MY SISTER EILEEN (1942)

Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair

MY SISTER EILEEN (1942). Director: Alexander Hall.

Ruth Sherwood (Rosalind Russell) and her younger and prettier sister, Eileen (Janet Blair), feel that they'll get nowhere fast if they stay in small town Ohio, so the gals head for New York City with the encouragement of their grandmother (Elizabeth Patterson) and to the dismay of their father (Grant Mitchell). They manage to find an apartment in Greenwich Village, but soon discover that they're blasting for a new subway tunnel right underneath their feet. Ruth tries to sell her writing to a magazine edited by Bob Baker (Brian Aherne) while Eileen hopes to become an actress. As their money runs out they meet an assortment of characters who live in the building on Barrow Street. These include "Wreck" Loomis (Gordon Jones) and his jealous wife, Helen (Miss Jeff Donnell); the fortune teller Effie (June Havoc), who used to live in the apartment; drug store owner Frank Lippincott (Richard Quine); and slimy reporter Chic Clark (Allyn Joslyn).

Richard Quine with Blair and Russell

My Sister Eileen is based on a play by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov, who also did the screenplay. The movie boasts some very adept performances and is consistently amusing and amiable. Although she was never quite the comic genius that Lucille Ball was, Rosalind Russell is still a fine actress who can not only do comedy well but can reveal the dramatic nuances under the laughs; she's wonderful. Blair is very effective as the not-so-naive Eileen, and once you get used to his blustering over-acting early on, Aherne makes a good foil for Russell. In addition to the others named above, there is also good work from Donald MacBride as a blithering cop; Chick Chandler as a friend of Effie's and an air raid warden; George Tobias as the landlord and wannabee painter, Apoppolous;.and Arnold Stang as the annoying copy boy, Jimmy. There are also the group of handsome Portuguese merchant marines who form a conga line in the village, a delightful sequence. And you must not miss the hilarious cameo by the Three Stooges!

The Fleet's In 

My Sister Eileen was turned into the Broadway musical Wonderful Town -- with a score by no less than Leonard Bernstein -- in 1953. Russell, who had already been a little old for the part in the film, and who couldn't really sing, was cast as Ruth yet again, and the show was a big hit, eventually being televised. In 1955 Columbia did a color and widescreen remake of My Sister Eileen with Janet Leigh and Batty Garrett. This was directed and co-written by Richard Quine [Sunny Side of the Street] , who plays Lippincott. To date there has been no theatrical film version of Wonderful Town, which is rarely revived.


Verdict: Fun movie with a terrific and talented cast. ***. 

THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER

Richard Dix

THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER (1945). Director: Lew Landers.

Jean Lang (Janis Carter of Slightly French) spies a stranger (Richard Dix of Lovin' the Ladies) in a bar and decides to read his fortune from across the room with playing cards. When the cards say that he faces death within 48 hours, she  decides to see if she can help him, and discovers that he has lost his memory in an accident. Along with her sister, Francie (Jeff Donnell of The Fuller Brush Girl), Jean and the stranger, whom she calls George, hunt down every clue they can to his identity. But will smitten-but-stupid Jean eventually get an unpleasant surprise when she finds out who the man really is ... ? This is the third in the Columbia mystery series based on the radio show The Whistler, and, as usual, the unseen narrator pipes in now and then to push the story along and to, alas, minimize the suspense that's been built up in the first half of the film. Too much information is given away too early so that the final quarter just plods along on a predictable path. This is too bad, because the basic premise is fine, and there are many opportunities for tense sequences (especially one involving a poisoned birthday cake) that are just frittered away by routine direction and not enough taut music. Hitchcock might have done something with this. Dix is pretty good in the lead, the two ladies are fine, and Loren Tindall makes a pleasant impression as Francie's fiance, Charlie. Tala Birell plays a ballet dancer who was once involved with "George."

Verdict: This is one you will probably watch and quickly forget. **1/4. 

ROUGHSHOD

Gloria Grahame and Robert Sterling

ROUGHSHOD (1949). Director: Mark Robson.

Four ladies of ill repute have been thrown out of Aspen when they encounter Clay Phillips (Robert Sterling) and his younger brother, Steve (Claude Jarman, Jr.) on the road after their wagon breaks down. Clay agrees to take the ladies part of the way, but has to concentrate on taking some horses to his ranch in Sonora. Adding to Clay's woes is the fact that an enemy named Lednov (John Ireland) has escaped from prison with two pals and is gunning for him. Clay also can't quite disguise his disapproval of Mary (Gloria Grahame) and the rest of her companions. Roughshod is an engaging and entertaining picture with some fine performances, especially from Grahame and young Jarman, Jr., both of whom share top billing with Sterling [Bunco Squad], most famous for the TV show Topper, who gives a better performance than expected. (Sterling was handsome and talented enough to have been developed into a major movie star, but his primary credits were on television; maybe he just lacked that certain oomph.) Grahame is as delightful and adept as ever, and Jarman [Intruder in the Dust] proves to be one of the most talented child actors in Hollywood. Ireland offers a chilling portrait of the determined killer, Lednov, and there's nice work from Myrna Dell, Jeff Donnell, and Martha Hyer as the three other "show girls" in the group. Sara Haden, James Bell [Back from the Dead], and Jeff Corey score in smaller roles. There are many affecting scenes in the movie, and a highly satisfying wind-up. Joseph Biroc's cinematography is typically outstanding, and there's a flavorful score by Roy Webb.

