THE BIG SHOW-OFF

Dale Evans and Arthur Lake

THE BIG SHOW-OFF (1945). Director: Howard Bretherton.

Sandy Elliott (Arthur Lake) is a piano accompanist for the nightclub singer June Mayfield (Dale Evans). Their boss, Joe Bagley (Lionel Stander of Tahiti Honey), knows that Sandy is secretly carrying a torch for June. While Joe likes Sandy, he can't stand his obnoxious emcee, Wally (George Meeker of Tarzan's Revenge), who is practically affianced to June. Joe tries to encourage Sandy to tell June how he feels, and to become the kind of man that June might fall for. Somehow it develops that June is convinced that Sandy is the real identity of the masked wrestler known as "the Devil." June is amazed that the mouse is really a lion, but now she's afraid that he might be too brutal for her taste. Sandy wants to give up his alleged career as the Devil, but the real Devil might have something to say about that. What's a boy to do?

Lionel Stander with Lake

The Big Show-Off might sound like a cute picture, and it is, but it's still distinctly minor although it gets lots of help from the likable Lake, best-known as Dagwood Bumstead of the Blondie film series. Lionel Stander is less off-putting than usual, and Dale Evans gets to warble the memorable ditty "There's Only One You." The film throws in some bizarre characters like the Devil (Paul Hurst of Borrowed Wives) and his wrestling cousin and chief opponent, Boris the Bulgar (Sammy Stein). Marjorie Manners plays Mitzi, one of the show girls and June's gal pal. I could swear I spotted a young Nestor Paiva but he's not in the cast list. Anyway, The Big Show-Off is an amiable comedy with a pleasant lead performance. 

Verdict: Lake takes some time off from the Blondie series. **1/2. 

TAHITI HONEY

Dennis O'Keefe and Lionel Stander

TAHITI HONEY  (1943). Director: John H. Auer.

In Tahiti just before Pearl Harbor, bandleader Mickey Monroe (Dennis O'Keefe) decides he needs a woman for the act, although previous songbirds have only caused trouble for the band. Mickey hires Suzette (Simone Simon), who agrees to join his team because he tells her he can get her to the U.S. The other band members are against taking her, but Mickey appeals to their sympathy by saying she wants to be reunited with her soldier fiancee, Charlie. Mickey makes up so many phony letters that the band members all come to believe that "Charlie" actually exists. And then a real soldier shows up, Lt. John Barton (Michael Whalen), whom everyone thinks is Charlie. Suzette decides to go along with the deception, creating romantic feelings in John and jealousy in Mickey. Which man will she finally wind up with?

Dennis O Keefe and Simone Simon

Tahiti Honey is a typical Republic musical time-waster, although it's easy to take for most of its length until it eventually wears out its welcome. The songs are pleasant enough but not likely to stay in your memory. O'Keefe is excellent, an adept comic actor who makes the most of his role as a smooth-talkin' ladies man; you just wish he had better material. Simon (of Cat People fame and Girls' Dormitory) is cute and apparently dubbed -- her singing, that is. Lionel Stander, whom I usually can't abide, is not only very good but much less obnoxious than usual. Michael Whalen [Highway 13] is fine as the initially confused, then smitten, lieutenant. Simon made this movie in between her most famous feature, Cat People, and its sequel. Her American career never really took off.

Verdict: O'Keefe fans may enjoy this, but not recommended for anyone else. **1/4. 

THE KID FROM BROOKLYN

Walter Abel, Steve Cochran, Danny Kaye and Eve Arden

THE KID FROM BROOKLYN (1946). Director: Norman Z. McLeod.

