MOTHER DIDN'T TELL ME

Dorothy McGuire and William Lundigan

MOTHER DIDN'T TELL ME (1950). Written and directed by Claude Binyon. 

Jane Morgan (Dorothy McGuire), who writes commercial jingles, sets her cap for the very handsome Dr. William Wright (William Lundigan) when she goes to him for a weird cough. Fortunately Bill is equally attracted to Jane, and it isn't long before they start dating. Jane refuses to believe that she will become a typical lonely doctor's wife, even when Bill's mother  (Jessie Royce Landis) tries to warn her off. But even if Jane can deal with Bill's frequent absences due to the demands of his patients, she may find stiffer competition from Bill's attractive new associate, Helen (Joyce MacKenzie of Destination Murder). 

Leif Erickson and June Havoc

Two very charming and adept lead performances are what put over this engaging comedy-drama (with an emphasis on comedy). The sensitive and talented McGuire proves that she is no slouch when it comes to comic roles and her co-star Lundigan proves he is more than just a good-lookin' fella. These two performers help gloss over some odd moments in the script. On the train during their honeymoon, the conductor tells Bill that a woman passenger is unconscious and may have had a heart attack. Instead of showing the slightest concern, Jane is only annoyed. "I can't ignore an unconscious woman," Bill says. "But you can ignore a conscious one?" his wife responds. If it weren't for McGuire's sympathetic playing, Jane would be completely unlikable. In fact, after this exchange you begin to think that the mother-in-law has the right idea. 

Gary Merrill and June Havoc are another  doctor and his wife, friends of Bill's, and Leif Erickson [Arabian Nights] really makes an amusing impression as a headshrinker who really knows how to pitch the woo to the ladies. Then there are those adorable twins! Lundigan made Pinky the previous year. Claude Binyon also wrote and directed The Saxon Charm. 

Verdict: Two imperfect people in an imperfect but engaging romance. ***. 

WHEN MY BABY SMILES AT ME

Betty Grable

WHEN MY BABY SMILES AT ME (1948). Director: Walter Lang. 

Burlesque performers Bonny Kane (Betty Grable) and her husband Skid Johnson (Dan Dailey) have dreams of the big time when they learn that Skid has been offered a big part in a Broadway show. Bonny is happy with her husband's advancement but she isn't thrilled when she learns he'll be performing with her rival, a predatory blonde named Sylvia (Jean Wallace of The Big Combo). Skid has a more serious problem than Sylvia and that's his love of liquor. Will Bonny succumb to the charms of admirer and rich rancher Harvey Howell (Richard Arlen) or will she be able to overlook her husband's peccadilloes? And will Skid wind up in Bellevue's dipsomaniac ward or back on Broadway? 

Dan Dailey and Betty Grable

Although many might consider this another Betty Grable Musical and she is very good in the picture the fact remains that this is Dan Dailey's show from start to finish. Dailey earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his strong and demanding turn as the frustrated, sad, and alcoholic Skid, and he delivers in every scene, the charming ones as well as the more difficult moments. He gets good support from such cast members as June Havoc (of My Sister Eileen) and Jack Oakie (of Million Dollar Legs) as another burlesque team, James Gleason as theater owner Lefty Moore, and Arlen and Wallace. Betty isn't showcased all that well in a weird torch number in which her movements are more strange than sexy, but she does a nice job with a pretty new number entitled "By the Way." This is the third version of a play entitled "Burlesque," so there are plenty of cliches on hand, but the picture is smoothly directed, photographed in beautiful technicolor, and despite its dramatic moments, is colorful fun. I'll leave it to individual viewers to decide if the ending is a happy one or not. Dailey does an imitation of Ted Lewis at one point and Jack Oakie does Al Jolson.  

Verdict: Dailey's fine performance gives this show biz drama some heft. ***.  

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. ***.