HOLIDAY IN HAVANA

Mary Hatcher, Desi Arnaz

HOLIDAY IN HAVANA (1949). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Bus boy turned bandleader Carlos Estrada (Desi Arnaz of Cuban Pete) wants to sign up singer Lolita Valdez (Mary Hatcher) to be a vocalist with his group. Talking to what he thinks is Lolita through a hotel room door, Carlos is highly insulted by the gal's termagant mother, Mama Valdez (Minerva Urecal of That Other Woman). Hating Lolita for "her" remarks, Carlos attempts to find a new singer with which to enter a competition at a carnival in Havana. Through a sequence of events, Lolita winds up accompanying Carlos and his band to Havana, but he thinks she is a woman named "Delores." Meanwhile two opposing agents, Marge (Ann Doran of Violent Road) and Sam (Ray Walker), are both anxious to sign Lolita to a contract that will bring her to New York. 

Ray Walker, Minerva Urecal, Ann Doran

I asked myself while watching "why is Holiday in Havana so dull?" Desi Arnaz is charming and talented -- I was never crazy about his voice but he does know how to put over a song -- as is his leading lady, Mary Hatcher, and there is fine back up from Urecal, Doran, and Steven Geray and Sig Arno as members of the band. There are also some snappy song numbers -- Hatcher scores with the lovely "I'll Take Romance" while Desi does "The Straw Hat Song" (which he reprised on Lucy) and that exciting bongo-rhumba finale. But then there's everything in-between, silly situations with no real laughs even though the cast is more than game. The movie runs a little over an hour but it seems three times as long. Mercifully, Arnaz found gainful employment, and showcased his considerable talent, on I Love Lucy two years later. Despite her ability, Mary Hatcher's film career -- after only a handful of credits -- was over that same year. Hatcher had a beautiful near-operatic voice and did some Broadway musical productions in addition to film assignments. 

Verdict: Desi has energy to spare but he needs a better script. **1/2. 

CUBAN PETE

Beverly Simmons and Desi Arnaz

CUBAN PETE (1946). Director: Jean Yarbrough. 

Society woman Mrs. Lindsay (Jacqueline deWit of The Damned Don't Cry), who fancies that she has a voice, wants to hire Desi Arnaz (playing himself) and his band for her radio show. Desi is caring for his little orphaned niece, Brownie (Beverly Simmons), in Cuba and has no desire to go to New York. Ad man Roberts (Don Porter of Youngblood Hawke) has his associate, Ann (Joan Shawlee), fly to Havana to importune Desi to return with her. With the help of his niece, Ann eventually gets her objective, only to learn that Mrs. Lindsay, who has a terrible voice, intends to sing on the radio with his band! Can Ann convince Desi not to return to Cuba on the first plane, and can they prevent Mrs. Lindsay from ever opening her mouth?

Don Porter and Ann Shawlee

Cuban Pete is strictly a showcase for Desi Arnaz, who is spirited and charming in the film, demonstrating that he had ability and charisma long before I Love Lucy. He does a fine rendition of the title tune (which he also sang on Lucy) and a couple of other numbers. Desi has a girl group called the King Sisters, one of whom, Consuela, sets her cap for Roberts. Brownie has a talking parrot which, in an unfunny sequence, causes foolish havoc in a doctor's office. With its weak script, Cuban Pete did nothing to establish Arnaz as a film star. Shawlee had a wide variety of credits as did Porter; both did much TV work later in their careers. Pianist Ethel Smith, playing herself, does a nifty number on the organ. From Universal Pictures. 

Verdict: A likable energetic Desi is about all that saves this. **1/4. 

FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT

Eleanore Tanin and Douglas Dick

FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT (1957). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Henry Johnson (Douglas Dick) has been trying to overcome a gambling addiction so he can marry his sweetheart, Mary (Eleanore Tanin of The Werewolf). Unfortunately, Fred Horner (Robert Shayne), who lives next door to Henry, challenges him to a card game and Fred winds up dead. Henry insists that he's innocent and goes on the run even as Lt. Andy Doyle (Bill Elliott of Love Takes Flight) and Sgt. Mike Duncan (Don Haggerty) pursue Johnson, and other leads as well. Then it occurs to Doyle that the motel where Johnson and Horner lived has a name very similar to another motel where temporarily resides a businessman, Bradbury (James Flavin of Irish Luck), who always flashes a huge wad of cash ... Could the wrong man have been murdered? Footsteps in the Night is a short, cheap TV-type production that has little to distinguish it, aside from Shayne's good performance as the murder victim. The other cast members are all solid as well.  Elliott was basically a western star who later played cops; this was his last feature film and final credit of many. He did four other movies before this in which he played the same character (although he is named "Flynn" instead of "Doyle" in the first feature.) This movie is so cheap that when a car crashes into a wall at the climax, all we hear is the noise but the crash itself is never shown.