Burleigh Sullivan (Danny Kaye) is a skinny milkman who comes to the rescue when his sister, Susie (Vera-Ellen), is bothered by a masher, the boxer Speed McFarlane (Steve Cochran of The Chase). When Speed, the heavyweight champion, is knocked out with one punch, the press wrongly believe that Burleigh delivered the blow. Speed's manager, Gabby (Walter Abel), decides to capitalize on the situation by hiring Burleigh as a fighter, and paying his opponents to take a dive so he can ultimately cash in when Burleigh has a real match with Speed. Complications occur when Burleigh's success goes to his head, and Speed and Susie fall for each other. Kaye is wonderful in this light-hearted, silly, modestly entertaining musical, and the pic is bolstered with fine supporting performances, not only from those already mentioned but from an absolutely gorgeous Virginia Mayo as Burleigh's recent girlfriend, Polly Pringle, and the inimitable Eve Arden as Gabby's acerbic gal pal, Ann. Clarence Kolb of My Little Margie is the head of the milk company, Lionel Stander is as repulsive as ever as Speed's associate (and the one who actually knocked him out), and Fay Bainter [The Children's Hour] has an amusing scene with Kaye when he teaches her how to box and duck. Some of the characters, such as Polly and Susie, seem to over-react when Kaye's behavior changes after his "success" in the ring, but he's never as bad as they make him out to be, making it seem more like they've got sour grapes. Kaye and Mayo would make more movies together.

Verdict: The players help put across this. **1/2.   

ST. BENNY THE DIP

Nina Foch and Dick Haymes

ST. BENNY THE DIP (1951). Director: Edgar G. Ulmer.

Benny (Dick Haymes), Monk (Lionel Stander), and Matthew (Roland Young) are three con artists trying to pull a rather mean score when the law intervenes and they take it on the lam. The trio hide out by disguising themselves as priests, and wind up running an abandoned mission for the indigent. Benny has trouble staying in character when he meets pretty illustrator Linda (Nina Foch), and the three men's fates just might turn out differently than expected. The premise might be a bit sappy, but it has possibilities that aren't overly plumbed in this quaint comedy that has some good performances. Haymes [Irish Eyes Are Smiling] is a cast standout, and is given one nice number, "I Believe," which is not to be confused with the more famous song of the same name; he's also in fine voice. Young and Stander are also good, with the latter less gross and tiresome than usual. He has a good scene reuniting with his long-suffering wife, Mary (a notable Jean Casto), late in the picture. Nina Foch [Illegal] is given an odd part, and at times she seems demented in her determination to marry a man she hardly knows. A shockingly bad performance is given by a grown-up Freddie Bartholomew, once a wonderful child actor, who plays a geeky young priest named Wilbur. Bartholomew could give good adult performances, as he did in The Town Went Wild, but in this he just tries too hard to be funny; it was his last picture. The odd thing about this movie is that it has a certain quality and appeal despite the fact that it's really not that good. Robert W. Stringer's interesting score, especially the excellent theme music, may have something to do with that.

Verdict: Oddly interesting comedy with some good performances. **1/2.

IF YOU COULD ONLY COOK

Jean Arthur and Herbert Marshall

IF YOU COULD ONLY COOK (1935). Director: William A. Seiter.

Jim Buchanan (Herbert Marshall) is engaged to Evelyn Fletcher (Freida Inescort), whose chief interest in him seems to be his money. One afternoon in the park Jim encounters job-hungry Joan (Jean Arthur), who assumes he's out of work and importunes him to go with her to answer an ad for cook and butler in the mansion of gangster Mike Rossini (Leo Carrillo of Horror Island). Smitten with the refreshingly sweet and honest Joan, Jim goes along with the gag, although Rossini assumes the two are married. Understandably, all manner of complications occur. If You Could Only Cook is standard, silly, highly contrived screwball comedy stuff, only the laughs don't quite arrive with enough frequency. Arthur and Marshall are both wonderful, however, and their performances are the chief reason for watching the movie. Carrillo is fine, Inescort is given little to do but does it well, and Lionel Stander [Mr. Deeds Goes to Town] is simply gross and typically repulsive as Rossini's good right hand. Jean Arthur and Leo Carrillo also appeared together in History is Made at Night.

Verdict: Slight and over-familiar, but the stars are great. **.

WE'RE IN THE MONEY

Blondell and Farrell

WE'RE IN THE MONEY (1935). Director: Ray Enright.

