WHITE WOMAN

Kent Taylor and Carole Lombard

WHITE WOMAN (1933). Director: Stuart Walker.

Down in Malaysia, Judith Denning (Carole Lombard of In Name Only) is considered notorious because it is said she drove her husband to suicide by taking a lover. She is also a "white woman" who sings in a cafe that caters to the natives. When the rich owner of a rubber plantation, Horace Prin (Charles Laughton), who calls himself the "King of the River," makes her a proposition, she decides to become his wife. On the plantation she comes to realize that Prin is a monster, and also that his overseer, David (Kent Taylor of Western Pacific Agent), is the man for her. It isn't long before the two are making plans to leave together, but Prin will not be so amenable to this decision of theirs. 

Claude King, Charles Laughton, Ethel Griffies

White Woman is a weird but intriguing movie, dripping with humid atmosphere, interesting performances, sinister jungle natives who are fond of lobbing lopped-off heads through windows, and the like. The centerpiece, of course, is Laughton, who gives a bizarre account of himself. On one hand he adds great flavor to his portrayal of a man who might be sociopathic, but at other times he is borderline campy, playing it like a vicious and childish "queen." Lombard is perhaps not quite as expressive as one might have hoped for, but she is good, and she plays quite well with Kent Taylor, who gives a very good reason for deserting. Percy Kilbride can't quite get away from Pa Kettle in his portrayal of Laughton's associate, Jakey, but he is effective enough. Others in the cast include Claude King as the administrator who wants Judith to "get out of town," Ethel Griffies as his highly disapproving (of Lombard) wife, and Charles Middleton [Drums of Africa] and Marc Lawrence as other workers on the plantation. Charles Bickford, who is as good as usual, shows up late as the new overseer and certainly keeps Laughton on his toes!

Verdict: Unusual romance with a suspenseful climax. ***. 

MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME

Marjorie Main and Brett Halsey

MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME (1954). Director: Charles Lamont.

Ma (Marjorie Main) and Pa (Percy Kilbride) Kettle learn that a New York magazine is offering a scholarship to college as a prize, and that their son, Elwin (Brett Halsey), entered the contest, but in his essay has made their farm sound much more ideal than it is. Complicating matters is that Elwin's girlfriend, Sally (Alice Kelley), has also entered the contest, even though her grumpy, penny-pinching father, John (Irving Bacon), could afford to send her on his own. Two judges (Alan Mowbray of Becky Sharp and Ross Elliott of Tarantula) come out to the farms to inspect each applicant and their way of life, and Ma and Pa hurry to fix up their old farm, although there's really no reason they couldn't have just used their new-fangled house. As usual Pa gets his Indian friends to do all of the work. Much of the humor in the film is centered around Alan Mowbray as a persnickety city fellow who has to use out-dated plumbing and finds a frog in his bath (courtesy of little Billy Kettle, played by Richard Eyer), among other atrocities.

Christmas with the Kettles

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home is not the best of the series but it's an improvement over Ma and Pa Kettle in Waikiki. Lori Nelson and Richard Long as the two oldest Kettle children are nowhere in evidence and are never mentioned. Although he had bit parts before this and appeared on TV, this was Brett Halsey's first credited role in a motion picture and most of the time he just seems scared. Emory Parnell returns as store owner Billy Reed, and Mary Wickes again receives short shrift as a librarian who develops an interest in Mowbray. Kilbride and Main are as wonderful as ever, and Main is given a great bit in which she recites a funny poem at a Christmas party. Pa not only treats his Indian friends like unpaid slaves, but at one point has them dress up in warpaint and go on the warpath so he can "rescue" Mowbray from them and be seen as a hero. At least the Native Americans are pretty disgruntled at doing this.

There were two more Kettle films made without Kilbride in the fifties (who did not pass away until 1964). In one film, The Kettles in the Ozarks, Pa was left out and an uncle was substituted, and in the final Kettle movie, The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm, Pa was portrayed by Parker Fennelly.

Verdict: Can't keep those Kettles from coming! **3/4. 

MA AND PA KETTLE AT WAIKIKI

Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main

MA AND PA KETTLE AT WAIKIKI (1953). Director: Lee Sholem.

Pa Kettle's (Percy Kilbride) cousin, Rodney (Loring Smith of Shadow of the Thin Man), who once hoped to marry Ma (Marjorie Main) but instead stayed in Hawaii to run a pineapple business, has been told to take it easy by his doctor. Rodney and his associates decide to importune Pa -- whom they wrongly think is rich and successful -- to temporarily run the pineapple business in Honolulu until Rodney's health improves. They also think Pa's brilliance will put the company on the fast track again. Against all odds, the ever-lazy Pa seems to come up with schemes that enrich the firm's coffers. But then he's kidnapped and taken to an island where he thinks there's buried treasure.