Verdict: Not much to recommend this stale cop drama. *1.2, 

SHED NO TEARS

Hardboiled: June Vincent

SHED NO TEARS (1948). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

With the help of his wife, Edna (June Vincent of The Creeper), Sam Grover (Wallace Ford) cooks up a scheme to fake his own death. He plans to meet up with Edna after she gets the insurance money, but doesn't realize that she really plans to run away with her lover, Ray (Mark Roberts of The Brothers Brannagan). But Edna doesn't reckon with Tom (Dick Hogan), Sam's son from his first marriage, who is convinced that his father was murdered. Another complication is the annoying presence of Huntington Stewart (Johnstone White of Anything for a Thrill), a private eye hired by Tom who really has only his own interests at heart. Shed No Tears is a twisty, suspenseful, and mostly unpredictable crime drama and borderline film noir (this has a femme fatale but no real hero) that boasts a sharp, outstanding performance by June Vincent, an excellent and unheralded actress who gets across her character's venality without ever once resorting to chewing the scenery. Johnstone White, who was introduced in this film (after actually appearing in several earlier productions), is also quite good and has a terrific scene with Vincent when he first confronts her with his suspicions. It may have been hoped that White would develop the kind of career enjoyed by Clifton Webb -- he's similarly florid -- but he had only a few credits. Dick Hogan has an appealing face and manner but his performance is only adequate; two years later he played the murder victim in Hitchcock's Rope, his last feature film appearance. Wallace Ford is acceptable but perfunctory in the key role of Sam Grover; he was much better in The Breaking Point. Frank Albertson is fine as a police detective who investigates Grover's death. June Vincent amassed 110 credits, many of which were on TV in her later years.

Verdict: Fast-paced, intriguing, and snappy crime meller. ***. 

FRECKLES COMES HOME

Mantan Moreland and Laurence Criner

FRECKLES COMES HOME (1942). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Summoned by his old pal Danny (Marvin Stephens of Borrowing Trouble), "Freckles" Winslow (Johnny Downs) comes back to Fairfield, Indiana, accompanied on the bus by a stranger named Muggsy Dolan (Water Sande of Blonde Ice). Muggsy pulled off a bank robbery in which a guard was killed, and has taken it on the lam, figuring quiet, isolated Fairfield is as good a place to hide out as any. He gets it into his head to rob the bank and brings in an associate, Quigley (Bradley Page). Danny lost money that he needed to pay bills for his hotel by buying an alleged gold-finding machine, and wants Freckles' help in using old girlfriend Jane Potter (Gale Storm) to convince her banker father, Hiram Potter (John Ince), to build a new highway into town, increasing business. Freckles is irritated because Jane seems to go for Quigley's oily charm. Meanwhile hotel porter Jeff (Mantan Moreland) has fun trying to convince Quigley's chauffeur, Roxbury (Lawrence Criner), to buy his phony machine. Freckles Comes Home has an amiable cast, including Betty Blythe [The Spanish Cape Mystery] as Hiram's wife and Irving Bacon as the ditsy town constable, but the picture is completely stolen by Moreland and Criner, especially in a very funny sequence when the two argue over which of them is to get the more comfortable bed in their hotel room. These are two great comic actors in their prime. Otherwise this is a typical Monogram quickie. Apparently this has nothing to do with the old Freckles newspaper comic strip.

Verdict: Short Monogram flick is fairly easy to take. **3/4.

THE ANDREWS SISTERS TV SHOW

Patti, Maxene and LaVerne Andrews

THE ANDREWS SISTERS TV SHOW (1951). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

This is the pilot for a sitcom-musical series that wasn't picked up by any network. The Andrws Sisters -- Patti, Maxene, and LaVerne -- basically playing themselves, run a music shop in Hollywood but are always behind on the rent. Patti is dating Willie (that amusing nebbish Marvin Kaplan), and LaVerne has set her cap for a character, Tex, played by Buddy Ebsen [Breakfast at Tiffany's] who is not that far from Jed Clampett. In between the limited plot, the gals do song numbers, including the comic "Hawaii: and "Pennsylvania Polka." Patti does a solo on "I Can Dream, Can't I?" and is excellent at putting across this classic romantic ballad. The sisters do two promos for possible sponsors, singing songs, invoking the name of Bing, and mentioning how they can easily get guest-stars from show business. Donald MacBride [Murder Over New York] angrily (as usual) plays the dyspeptic landlord who wants his rent money. One could certainly quibble about many aspects of this pilot, how it's lame at times and hokey, and the gals are certainly not in the league of say, Lucille Ball as comediennes, but they are otherwise not bad actors, with Patti, as usual, being the most accomplished and effervescent, and the show might have been successful if given a chance.

