GASOLINE ALLEY

Scotty Becket and Susan Morrow

GASOLINE ALLEY (1951). Written and directed by Edward Bernds. 

Corky Wallet (Scotty Becket) is out of college and newly married to Hope (Susan Morrow). Corky's father, Walt (Don Beddoe), hopes that Corky will join his father's firm, but Corky wants to make his own mark in the world. A stint as a dishwasher leads to him buying his own diner with financial help from his brother, Skeezix (Jimmy Lydon), and waitress assistance from Hope. When a businessman makes the landlord an offer he can't refuse, Corky has to come up with a plan to save the diner after all of his hard work. 

Don Beddoe and Jimmy Lydon

"Gasoline Alley" was a very long-running newspaper comic strip by Frank O. King in which the characters aged normally as they would in the real world. The strip began with bachelor Walt Wallet discovering an infant boy, Skeezix, on his doorstep. Walter eventually got married and had two more natural children, including Corky, who also married. Skeezix  married and had children as well, including Skipper the sailor. Reading the strip as a child I remember it as being a pleasant comedy-drama but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm afraid the same is true for this low-budget theatrical version of the comic strip.

Director Edward Bernds keeps the pic moving but he should have allowed someone else to do the script, which is mediocre and full of old gags. Scotty Becket, the very talented child actor of My Son, My Son and others, is fine and sympathetic but kind of wasted, as his was a very strong talent. Jimmy Lydon [Strange Illusion], famous for the Henry Aldrich films, is also good but isn't given much to do. The other assorted players are all okay -- especially Byron Foulger as a customer -- but the material is pretty much beneath everyone. There was one sequel, Corky of Gasoline Alley. These were Beckett's last starring roles although he did a few pictures afterward until tragically succumbing to a drug overdose at age 38.

Verdict: Probably not as good as the comic strip. **. 

I PASSED FOR WHITE

James Franciscus and Sonya Wilde

I PASSED FOR WHITE (1960). Director: Fred M. Wilcox.

Bernice Lee (Sonya Wilde), who is biracial, finds herself discriminated against by both whites and blacks. She travels to New York, where she discovers that one firm won't hire her -- despite her qualifications -- simply because she's a "Negro." Lying about her race, she gets a good job and begins a romance with a handsome man, Rick (James Franciscus of The Valley of Gwangi), whom she meets on the plane. But when they fall in love, how far is Bernice -- now known as Lila Brownell -- willing to go with her deception, and can she get away with it?

Lon Ballantyne and Sonya Wilde

I Passed for White has a similar premise to the superior Pinky, which came out eleven years earlier. But while both feature interracial relationships, I Passed for White deals with its heroine in the white urban world and has her interacting with her fiance's upper crust family, who are a bit suspicious -- never dreaming she's part black but wondering why she keeps telling false stories about her family. One of the movie's best scenes has her in a nightclub with her husband and in-laws, and encountering her brother, Chuck (Lon Ballantyne), which leads to an ugly scene that clearly suggests that Rick is a racist.

James Franciscus

Sonya Wilde has her moments as Bernice, but at twenty-one she seems a bit inexperienced to completely pull off such a difficult role; she had only a few credits afterward. Many of the other actors offer somewhat obvious and stilted performances, as if they were appearing in a amateur stage play, although James Franciscus is surprisingly excellent as Rick -- it's no surprise the actor went places, however. Of the supporting cast, the most notable are the aforementioned Ballantyne, who is a nice actor, and Isabel Cooley as the sympathetic maid, Bertha. Two other cast members of note are Jimmy Lydon [Strange Illusion] as a friend of Rick's and Thomas Browne Henry [The Robe] as a doctor. Unfortunately, neither has much to do. Fred M. Wilcox had previously directed Forbidden Planet!

Verdict: No Pinky, but it does have several good sequences. **3/4. 

TIGHTROPE

Mike Connors

TIGHTROPE (1959). Half-hour television crime drama. One season. 37 episodes.

In this taut and memorable crime series, Mike Connors [Day the World Ended] stars as a man known only as Nick, an undercover police officer who can have few friends and only furtive romances as he goes from city to city establishing phony identities so he can infiltrate the mob in one dangerous assignment after another. As part of his cover, Nick often has to treat innocent people pretty badly, but I imagine he figures the ends justify the means. These episodes were very tightly-plotted and fast-paced and always put Nick into intriguing and suspenseful situations.

