LOVE HAPPY

"Some men are following me:" Groucho and the Adorable One

LOVE HAPPY (1949). Director: David Miller.

The Marx Brothers get embroiled with a penniless theatrical company when the evil Madame Egelichi (Ilona Massey of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman) learns that a stolen necklace she covets is in a can of sardines lifted by Harpo, who brings food to the actors. Groucho is a private detective who narrates the story and in one brief sequence dallies with Marilyn Monroe in a cameo that was not her first film appearance. (She had a big part in Ladies of the Chorus with Adele Jergens the previous year, for one thing.) Chico is a wannabe performer who adopts the theater company, or vice versa. 

Love Happy is not a comedy classic like A Night at the Opera; in fact, it's not a very good movie and wastes the talents of its stars. As the femme fatale of the piece, Ilona Massey certainly has a voluptuous figure -- in one outfit her nipples look like loaded weapons -- but hasn't the face to match, giving her all the sex appeal of Margaret Hamilton. At first chubby-cheeked ingenue Vera-Ellen (Three Little Words) seems so squeaky clean she makes Doris Day look like a dominatrix, but she also has a good figure -- and is a very good dancer -- and when she plays Sadie Thompson in a production number she's not as bad as one might think. Paul Valentine makes little impression as the director/producer of the show-within-the-show. The songs by Ann Ronell are best described as forgettable, especially the lousy title tune and a truly dreadful number called "Who Stole the Jam?" which is performed by Marion Hutton (In Society), Betty's less successful sister, as Bunny. Raymond Burr plays -- and plays well-- one of Massey's thug cohorts, resulting in a bizarre moment when Harpo slaps Perry Mason in the face! There are some funny moments, especially relating to Harpo's coat from which voluminous items are pulled in one great gag, but Love Happy is mostly a sad comedown for the clowns and kind of tedious to boot. Director Miller also helmed Sudden Fear with Joan Crawford and many others.

Verdict: Not such a happy affair. **.

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943). Director: Roy William Neill.

Although we never learn why, two grave robbers try to remove Larry Talbot's body from its resting place in the Talbot family crypt, bringing The Wolf Man back to life. Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) gets it into his head that Dr. Frankenstein might be able to help him, and he seems to be referring to Henry, but most of the story takes place in Vasaria and the dead Frankenstein's daughter Elsa (now played by Ilona Massey) makes a reference to her "father and grandfather" -- presumably she's the grand-daughter of Henry -- and there is also a reference to the sanitarium that burned down at the end of The Ghost of Frankenstein. However, Vasaria now has a Frankenstein castle as well. (Presumably the producers figured nobody would clearly remember everything, this being long before the days of VCRs, DVDs, and instant replay). As Ygor's brain was transferred into the monster's body at the end of Ghost, it's only fitting that Bela Lugosi, who played Ygor, would now play the monster. His approach is to make the creature sneering, and even a bit haughty (supposedly his dialogue was cut, even though he spoke through the monster's mouth in Ghost). Maria Ouspenkaya reprises her role as Maleva from The Wolf Man. Patric Knowles is stalwart as the doctor who wants to help Talbot but seems more intrigued by the monster. Ilona Massey looks as if she wandered into the wrong movie. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man is highly contrived and illogical, although it moves fast and is pretty entertaining. Still it's a cut below the previous entries in the series. The climax features a not-so-epic battle between the title monsters. Lionel Atwill is the Mayor and Dwight Frye again plays a distinctive villager. Followed by House of Frankenstein.

Verdict: Still fun. **1/2.

THE INVISIBLE AGENT

THE INVISIBLE AGENT (1942). Director: Edwin L. Marin.

The third in the Invisible Man series (The Invisible Woman was a comedy that did not follow the continuity of the first two films) has the grandson (Jon Hall) of Frank Griffin, the original Invisible Man, living under an assumed name and besieged by Nazi agents who want his grandfather's formula, as does the United States. After the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hall uses the formula himself to enter enemy territory and acquire vital information from the Nazi's. Ilona Massey plays a double-agent who helps Hall even though he doesn't quite trust her. Hall and Massey are fine, but the picture certainly benefits from the participation of J. Edward Bromberg and Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Nazi agents, and Peter Lorre as a sinister Japanese baron -- all three gentlemen give outstanding performances despite the nature of the material (Lorre and Hardwicke each brilliantly underplay a final encounter).

Verdict: The Invisible Agent is a competent B thriller with some excellent effects work courtesy of, as usual, John P. Fulton. **1/2.