Verdict: Pleasant sitcom with welcome song numbers. **1/2.

THE DEVIL BAT

Bela!

THE DEVIL BAT (1940). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

The town of Heath believes that Dr. Paul Carruthers (Bela Lugosi) is a kind-hearted soul who wouldn't hurt a fly, but he secretly harbors hatred for the Heath family who grew rich on his formulas when he foolishly accepted cash instead of a percentage. His method of revenge is bizarre to say the least. He has used electricity to create a gigantic bat, about ten times the size of a normal bat, and sends if off after his victims by using a special shaving lotion that attracts the bloodthirsty animal. When each victim tells the doctor good-night or farewell, he grimly intones "Goodbye." The Devil Bat is hard to take seriously but it is a fun movie, with a better performance from Lugosi than the picture probably deserves. Lugosi's portrait of a man whose bitterness has nearly driven him insane but who hides it beneath an avuncular manner, is dead-on. The other actors don't seem to matter much next to Lugosi but they include Dave O'Brien [Captain Midnight] as a reporter, Donald Kerr as his photographer, Suzanne Kaaren as Mary Heath, and John Ellis and Alan Baldwin as her brothers. When the photographer tricks up a fake Devil bat to fool his editor, it doesn't look much worse than the "real" thing, a mock-up inter-cut with close-ups of a bat's mouth. This was essentially remade six years later as The Flying Serpent with George Zucco. Followed by Devil Bat's Daughter. From  poverty row studio PRC.

Verdict: Bela goes bats! **1/2.

THE CREEPER (1948)

Bug-eyed: Janis Wilson

THE CREEPER (1948). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

"Nora, get over yourself!" -- Dr. Reade

Nora Cavigny (Janis Wilson) is a highly neurotic young lady who has a phobia involving cats. This has to do with her father's experiments in Africa, something to do with -- get this -- making human tissue phosphorescent as an aid to surgery! Dr. Cavigny (Ralph Morgan) works with Dr. Bordon (Onslow Stevens) and Gwen Runstorm (June Vincent), and they all seem to have varying attitudes about what they're doing. Gwen is engaged to Dr. Reade (John Baragrey of Shockproof). who for utterly unaccountable reasons finds himself falling for the very nutty Nora. Then the claw murders begin ... The Creeper has some atmosphere and generally sufficient acting, although Janis Wilson is perhaps too odd even considering her character. Stevens [Lonelyhearts] makes an impression as Bordon, but the best work comes from June Vincent [Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard], as snappy and borderline bitchy as ever. Eduardo Ciannelli is also in the cast, along with David Hoffman as the rat-faced cat keeper, Andre. The Creeper is suspenseful but the experiments are inane, and the monster in this is particularly lame. Milton Rosen's theme music is a plus. Not to be confused with the Creeper played by Rondo Hatton in House of Horrors and The Brute Man, both of which came out earlier and were also directed by Yarbrough. Hatton also played a Creeper in the Sherlock Holmes feature The Pearl of Death. The 1942 Cat People may have had some influence on this picture.

Verdict: Some fun, but you can see why there was never a sequel nor a series of "Creeper" movies. **1/2.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Henry Armetta

CAUGHT IN THE ACT (1941). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Mike Ripportella (Henry Armetta) is expecting the day of his daughter's wedding to be eventful, but he has no idea of exactly what a misadventure it will be. Mike works for a construction contractor, Brandon (Charles Miller of Phantom of Chinatown), but has no clue that his boss has been threatened by racketeers, and that he's been promoted because Brandon thinks he's too honest to play ball with them (and may inspire their ire more than Brandon). Then there's the hard, flashy blonde, Fay (Maxine Leslie) who jumps into Mike's car and inspires the jealousy of his wife, Mary (Inez Palange)  -- the two women wind up sharing a jail cell after the cops come to arrest Mike, thinking he's a hoodlum. This comedy-melodrama of mistaken identities features a good performance from Armetta and the others. Iris Meredith  of The Green Archer plays the daughter, Lucy. William Newell of The Invisible Killer plays the desk cop, Riley.