Verdict: An  unheralded gem with some fine performances. ***.

THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL

Eddie Albert and Lucille Ball

THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL (1950). Director: Lloyd Bacon. Written by Frank Tashlin.

Sally Elliott (Lucille Ball) is engaged to co-worker Humphrey Briggs (Eddie Albert), and the two have their eye on a home they can't afford. After a spectacular accident at work involving an exploding switchboard, Sally is fired and tries her hand at selling cosmetics as a Fuller Brush girl (she hasn't actually got the job yet, but is kind of "auditioning"). She and Humphrey wind up in the midst of a murder mystery, on the run both from police and from the real killer, winding up on a ship at sea with a bomb aboard! Red Skelton's The Fuller Brush Man was a success, so it was only natural for there to be a Fuller Brush Girl, and Lucy was an inspired choice as star, as she's wonderful in this. Franklin Tashlin's funny script (he also co-wrote Fuller Brush Man), has lots of thrills and laughs, and is full of his trademark inventive "cartoon-style" comedy, such as a great scene when Lucy, wearing several round life preservers, goes rapidly rolling around the deck of the ship and almost goes kerplunk into the ocean. Albert [On Your Toes] provides fine support for Lucy, and there are good performances from Jerome Cowan [Have Rocket, Will Travel] as her boss; Lee Patrick as his wife; Gail Robbins as dancer Ruby Rawlings; Arthur Space as Inspector Rogers; and Jeff Donnell [Night Editor] as Sally's friend, Jane. Red Skelton has a cameo playing himself and a potential customer -- he sells some items to Lucy instead of the other way around! There's a lot of clever stuff in this and the two parrots on the ship (voiced by Mel Blanc) are a scream.

Verdict: Cute picture with lots of laughs and a resplendent Lucy! ***.

THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU

Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre

THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU (1942). Director: Lew Landers.

In this black comedy that seems influenced by the Broadway show Arsenic and Old Lace  (which itself was filmed two years later) Boris Karloff plays a crazy scientist in a crumbling old inn and Peter Lorre is the sheriff and just about every other official in the area. Winnie Slade (the oddly named Miss Jeff Donell of Night Editor) is a kooky gal who decides to buy the inn even though it's off the beaten track, an idea which her ex-husband Bill (Larry Parks) thinks is nutty. Professor Billing (Karloff) seems to think he can imbue a man with the ability to fly by putting traveling salesmen into a machine he's invented, but they all wind up dead -- apparently. "Slapsy" Maxie Rosenbloom plays a powderpuff salesman, Maude Eburne is a homicidal housekeeper, Frank Puglia [20 Million Miles to Earth] is "Jo Jo," an escaped lunatic, and Don Beddoe [The Face Behind the Mask] is a choreographer who takes a room at the inn. The cast is interesting, to say the least, with Parks and Puglia coming off best, but the material is far, far below the talents of the actors, and both Karloff and Lorre seem a mite uncomfortable, although everyone tries their best to make this funny and spirited, which it ain't. The movie has only a couple of titters and is mostly tedious.

Verdict: Makes a Bowery Boys film look intellectual. *1/2.

NIGHT EDITOR

William Gargan [second from left] confronts a suspect

NIGHT EDITOR (1946). Director: Henry Levin.

"You're like me -- there's a meanness inside you that has to hurt or be hurt!"

A veteran editor of the New York Star tells a cautionary tale to a troubled young reporter (Coulter Irwin) which is illustrated in the long flashback scenes that comprise most of the movie. During prohibition days, married cop Tony Cochrane (William Gargan) is having an affair with a cold-hearted, married blonde named Jill (Janis Carter). While the two are parked on the outskirts of town, they witness a woman being brutally murdered. Afraid of losing his wife and son, Cochrane doesn't report the murder, leading to the expected complications. While Hitchcock might have done a lot with this very workable premise, Night Editor does little more than hold the attention, although Gargan's performance is quite good. The oddly-named Jeff Donnell is also good as his wife, Martha, while the supporting cast is at the very least competent. This was based on a radio series that later became a television program. Gargan also played a cop in Who Done It? and many other movies. Janis Carter also played a nasty lady in Framed when her leading man was Glenn Ford.

Verdict: Standard crime drama probably churned out in two days. **1/2.