Gangsters Daughter with Leslie Parrish

Among the more memorable episodes: "Cracking Point" features Richard Jaeckel [The Dark] as a man blackmailed into robbing a bank, with Simon Oakland as guest-star; "Two Private Eyes" features two sleazy gumshoes who get the business when they look for a missing wife; "Cold Ice" is a mini-suspense masterpiece about the cutting of a perfect stolen diamond; "The Model and the Mobster" has Nick taking on a monstrous hoodlum very well-played by Bruce Gordon; Mike Mazurki scores in " "Long Odds," wherein Nick tries to find out which mob boss ordered a hit on a cop; Margaret Field and Jimmy Lydon guest-star in "Brave Pigeon," in which a hit is put on an innocent man who is able to identify a certain criminal; "The Gangster's Daughter" presents the cultured daughter (Leslie Parrish of The Money Jungle) of a wealthy mobster (Barton MacLane) with an overly ambitious nephew; "Bullets and Ballet" has Nick investigating why a top hood has come to town, with the excellent Doris Singleton (Carolyn Appleby on I Love Lucy) as a guest-star. Arguably the best episode of the series is "Man in the Middle" with Nick coming between a newly-released mob boss (Marc Lawrence) who's in deadly conflict with a younger rival (Gerald Mohr). Mike Connors went on to greater success with his hit P.I. show Mannix, which lasted several seasons.

Verdict: This show rarely dips below a "B+" level in quality and there are a lot of "A" episodes as well. ***. 

STRANGE ILLUSION

Jimmy Lydon and Regis Toomey

STRANGE ILLUSION (1945). Director: Edgar G. Ulmer.

Paul Cartwright (Jimmy Lydon of Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid), who believes his father was murdered, has been having strange dreams of death and disaster for his family. His widowed mother, Virginia (Sally Eilers of The Campus Vamp), has taken up with a smooth-talking man named Brett (Warren William) who wants to marry her and who has charmed Paul's sister, Dorothy (Jayne Hazard). Paul is afraid that Brett may be using an alias, and that he is really a man who murdered his first wife. Paul seeks help from sympathetic Dr. Vincent (Regis Toomey) but winds up in an institution run by sinister Professor Muhlback (Charles Arnt). Is his family in danger or is he losing his mind? You probably won't care because Strange Illusion is a pretty dull and terrible picture. It might have been one thing if the script tried to work up some suspense by keeping the audience in the dark about whether Brett was a good guy or a bad guy a la Hitchcock's Suspicion, but this lets the viewer in so early that there are absolutely no surprises and not a dollop of suspense, even at the ending. Although Lydon comes off like his character Henry Aldrich a few times, his performance is good, and William is as excellent as ever, but the movie is a real stinker. Leo Erdody's score helps a little. Sally Eilers had been in films since the silent era, but she had only two more film appearances after this. Now in his 90\s, Jimmy Lydon had many more credits after this, mostly on television, and worked as an actor until the late 80's before going into the production end. Strange Illusion got surprisingly good reviews at the time of its release, making one wonder if the critics were inebriated or in a particularly charitable mood. Nowadays some Ulmer fans go on about this film as if it were on a par with Hitchcock and suggest it was influenced by no less than Hamlet! Give me a break!

Verdict: Great to see Jimmy and Warren but they need a much better vehicle. *1/2.

HOT ROD

Jimmy Lydon, Art Baker, Myron Healey

HOT ROD (1950). Director: Lewis D. Collins.

"Parents, be grateful you're attending a hearing today instead of a funeral. -- Judge Langham.

David Langham, a kind of mopey "youngster" (Jimmy Lydon, billed as James Lydon), is in love with hot rods and wants to build a super-charged one to impress his sometime girl, Janie (Gloria Winters), Janie is more taken with obnoxious Jack (Tommy Bond), who gets David in trouble when he "borrows" his vehicle and gets into an accident. David's older brother, Joe (Myron Healey of Panther Girl of the Kongo), is a cop and their father is Judge Langham (Art Baker), who takes a dim view of hot rods and the lives cost by dangerous amateur racing. David feels that lives might be saved if the town opened a legal racing strip so the kids wouldn't have to race illegally and get into trouble. Seventy years ago hot rods and racing were a big issue, and lots of movies, mostly "B" films, dealt with it, along with juvenile delinquency. Lydon, who so winningly played Henry Aldrich in a series of comedies, gives a good performance in this, but the film is mediocre, like an expanded "Leave It To Beaver" episode with a heavy-handed (if appropriate) moral tone. Gil Stratton is weird as David's geeky pal, Swifty. Serial stars Marshall Reed and Dennis Moore both have small roles in Hot Rod, with the former playing a guy whose car is hit by David's jalopy, and the latter as a motorcycle patrolman. Those hoping to see some amazing souped up and sexy hot rods in this picture will have to look elsewhere. Lewis D. Collins co-directed many serials (generally with Ray Taylor) and also helmed The Spanish Cape Mystery.

Verdict: Despite a high speed chase at the end, this has little zzzooom. **.

ANDY! ANDY! ANDY!

Studly? Rutherford, Rooney, Garland, Turner

ANDY! ANDY! ANDY!