Verdict: Nothing special but amiable enough. **1/2.

THE BRUTE MAN

THE BRUTE MAN (1946). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

In this unofficial sequel to House of Horrors, the Creeper (Rondo Hatton) is back creeping about and periodically snapping people's spines. This time the character is given a name, Hal Moffet, and back story. Moffet was a cocky college football hero whose face was disfigured in a chemistry explosion [Hatton's disfigurement was due to acromegaly due to exposure to poison gas during WW1]. Unlike House of Horrors, which has a few interesting characters and flavorful performances, The Brute Man is comparatively dull and slow-paced. Aside from Hatton, who is fine if limited in the role of the Creeper [Fred Coby actually plays Moffet as a college student], the main character is Jane (Helen Paige), a blind piano teacher who hides Moffet and is befriended by him in turn. Tom Neal is one of Hal's old classmates, and Jan Wiley [Secret Agent X-9], in an especially weak performance, plays Neal's wife. Donald MacBride is the police inspector on the case. Hatton's Creeper character, or at least a variation thereof, also appeared in the modern-day Sherlock Holmes film The Pearl of Death.

Verdict: Not the best of the Creeper. **.

HOUSE OF HORRORS

Marcel (Martin Kosleck) admires his bust of the Creeper

HOUSE OF HORRORS (1946). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Starving artist Marcel De Lange (Great Old Movies' favorite Martin Kosleck) is about to commit suicide in despair when he stumbles across an injured man known only as the Creeper (Rondo Hatton). The Creeper had already committed a series of murders, snapping people's spines, and is presumed dead. Marcel uses the Creeper to get revenge on his enemies, especially the acidic critic Holmes Harmon (Alan Napier), who has no tolerance for the abstract. The main suspect in Harmon's murder, however, is commercial illustrator Steven Morrow (Robert Lowery of the Batman and Robin serial), who was to be the target of his venom in the critic's latest column. Another critic, Joan Medford (Virginia Grey), happens to be Morrow's girlfriend and a champion of De Lange's macabre sculptures. But when she gets too close to figuring out De Lange's deadly secret ... This is a snappy and suspenseful horror thriller, well-directed by Yarbrough, and with an excellent performance from Kosleck, and good back up from Hatton [who thinks his bust is "pretty"], a highly vivacious (perhaps too vivacious considering the goings-on) Grey, and a more than competent Lowery and Napier. Howard Freeman also scores as another art critic, Hal Ormiston, who participates in a scheme to catch the murderer. The beautiful model Stella is played by Joan Shawlee and Lt. Brooks is Bill Goodwin. House of Horrors is an unofficial sequel to the modern-day Sherlock Holmes film The Pearl of Death, in which Hatton also played a Creeper who breaks spines. Oddly the opening credits of Horrors "introduce" Hatton as the Creeper. There were plans to make a series of Creeper films and turn Hatton into a horror star, but the poor fellow, who suffered from acromegaly due to exposure to poison gas in WW1, passed away before House of Horrors opened. Kosleck's most famous part was in The Flesh Eaters. Yarbrough directed She-Wolf of London and many, many others.

Verdict: Highly entertaining horror flick. ***.

THE GANG'S ALL HERE

Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland

THE GANG'S ALL HERE (1941). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

"A buck an hour -- and all we gotta do is sit!"

Frankie O'Malley (Frankie Darro) and Jefferson Smith (Mantan Moreland) take a job at a trucking company unaware that the owner, Pop Wallace (Robert Homans) has been conspiring with a bad dude, Norton (Ed Cassidy) to commit insurance fraud, with the result that trucks are being run off the road and drivers killed. Pop has a slightly bitchy daughter named Patsy (Marcia May Jones) who is always nagging her boyfriend -- and Pop's employee -- Chick (Jackie Moran) to better himself, and even goes so far as to flirt with Frankie to make him jealous. As usual, Darro and Moreland, who made a number of movies together for Monogram studios, play well together, even if it can be a little disturbing to watch Darro boss the black man around [although Jeff often gets the last laugh]. It's interesting to note that Chinese-American actor Keye Luke is allowed a little dignity in his role, and even turns out to have a position of authority, but the black character remains a lazy buffoon, however lovable. Another black actor, Laurence Criner, plays Ham Shanks, who works for Norton. Anyway, despite the title the Monogram gang isn't all here -- there's no Gale Storm or Rick Vallens. 

