HENRY ALDRICH'S LITTLE SECRET

Charles Smith

HENRY ALDRICH'S LITTLE SECRET (1944). Director: Hugh Bennett.

"I stand here slaving over a hot iron all day and you go out and make dates." -- Dizzy.

Henry (Jimmy Lydon) and his best bud Dizzy (Charles Smith) are in more hot water when they wind up babysitting little Ricky Martin (John David Robb) for a woman (Ann Doran) who leaves town abruptly to try to clear her wrongly imprisoned husband.This doesn't prevent Henry from going out on a date with sexy Jennifer (Tina Thayer), who has a ring Henry desperately wants to get back. Henry takes the baby with him when he takes Jennifer to a night club, and even asks the hat check girl: "I don't suppose you have any place to check a baby?" Lydon and Smith are both excellent -- like Lydon, Smith was a highly talented comic actor -- and this final entry in the Aldrich Family series is one of the very best and funniest.

Verdict: Henry goes out in style. ***.

HENRY ALDRICH PLAYS CUPID

HENRY ALDRICH PLAYS CUPID (1944). Director:Hugh Bennett.

Henry (Jimmy Lydon) is in dutch with Principal Bradley (Vaughan Glaser) and figures he might become an old softie if he only had a wife. [Apparently Henry and everyone else forgot that confirmed old bachelor Bradley actually had a wife who appeared in Henry and Dizzy and was played by Maude Ebern, who ironically has a small bit in this picture.] Suspecting that the principal's stern countenance might work against him, Henry encloses a photo of a man he thinks is his uncle when he [unknown to the principal] places a lonely hearts ad for Bradley. Alas, the photo is actually of Senator Caldicott (Paul Harvey), a hated rival of Henry's father (John Litel), and when strange women come rushing up to the married man thinking he's their dreamboat, he's convinced Mr. Aldrich put them up to it. Uh oh. It's Henry who's up to it -- and how! Pretty funny entry in this long-running series, which only had one more picture to go. Vera Vague is one of the women who answers the ad. Charles Smith and Diana Lynn are on hand as Dizzy and Phyllis.

Verdict: More Aldrich fun. ***.

HENRY ALDRICH, BOY SCOUT

HENRY ALDRICH, BOY SCOUT (1944). Director: Hugh Bennett.

Henry Aldrich (Jimmy Lydon) has become a troop leader in the boy scouts and is hoping to get a promotion by leading his team to victory in some games. Endangering this scheme is young Peter Kent (Darryl Hickman), the obnoxious son of an old classmate (Minor Watson) of Henry's father, Sam (John Litel) -- Henry has been put in charge of the boy. Meanwhile Henry is also hoping to impress his girl, Elise (Joan Mortimer), who is playing hard to get. This is an okay enough entry in the long-running movie series, although the sentimental aspects do become a bit cloying at times. Peter only gets in line after he gets beaten up, a suspect development to be sure. However, the cast --- including Charles Smith as Dizzy and Olive Blakeney as Mrs. Aldrich --  are as proficient as ever, the picture is often amusing, and there's a suspenseful and funny bit when Henry and Peter are caught on a crumbling cliff as Dizzy tries to haul them up on a shredding rope. Yikes! Darryl Hickman's brother Dwayne played Dobie Gillis on TV.

Verdict: Another pleasant saga in the life of the irrepressible Henry Aldrich. **1/2.

HENRY ALDRICH HAUNTS A HOUSE

HENRY ALDRICH HAUNTS A HOUSE  (1943). Director: Hugh Bennett. 

"Things are looking up for this town -- murder and everything!"  -- Dizzy.

 Henry Aldrich (Jimmy Lydon) is up to his usual tricks in this zany installment of the comedy series.  When school principal Bradley (Vaughan Glaser) disappears while going through an allegedly haunted house, Henry is convinced that his is responsible for his murder due to a certain formula he imbibed; he's certain it temporarily changed him into a hulking ghoul. Henry has fallen for the oh-so-intellectual daughter, Elise (Joan Mortimer), of a scientist, and both she and his pal Dizzy (Charles Smith) help Henry investigate the house and discover the truth. And who's that mummy in the basement? John Litel and Olive Blakeney play Henry's long-suffering parents adeptly; Lydon and Smith are just wonderful. While this isn't quite Hold That Ghost, it does have its moments.

Verdict: Suspenseful and amusing. ***.

HENRY ALDRICH SWINGS IT

HENRY ALDRICH SWINGS IT  (1943). Director: Hugh Bennett. 

"Yes, all men are like children."

Henry Aldrich (Jimmy Lydon) doesn't think much of classical music until he gets a crush on the pretty new music teacher (Marian Hall), who isn't afraid of a little swing. As usual there are serious complications when Henry gets mixed up in the robbery of famous musician Joseph Altman's (Fritz Feld) highly expensive Stradivarius. Girlfriend Phyllis has been replaced by Mimi (Mimi Chandler) but Dizzy (Charles Smith) is still part of the scene, as is grumpy high school principal Bradley (Vaughan Glaser), who hates "boogie woogie." Broadway composer Jule Styne [Funny Girl] contributed the snappy number "Ding Dong Sing a Song" and little Beverly Hudson nearly steals the show as powerhouse singer Margie. Along with some classical numbers, there's a swing version of Chopin! Lydon and Smith are marvelous, and they get fine support from John Litel and Olive Blakeney as Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich.

