THE COWBOY AND THE BLONDE

THE COWBOY AND THE BLONDE (1941). Director: Ray McCary.

"Oh, you beautiful dope!"

Actress Crystal Wayne (Mary Beth Hughes), a complete bitch, is softened when she falls in love with a hopeful new cowboy star, Lank Garrett (George Montgomery), which is just as well because Garrett proves to be a hopeless actor except when he's doing love scenes with Crystal. The couple have a series of dumb misunderstandings throughout the 64 minute movie, which seems three hours long. Alan Mowbray plays Crystal's liaison in the studio. Minerva Urecal shows up for a minute or two. It's hard to believe this dog was actually released by 20th Century-Fox, as it looks like nothing so much as a poverty row item with an undistinguished cast. Hughes is at least somewhat vivid as Crystal; Montgomery has some charm but little else. This "comedy" has not got one single real laugh in it.

Verdict: 64 minutes long and only one half-hearted chuckle! *.

FAST AND FURIOUS

Ann Sothern and Franchot Tone

FAST AND FURIOUS (1939). Director: Busby Berkeley.

When Gerda Sloane (Ann Sothern), the wife of bookseller and amateur sleuth Joel Sloane (Franchot Tone), is told by him that the two are taking a vacation, she doesn't know that he's put money in a bathing beauty contest occurring in the resort town of Seaside City (read: Atlantic City). As Gerda runs interference for the occasionally amorous beauties, Joel investigates the murder of the contest's promoter, Eric Bartell (John Miljan). The suspects include his girlfriend, Lily (Ruth Hussey of The Uninvited); his other girlfriend, Jerry (Mary Beth Hughes of Men On Her Mind); Sloane's old friend, Mike Stevens (Lee Bowman of Up in Mabel's Room); and others. Fast and Furious was the debut and apparently the one and only entry in this bid for an aborted mystery series a la The Thin Man, but it's mediocre enough that there were never any sequels. Sothern and Tone make good leads -- Tone is somewhat better and has more aplomb at this than his co-star does -- but even Tone, good as he is, can't compete with William Powell. The business about a wife getting all hot and bothered because her husband is judging a beauty contest was to be repeated ad nauseum in various movies and TV shows, and had probably been done even before 1939. Harry Kurnitz' script has few laughs aside from a very funny bit involving some lions, and there is at least one very suspenseful scene when our couple are caught underneath a descending stage elevator, nearly crushing them. Otherwise, this is forgettable.

Verdict: Not one of the classics of 1939. **.

MEN ON HER MIND

Mary Beth Hughes

MEN ON HER MIND (1944). Director: Wallace Fox.

Making her debut on the radio, singer Lily Durrell (Mary Beth Hughes) thinks back on her involvement with several men who fell in love with her on her pathway to success. These include a trucker, Joe (Lyle Lytell); a music teacher and aspiring songwriter named Jim (Ted North); a wealthy socialite named Jeff (Edward Norris of Jungle Queen); and a rich patron of the arts named Roland Palmer (Alan Edwards). Along the way Lily also gets involved in murder, an alleged jewel theft, and poses as a phys ed teacher at an all-girls' school. Breaking a number of hearts along the way, she eventually settles on the right man ... Men On Her Mind is an entertaining, if minor, PRC light drama with a winning performance by Hughes [Dressed to Kill], who managed to amass over a hundred credits in films and on television. The beautiful actress also had an excellent singing voice, and does a nice job with both "Ave Maria" and the movie's one new tune, "Heaven on Earth." Hughes was married to Ted North when the film was made, but their union only lasted three years. Wallace Fox also directed Pillow of Death and a number of cliffhanger serials.

Verdict: By PRC standards this isn't too shabby. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN IN RIO

Victor Sen Yung, Harold Huber, and Sidney Toler

CHARLIE CHAN IN RIO (1941). Director: Harry Lachman.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) and his irrepressible son, Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung), have come to Rio where Charlie plans to arrest a woman from Honolulu who is wanted for murder; meanwhile Jimmy hopes to learn the mambo either from singer Lola Dean (Jacqueline Dalya) or her cute maid, Lili (Iris Wong). Alas, Lola is the woman wanted for murder, but she herself is killed before Charlie can put the cuffs on her. Suspects include Lola's baffled fiance, Clark (uncredited); Morana, the Indian mystic (Victor Jory of Cat-Women of the Moon); Ken Reynolds (a strangely unrecognizable Richard Derr of The Invisible Avenger); his wife, Joan (Mary Beth Hughes of Rockin' in the Rockies); friend Bill Kellogg (Hamilton MacFadden); the bitter Grace (Cobina Wright Jr.); Lola's efficient secretary, Helen (Kay Linaker); and even the butler, Rice (Leslie Denison). This is an entertaining mystery, but it lacks the tension and suspense of superior entries in the series. The acting is generally good, however, with Toler and Sen Yung in fine form. Harold Huber once again plays a police inspector, but is more relaxed and appealing than usual. Kay Linaker and Iris Wong were also in previous Chan pictures. Truman Bradley, who was in the last entry Dead Men Tell, is listed in the cast but I couldn't spot him in this and can't even remember the character!