Ginger (Joan Blondell) and Dixie (Glenda Farrell) are process servers for dithery lawyer Homer Bronson (Hugh Herbert). Their latest assignment is to serve papers on a host of men who are being sued for breach of promise by the same Frenchwoman, Claire LeClaire (Anita Kerry), who was actually born in Brooklyn. Using various tricks and clever maneuvers, the gals are able to pass on the subpoenas, but there's an awkward snag when it turns out that the "chauffeur" Ginger is dating, and is in love with, is actually wealthy Richard Courtney (Ross Alexander), one of the litigants! We're in the Money is an amusing, well-played comedy with the ladies in top form, and good support from Kerry, Herbert [The Black Cat] and Alexander, as well as Lionel Stander and Phil Regan as two more of LeClaire's victims. One of the best scenes has Ginger serving Regan as he entertains in a nightclub. Enright also directed River's End.

Verdict: Cute and snappy. ***.

MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN

Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper

MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936). Director: Frank Capra. NOTE: This review reveals some plot points in the movie.

A wealthy man dies in an accident and leaves twenty million dollars to a content, small-town fellow named Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper). Brought to New York by lawyer John Cedar (Douglass Dumbrille), Deeds turns out to be not as dumb as he seems, although he falls for the hunger act put on by newspaper reporter Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur), who at first only sees him as a story and mocks him in the paper. The two fall in love, but when Deeds discovers that Babe was the one behind the articles ... The film ends with a lengthy courtroom scene in which Deeds' sanity is brought into question. Frankly, Mr. Deeds is contrived and phony from the get-go. Deeds is seen as a fine, amiable fellow [who settles arguments with his fists!] but it doesn't occur to him to use the money to help other people until a starving farmer storms his mansion with a gun. When Cedar argues that Deeds isn't really responsible enough to handle twenty million dollars [because he wants to give it all away], the fact remains that Cedar is probably right -- in that Deeds doesn't know the right way to go about establishing a charitable fund. Robert Riskin's screenplay presents the quaint and preposterous notion that all big city dwellers are nasty "slickers" and small-town people are the salt of the earth [sure!]; caricatures wealthy opera fans [as if only the rich are cultured!]; and features a lead character, like John Doe, who never seems entirely real. To say all this becomes quite tiresome is an understatement. Deeds isn't so wonderfully noble -- he doesn't care about the money because he already seems to be well-off, owning more than one home and employing a live-in housekeeper. The only really amusing moments come in the climactic courtroom scene, especially with the little old ladies who think Deeds -- and virtually everyone else -- is "pixillated." Cooper is okay, Dumbrille is excellent, and Arthur as vital and wonderful as ever, the movie's saving grace. But this is far, far below the level of Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. A further minus is the irritating presence of Lionel Stander.

Verdict: Pure Capra-corn. **.

A STAR IS BORN (1937)

Norman accidentally smacks Esther at Oscars

A STAR IS BORN (1937). Director: William A. Wellman. Produced by David O. Selznick.

"For every dream of yours that comes true, you'll pay the price in heartbreak."

In this technicolor re-visioning of What Price Hollywood? -- a star on the rise juxtaposed with a star on the wane -- the two main characters are romantically involved and get married, adding some dramatic heft to the basic plot line. Norman Maine (Fredric March) is a heavy-drinking lead actor who is in danger of being cast off as too difficult to work with. [As one wag puts it, "his work is beginning to interfere with his drinking."] He becomes smitten with a sweet little hopeful named Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor of Sunrise), who is taken under his wing and signed to a contract. Rechristened "Vicki Lester," she becomes a big star even as Norman's phone stops ringing, culminating in an embarrassing scene at the Academy Awards when he storms in drunk as she gives an acceptance speech. The film shows much more of Esther's early life than either of the two remakes. Gaynor is fine as Esther, but she seems an unlikely bet for major stardom, although in real life she had already won the first Best Actress Oscar [for two silent films] and was an established name and one-time top box office attraction before the film was made -- her performance in this was also nominated for an Oscar, but ironically she had few film roles afterward. March does the best he can with a severely underwritten role. [It also seems unlikely that Maine would be so completely forgotten in so short a time.] Adolph Menjou, Lionel Stander, and Andy Devine are all notable in important supporting roles, and peppery May Robson is as wonderful as ever as Esther's loving grandmother. Max Steiner's score is one of his least memorable.

Verdict: Entertaining behind-the-scenes look at one of Hollywood's sad stories but not quite a true classic. ***.