Verdict: Mostly likable actors and little else. **.

IN SOCIETY

IN SOCIETY (aka Abbott and Costello in Society/1944). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

"Oh, you men are all alike. I clean and slave all day and you bring in all the dust. Oh, you men!"  -- Lou referring to Bud.

Bud and Lou are plumbers who are called in to plug a leak in a grumpy millionaire's bathroom while a masquerade party goes on downstairs. In the film's funniest sequence, the boys wind up flooding the whole bedroom! This is a cute minor comedy wherein the fellows accidentally get invited to yet another society bash hosted by Mrs. Winthrop (Irene Dunne lookalike Margaret Irving). Her snooty daughter, Gloria (Ann Gillis), has set her cap for handsome rich dude Peter Evans (Kirby Grant), but he only has eyes for Lou's crush, Elsie (Marion Hutton), a cab driver who takes the fellows to fix the leak and is mistaken for a guest at the first party. Then there's a gangster who wants the fellows to help him rob the mansions they service, and some nonsense about an expensive painting that is stolen from the gathering. Marion Hutton was the older sister of Betty Hutton and only made a few films. Her acting is unimpressive but her singing is another story. Ann Gillis also nicely warbles a tune, accompanied by The Three Sisters, an undistinguished lookalike imitation of the Andrews Sisters; they only appeared in this one movie. The songs in In Society are especially pleasant: "No bout adout it ( I mean no doubt about it)"; "Rehearsing;" "My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time;" "What a Change in My Heart." An old vaudeville bit regarding the Susquehanna Hat Shop is amusing but goes on a little too long. Arthur Treacher plays a butler with his customary panache.

Verdict: Not top-notch A & C but it's fun. **1/2.

THE NAUGHTY NINETIES

THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (1945). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Lou Costello is Sebastian Dimwiddle, a stage worker on a theatrical river boat, and Bud Abbott is romantic ham actor Dexter Broadhurst (however the boys' friendly/unfriendly relationship is the same as ever). The owner of the river boat, Capt. Sam (Henry Travers) comes afoul of a group of corrupt gamblers led by the serpentine Bonita Farrow (Rita Johnson). After a crooked card game Sam discovers that Bonita and her slimy pals own 75 % of the riverboat, and once on board they open a casino that fleeces all the customers. Naturally A&C do their best to get their captain out of the jam. The fellows do their "Who's on First?" routine, and there are other very amusing sequences. A note of black comedy is introduced in a scene when Sebastian thinks the cook is making hamburgers out of chopped up cats when he's really preparing catfish. When he sticks his fork in his hamburger, a cat under the table lets out a screech. Johnson is quite good as the lady ringleader, and Joe Sawyer, playing one of her henchmen, has a funny sleep-walking scene. Alan Curtis and Lois Collier round out the cast portraying, respectively, an associate of Bonita's and the riverboat's pretty singer, Caroline.

Verdict: Good-natured romp with some funny stuff in it. ***.

SHE-WOLF OF LONDON

SHE-WOLF OF LONDON (1946). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

In turn of the century London, Phyllis Allenby (June Lockhart), is excitedly planning her wedding with fiance Barry Lanfield (Don Porter). But her hopeful plans for the future take a backseat to fear and terror when she believes she's become a victim of the Allenby lycanthropic curse, as she wakes up covered in dirt and blood only to learn that there's been another terrible murder in the park outside the estate. Her Aunt Martha (Sara Haden) tries to calm her fears to no avail, and Phyllis tries to break off her engagement with Lanfield. Meanwhile Scotland Yard goes on the hunt for the wild animal or psychotic human who's been savaging children and adults in the park. Taking place some time earlier, this appears to have no connection to Werewolf of London. While the picture is well-acted and well-produced, and keeps you guessing as to who exactly the "she-wolf" might be -- Phyllis, her cousin Carol (Jan Wiley), Aunt Martha, housekeeper Hannah (Eily Malyon)? -- the ending is a notorious cheat. Still, this is fast-moving and entertaining. Martin Kosleck has a small role -- a romantic part for a change -- as Carol's mystery lover, Dwight Severn. June Lockhart makes a very appealing heroine, and Sara Haden is quite effective (if a little obvious) in a role very different from Mickey Rooney's Aunt Milly in the Andy Hardy films.

Verdict: Fun, if you get past the disappointing ending.**1/2.