One might as well say "Mickey! Mickey! Mickey! as actor and role were pretty much inseparable. There were other girl-crazy teens in old time movie series -- Jimmy Lydon in the Henry Aldrich series and  Kenneth Howell in the Jones Family series [both of whom were quite talented] -- but nobody was quite like Andy Hardy. Andy was sort of in-between the very silly if lovable Henry and the more serious and stable Jack Jones, although all three could lose their heads over the ladies.

Below is a round up of the last entries in the Andy Hardy series beginning with Life Begins for Andy Hardy and ending with Andy Hardy Comes Home, although one could claim that the last true Hardy film was Love Laughs at Andy Hardy 12 years earlier. Andy Hardy Comes Home was to be the first of a new series, but its mediocrity and other problems put paid to that idea.

The Hardy movies varied in quality, ranging from the excellence of Andy Hardy's Double Life to the comparative miserableness of Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble, with others stuck in the middle. But none of the Hardy films were completely awful, if for no other reason than the excellent performances of Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, and especially the irrepressible Mickey Rooney.

BAD BOY

Audie Murphy

BAD BOY (1949). Director: Kurt Neumann.

Danny Lester (Audie Murphy) is an incorrigible, nasty young man who beats, shoots and robs and is nearly sentenced to a reformatory or prison. However Marshall Brown (Lloyd Nolan) is convinced, without any real basis, that Danny's anti-social tendencies stem from something that happened in his youth. [Danny acts like a sociopathic creep, so it's a question if what happened in his youth even matters, but in movies like Bad Boy there has to be some dubious psychological explanation.] Brown importunes Judge Prentiss (Selena Royle) to take Danny under his wing and bring him to the Variety Clubs Boys Ranch in Texas, where he steals, acts all bitter, and has the boys so mad at him that they all give him the silent treatment. Can this boy be saved...? In his first starring role Murphy, the most decorated soldier in WW2, proves not to be a "great" actor, but is more than competent, displaying charisma and surliness in equal measure; he would develop in time. Jimmy Lydon of the Henry Aldrich series plays another student, Ted, and is excellent, as is James Gleason [The Girl Rush] as Brown's more cynical associate, "Chief." Jane Wyatt [The Man Who Cheated Himself] is Brown's wife; Martha Vickers is Danny's half sister; and Rhys Williams [The Corn is Green] is his step-father. There are some fairly interesting developments in this but the movie never really amounts to much. Murphy would go on to better things. Murphy single-handedly held off a squadron of German soldiers while standing atop a tank that could have exploded at any second -- it's safe to say Hollywood couldn't have scared him that much!

Verdict: Half-baked melodrama. **1/2.

WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME

Willie (Dan Dailey) is questioned by French resistance

WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME (1950). Director: John Ford.

After Pearl Harbor, small-town boy and bandleader Bill Kluggs (Dan Dailey) is anxious to enlist. Although his early training doesn't go so well, he eventually develops "the highest rating of any instructor," which means the Army has more use for him in camp than overseas. Unfortunately, said camp is located right in Bill's home town, where he stays -- and stays -- while other men ship out and his neighbors get more and more resentful. Eventually he goes on a mission and winds up behind enemy lines and working with the French resistance, and is sent back to England with important information -- unfortunately he can't talk about the mission. One annoying thing about this otherwise good and funny movie is that no one -- not even Bill's parents -- acknowledge that he's performing an important service as an instructor (an assignment that is not without its dangers). Dailey is excellent, and he has fine support from William Demarest [Pardon My Past] and Evelyn Varden [The Bad Seed] as his parents; Colleen Townsend as his girl, Marge; Jimmy Lydon [Henry Aldrich Haunts a House] as her brother; and Corinne Calvet as a beautiful lady with the French resistance.

Verdict: Well-done and keeps you chuckling, with a fine lead performance. ***.

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. ***. 

THE TOWN WENT WILD

THE TOWN WENT WILD (1944). Director: Ralph Murphy.

David Conway (Freddie Bartholomew) wants to marry his next-door sweetheart, Carol (Jill Browning), whom he calls "Poo," but there are complications. Their two fathers (Edward Everett Horton and Tom Tully) have been feuding for years, and worse, it apparently turns out that David and Carol's brother Bob (Jimmy Lydon) were switched at birth and David is really Carol's brother! The yuckier aspects of this situation are thankfully unexplored as the two dads' attempts to destroy an application for a marriage license for the two alleged siblings before scandal can result causes more complications, arrests, and zany courtroom scenes. Charles Halton of Dr. Cyclops is the testy town clerk, Tweedle, who advises everyone of the mix-up; Jimmy Conlon is the Justice of the Peace; and Maude Eberne, who was comedy relief in The Vampire Bat and a zillion others, is Judge Dingle. Even Charles Middleton shows up as a district attorney and has an amusing moment with Eberne. The lead actors are all swell -- Bartholomew's talent didn't vanish with adulthood -- and the film has its amusing moments, even if it's ultimately on the mediocre side.

Verdict: Anything with this cast can't be all bad. **1/2.

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.