Verdict: Acceptable Chan vehicle. **1/2.

DANCING CO-ED

Lana Turner and Richard Carlson

DANCING CO-ED (1939). Director: S. Sylvan Simon.

"She stinks!"

Just when the Dancing Tobins are to begin a new film, Toddy Tobin (a barely-seen Mary Beth Hughes) gets pregnant, and the search is on for someone to co-star with her husband, Freddy (Lee Bowman sans mustache). Learning that the studio is to conduct a talent search on college campuses, Freddy protests that he needs a professional, so it is decided to fix the contest, send talented Patty Marlowe (Lana Turner) to one of the institutions, and make damn certain that she is the winner. Patty gets involved with the editor of the school paper, "Pug" Braddock (Richard Carlson), who figures there has to be a "plant" and decides to ferret out who she is even as Patty assists him as a way of hiding the truth. Will Patty go to Hollywood, or will her scheme come undone? The movie begins well, but the fun peters out halfway through or earlier, and you'll find that you couldn't care less how it comes out. The script lets down the players, who are game and enthusiastic throughout, with Turner [Love Has Many Faces] and Carlson [All I Desire] swell in the leads, Ann Rutherford perky as a secretary who helps Patty, Leon Errol his usual fun self as Patty's father, and Thurston Hall and Monty Woolley also briefly on hand as well. I think I spotted drummer Buddy Rich a couple of times. Band leader Artie Shaw, playing himself, is third-billed but only gets one line of dialogue! He must have impressed Lana Turner, however, because she married him the following year [he also married Ava Gardner and Evelyn Keyes, among others]. Hal Le Sueur, Joan Crawford's brother, plays a handsome college student but has no lines. S. Sylvan Simon also directed the far superior The Fuller Brush Man.

Verdict: Picture could have been cute but it turns into a stink bomb.**

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DIVORCE

Joseph Allen and Lynn Bari

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DIVORCE (1942). Director: Robert Siodmak.

"There goes "Malicious." 

George Nordyke (Joseph Allen) is an insecure husband whose manhood is threatened by the fact that his wife, Lynn (Lynn Bari of Shock), is better at everything and even bagged the moose, Stinky, that hangs in their game room. When George almost literally runs into a more demure blonde named Lola May (Mary Beth Hughes of The Lady Confesses), he falls in love with her and he and Lynn decide to divorce, against the better judgment of their friend, Inspector "Camp" Campbell (Truman Bradley). Lynn winds up dating a radio musician named Victor Roselli (Nils Asther of Storm at Daybreak) and things get weird -- but still dull -- after one of the group gets murdered. Allen and Bari give it their all, but the script is horrible and there are few if any laughs. Kay Linaker tries to inject some life as Lynn's friend, Hedda, as does Thurston Hall as her hubby, and Mary Treen is as adept as ever as yet another maid, Olga. This doesn't even have the courage of its convictions.

Verdict: Not as much fun as clipping your toenails. *.

THE LADY CONFESSES

Hugh Beaumont

THE LADY CONFESSES (1945). Director: Sam Newfield.

"I don't know what there is about the guy but he just sends me."

Vicki McGuire (Mary Beth Hughes) is looking forward to her wedding to Larry Craig (Hugh Beaumont), when who should show up but Larry's wife, Norma (Barbara Slater), who's been missing for seven years. While this causes a complication, it gets even worse for the couple when Norma is murdered and they become the chief suspects. But there's also nightclub owner Lucky Brandon (Edmund MacDonald), who may have been involved with Norma, and singer Lucille (Claudia Drake), who's carrying a torch for Lucky and may have been jealous of the dead woman. And what about Marge (Carol Andrews), the lady who photographs the customers, or Steve (Dewy Robinson), the bartender? Vicki decides to go undercover at the club to discover who may be keeping secrets, while Captain Brown (Emmett Vogan) conducts an official investigation. Beaumont was best-known for playing the mild-mannered father on Leave It to Beaver, but he could play different kinds of roles when required, such as detective Mike Shayne in several movies also directed by Newfield. In this he first appears doing a convincing drunk act, and has a very different personality from Ward Cleaver. This is a not bad "B" mystery with a good cast and an ending that you may not see coming. Newfield also directed The Lost Continent among many other "B's." Hughes, who also appeared in The Cowboy and the Blonde, was not a bad actress.

Verdict: Ward Cleaver on a bender. **1/2.

ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES

ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES (1945). Director: Vernon Keays.

Shorty Williams (Moe Howard) takes over his cousin's ranch when he's out of town and creates a shambles with his pals Larry (Larry Fine) and Curly (Curly Howard) -- yes, it's The Three Stooges -- two aspiring singers named June (Mary Beth Hughes) and Betty (Gladys Blake), and the four Hoosier Hotshots, who also want a shot in show biz. Jay Kirby plays cousin Rusty, who's mighty perturbed to find a whole house-load of uninvited guests at his ranch. A few snappy musical numbers -- including the catchy title tune -- are interspersed with the Stooges' amusing hijinks. No world beater, perhaps, but in its own limited way it's certainly good-natured fun.

Verdict: A must for Stooge fanatics. **1/2.