Faced Woman [in which Greta Garbo pretended to be two different women] not just because of the plot but because Flame is similarly mediocre. However, the actors, especially a surprising Cabot, all do a good job, and they are backed by such stalwarts as Franklin Pangborn, Mischa Auer, Anne Revere, Laura Hope Crews, Andy Devine, and a host of talented black actors, including Theresa Harris [Baby Face] as Clarie's saucy, sexy maid Clementine. However, the film is predictable and not as much fun as it sounds. Clair also directed It Happened Tomorrow.

Verdict: Pleasant in many ways but minor. **1/2.  

WEEKEND FOR THREE

WEEKEND FOR THREE (1941). Director: Irving Reis.

"Every married man ought to be a bachelor!"

One night when he's tight, Jim (Dennis O'Keefe, pictured) invites a friendly guy, Randy (Phillip Reed), in a club to come visit, and the guy shows up at his house -- and shows no signs of ever wanting to leave. Worse, he and Jim's wife Ellen (Jane Wyatt) are old friends and have great fun dancing all night together. Had this low-grade Man Who Came to Dinner been made in the 21st century, it probably would have had all sorts of psycho-sexual developments [Randy seems stereotypically gay for one thing] but for a screwball forties picture it certainly doesn't have enough laughs. O'Keefe and Wyatt are fine, but the picture is stolen by those old pros Zazu Pitts (as the maid), Edward Everett Horton (Jim's associate, who's had several bad marriages) and Franklin Pangborn (as a waiter in their favorite establishment). This is a picture you really want to like but it's very third-rate and never really erupts into the hoped-for hilarity. And this had a screenplay by Dorothy Parker -- I wonder how much of her original script actually made it into the movie. Not much, I bet.

Verdict: You'll have the feeling you've been this way once too often. *1/2.

EASY LIVING (1937)

EASY LIVING (1937). Director: Mitchell Leisen.

Shop girl Mary Smith (Jean Arthur) is on her way to work and minding her own business when a sable coat drops out of the sky and lands on her head. Before long everyone is convinced that she is the mistress of J. B. Ball (Edward Arnold), the married millionaire who threw the coat off the roof because his wife's spending was out of control. Hotelier Louis Louis (Luis Alberni) invites her to stay in his magnificent Imperial Suite (with five reception rooms and an incredible shower-bath) for $7 a week (all she can afford) but when she finds nothing in the refrigerator she heads for the automat. There she meets Ball's son John (Ray Milland), who's trying to earn his own way in the world, but instead causes a riot when he tries to get Mary a free meat pie. While this isn't necessarily a laugh-a-minute comedy, it has some very amusing sequences (such as the automat riot), interesting characters, and a cute situation. Good performances, especially from Alberni and the incomparable Franklin Pangborn as a shop owner. Esther Dale is also great as Arnold's no-nonsense secretary, who doesn't take any guff from him.

Verdict: Minor-league but fun. **1/2.

BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE

BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE (1938). Director: Ernst Lubitsch.

Nicolle (Claudette Colbert) falls in love with the extremely wealthy Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper) but right before the wedding she discovers that he's already been married to -- and divorced -- seven other women! Distraught not only by the fact of his previous marriages, but his cavalier -- and financial --attitude toward matrimony in general, Nicolle marries Michael but becomes the Wife from Hell, hoping he'll divorce her and she'll get a lifetime annuity. This meant-to-be-frothy comedy, although written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, is comparatively dull and mostly unfunny and illogical, and is no "screwball" classic. Cooper tries hard and has his moments, but he's no Cary Grant, and Colbert is at her most artificial and "actressy." Scenes between the two have absolutely no spontaneity but seem carved in cement. The supporting players, including Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson, and David Niven, are more on the mark.

Verdict: One or two laughs, maybe, and you can miss them. *1/2

TOPPER TAKES A TRIP

TOPPER TAKES A TRIP (1939) Director: Norman Z. McLeod.

The first sequel to Topper is a charming and amusing film in which Roland Young as the harried banker Topper discovers that lady ghost Constance Bennett is not quite through with him, taking him to the French Riviera to win back the delightfully befuddled Mrs. Topper (Billie Burke, pictured), who has decided to divorce her Cosmo. It seems that Mrs. Topper's “friend,” Mrs. Parkhurst (Verree Teasdale), is part of a group who match young gigolos with wealthy widows and divorcees, and there's a certain baron (Alexander D'arcy) who has his eye on Cosmo Topper's millions by way of his wife. [The baron asks Mrs. Parkhurst if Clara Topper is pretty. “Well, she has scads of money,” Parkhurst replies. “She's pretty,” says the baron.] Franklin Pangborn is his usual riot as the hotel manager who is an associate of the baron's and Teasdale's, and Alan Mowbray is as excellent as ever as the wise, long-suffering Topper butler. Burke, Young, and Bennett are all in top form as well. While the movie isn't full of belly-laughs as such, it is consistently entertaining and funny. The third and final movie in the series, Topper Returns, is also worthwhile and well-acted.

Verdict: Great fun! ***.