Verdict: Pleasant and amusing. ***.

HENRY ALDRICH, EDITOR

HENRY ALDRICH, EDITOR (1942). Director: Hugh Bennett.

"Do you really think that any boy in his right mind can get into the trouble that you do?" -- Mr. Aldrich

"I have the utmost confidence in myself." --Henry

Henry Aldrich (Jimmy Lydon) becomes editor of the high school newspaper and that's when the trouble begins. He covers a fire, and writes about it so, eh, colorfully, that it's picked up by the regular paper and blown way out of proportion. Worse, the regular paper reports that Mr. Aldrich (John Litel, who is given more comedy to do than usual), is dying. Before long Henry is accused of being the firebug who's on the loose, and attends his own trial dressed in drag! Henry Aldrich, Editor has its cute moments, but it goes awry before the end. I mean, there's nothing particularly funny about Henry being trapped in a deadly warehouse fire. Lydon, Charles Smith as pal Dizzy, Rita Quigley as gal pal Martha and Vaughn Glaser as principal Bradley are all in good form.

Verdict: More hijinks with Henry. **1/2.

HENRY AND DIZZY

HENRY AND DIZZY (1942). Director: Hugh Bennett.

"I guess I'm just a misfit."

Henry Aldrich (Jimmy Lydon) wrecks a boat that he borrowed when the store owner stepped away, and is told he either has to pay for a new boat or go to jail. In a hilarious sequence Henry and his pal Dizzy (Charles Smith) "clean" -- or rather destroy -- a house that belongs to principle Bradley (Vaughan Glaser; Maude Eburne is fun as his horrified wife). Trevor Bardette and Carl "Alfafa" Switzer play a father and son who compete in a contest with Henry and Mr. Aldrich (John Litel), and Dizzy and his dad (Olin Howlin). Noel Neill of Superman fame appears briefly as a girl that Henry tries to impress with his [lack of] boating skills. Mary Anderson seems a little too old and sex-sophisticated -- not to mention too tall -- to be teenager Henry's girlfriend, but Henry doesn't seem to mind. Litel and the other cast members are great, and Lydon is a very charming performer. This is his second appearance as Henry after Henry Aldrich for President.

Verdict: Another cute picture. ***

HENRY ALDRICH FOR PRESIDENT

HENRY ALDRICH FOR PRESIDENT (1941), Director: Hugh Bennett.

 Following What a Life and Life with Henry, this introduces Jimmy Lydon as a much nerdier Henry than that essayed by Jackie Cooper in the first two films. However, Lydon is such a good actor that he can take a caricature and make him almost three-dimensional and sympathetic. "Dizzy" Stevens, originally played by Eddie Bracken, is now played by Charles Smith, who is somehow less geeky, and uses a normal voice to play the role. Henry's father, now played by John Litel, is completely changed from before, no longer the distant grump of the second film but more of a "pal" to his boy. As Henry's mother, Hedda Hopper has been replaced by the less-cosmopolitan Dorothy Peterson. The gals in Henry's life include Phyllis (Mary Anderson), who has a crush on him, and Geraldine (June Preisser), a pretty blonde who is enlisted to ensnare Henry in a high school plot. Irwin (Kenneth Howell), the boy running against Phyllis for class president, wants Henry to run as well so that those two will divide the votes and make him the winner. Instead, Phyllis drops out and against his father's advice -- Aldrich Sr. thinks his son is just being used -- Henry mounts a serious campaign with the help of Dizzy, causing expected and amusing complications.

Verdict: More fun with Henry. ***. 

HENRY ALDRICH GETS GLAMOR

HENRY ALDRICH GETS GLAMOR (1943). Director: Hugh Bennett.

The Henry Aldrich series, about a bumbling, girl-crazy teen, was made to cash in on the popularity of the Andy Hardy series. This entry is a charming if mildly amusing time-waster that has Henry winning a date with a glamorous movie star, Hilary Dane, played by Frances Gifford. Hoping to convince her studio that she's innocent enough to play Juliet in a new production of Romeo and Juliet, Gifford decides to string Henry along for a romance and goes to the dance with him. When a photo of him supposedly kissing the star winds up in the paper in Centerville, everyone improbably assumes that Henry has become a big lover boy. Soon he's gotten the reputation of a wolf, and his father's plans to run for office are derailed. His reputation as an unlikely Casanova is cemented when he takes Gifford out to the secluded patio at the dance and walks back in sporting the huge lipstick imprint of a kiss on his face. Jimmy Lydon offers a splendid comic portrayal as Henry Aldrich, and he gets able support from Charles Smith as his loyal buddy “Dizzy” and Diana Lynn as Phyllis, the shy girl who has an unrequited crush on him. John Litel is Aldrich's father; while competent, he's not in the league of Lewis Stone, the “father” of the Hardy series.

Verdict: Mildly amusing and easy to take. **1/2.