BLONDE FROM BROOKLYN

Thurston Hall, Lynn Merrick and Robert Stanton/Haymes

BLONDE FROM BROOKLYN (1945). Director: Del Lord.

Fresh out of the Army, Dixon Harper (Robert Stanton), who loves everything Southern although he was born a Yankee, runs into a jukebox gal and wannabe singer named Susan (Lynn Merrick of I Love Trouble). For reasons that make little sense, the two decide to pretend to be from the deep South with the aid of lovable con man Colonel Hubert Fransworth (Thurston Hall of Theodora Goes Wild). Changing her name to Susanna Bellwithers, Susan learns that she is now considered the heir to a fortune that isn't rightfully hers, but if she confesses the truth she and Bob may lose a radio contract with their sponsors... Blonde from Brooklyn has amiable players, with Hall the most professional of the bunch and Merrick and Stanton being comely and in good voice. Mary Treen [Let's Do It Again] is also in the cast as Susan's disapproving roommate. The songs are pleasantly forgettable although "Lost a Wonderful Girl" is a rather nice number. Hugh Beaumont has a small role as an Army man, and Byron Foulger registers as the lawyer who brings news of the inheritance. Stanton, who was good-looking and capable if no great actor, and was also the younger brother of Dick Haymes, later became a busy emcee under his real name, Bob Haymes. [Imdb. com claims he appeared in 1998's The Wedding Singer even though he died nine years earlier!; stock footage maybe?]

Verdict: Pleasant but you forget it even while you're watching it. **.

DR. CHRISTIAN MEETS THE WOMEN

Maude Ebern, Jean Herscholt and nurse

DR. CHRISTIAN MEETS THE WOMEN (1940). Director: William C. McGann.

You might hope for something provocative with that title, but no such luck. Dr. Christian (Jean Herscholt) is a middle-aged-going-on-elderly physician in a small town who is alarmed when a type of nutritionist, Professor Parker (Rod La Rocque) moves in and claims he can help every woman lose twenty-five pounds in two weeks. Before long all the town porkers are signing up in hopes of looking as good as the professor's shapely nurse, Carol (the ever-hard Veda Ann Borg). Meanwhile Kitty Browning (Marilyn or Lynn Merrick) has fallen hard for the professor's front man, Bill (Frank Albertson), and her dieting is making her weak and seriously ill. And the fat ladies turn on the well-meaning Christian like ungrateful vipers. This comedy-drama is like a sitcom in the days before sitcoms, with the dramatic moments lacking authority and the comedic bits lacking real laughs. Even Maude Ebern as Christian's peppery housekeeper can't do much to make this entertaining. Hersholt appeared in a few of these Dr. Christian movies in the forties before doing the inevitable TV series, Dr. Christian, in 1956. [Think I'll give that a pass.] La Rocque played The Shadow in The Shadow Strikes. 

Verdict: Leave Dr. Christian to his women. *1/2.