Percy Kilbride as the lazy Pa Kettle

Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki starts out well with several amusing sequences revolving both around Pa's efforts at the pineapple plant and Ma's encounters with the snobby bank president's wife, Teresa Andrews (Mabel Albertson of The House That Would Not Die) and her condescending lady friends. Unfortunately, the flick falls apart in the second half with the introduction of the thoroughly uninteresting kidnappers (including Russell Johnson and Myron Healey) and the whole dull business with the treasure hunt. Even the insertion of a Hawaiian version of Ma and Pa and their huge brood doesn't help, but leads to even more tedious sequences when these characters attempt to rescue Pa with Ma's super-butch assistance and a lot of coconuts. Okay, there's a cute business with a crab but that's about it.

Lori Nelson returns as the Kettle's grown daughter, Rosie, and goes to Hawaii with them, and her new love interest is Bob Baxter (Byron Palmer), who works for Rodney Kettle. Birdie Hicks (Esther Dale) returns briefly and is back to hating Ma again, leading into a funny sequence involving an air-conditioner that doesn't work the way Pa intended. This script has Ma seeming much more stupid than usual.

Verdict: Some fun, but otherwise a disappointment. **1/4. 

MA AND PA KETTLE ON VACATION

Parisian dining: Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride

MA AND PA KETTLE ON VACATION (1952). Director: Charles Lamont.

Ma (Marjorie Main) and Pa (Percy Kilbride) Kettle receive an invitation from Elizabeth and Jonathan Parker (a returning Barbara Brown and Ray Collins) -- their married daughter's in-laws -- to accompany them on a trip to Paris after their original traveling companions cancel. Once there, the foursome get embroiled in a silly story involving a nest of spies and secret Naval plans. Ma and Pa Kettle On Vacation is a step down from the previous movies in the series, although Ma and Pa remain utterly endearing creations and Main and Kilbride are superb in bringing them to life. There are still humorous lines and sequences in the film, such as when Ma belts an Apache dancer in a nightclub because she thinks he's actually hitting his lady partner, and Ma cluelessly refers to Parisians as "Parasites!"  The supporting cast includes Sig Ruman [Thank You Mr. Moto] as a spy, and the ever-versatile Jay Novello has a very small role -- as a Frenchman no less!

Verdict: The screenplay is weak but the players are spirited. **½.

MA AND PA KETTLE AT THE FAIR

Esther Dale and Marjorie Main

MA AND PA KETTLE AT THE FAIR (1952). Director: Charles Barton.

This fourth Ma and Pa Kettle film presents these two interesting characters -- and I do mean characters -- interacting with various townspeople, some friendly and some not, and finding themselves with financial problems. How, for instance, can they afford to send second oldest daughter Rosie (Lori Nelson of Untamed Youth) to college? Ma hopes to win some prize money with her jam and bread, but accidentally enters in the harness race. Fortunately, Pa just bought an  old nag that used to race -- twelve years ago! After some accidents and blunders, Pa still thinks he has a chance of winning the race, but then he and Ma get arrested for supposedly poisoning the rival horses.

Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair is another amusing and lively entry in the series. Richard Long and Meg Randall, who were married off, do not appear in this installment, but are replaced by Lori Nelson and James Best of Killer Shrews as her handsome beau. Esther Dale, who was also in The Egg and I and Ma and Pa Kettle, returns as Ma's rival Birdie Hicks, and the interchanges between her and Main are a lot of fun, especially a scene involving a pitchfork and Birdie's rear end. Emory Parnell is also back as the amiable general store owner, Billy Reed. The climactic horse race is a highlight, and Ma and Pa Kettle show their own brand of solid integrity in this.

Verdict: More fun with the Kettles. ***. 

MA AND PA KETTLE BACK ON THE FARM

Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride

MA AND PA KETTLE BACK ON THE FARM (1951). Director: Edward Sedgwick.

Ma: "You're lazier than that hound dog we used to have."
Pa: "Which one?"
Ma: "The one who used to lean against the wall when she barked."

Ma and Pa Kettle (Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride) are back on the farm with their brood when Pa finds out "Mrs. Kettle" is pregnant. This of course, is his daughter-in-law Kim (Meg Randall), but Pa thinks his wife is going to deliver her sixteenth child! Once that is straightened out, the Kettles have to deal with Kim's parents. Her father, Jonathan (Ray Collins of Perry Mason) is a good sport but his wife, Elizabeth (Barbara Brown), is a termagant who wants her own way or else as far as her grandchild is concerned. Ma almost comes to blows with the woman, and does give a shove to the prune-faced nurse that is hired to look after the new arrival. Then there's the possibility that the Kettles' old property may be layered with uranium,

Bedroom hijinks with the Kettles

This third film featuring Main and Kilbride, who are absolutely wonderful, is as funny as the last one, with amusing dialogue and situations. One could argue that the flick is full of time-worn comedy devices, such as a frantic race in a car to catch a train and so on, but these things are still amusing, especially with Main and Kilbride on hand to liven things up. There's a great bit where Ma and Pa show pal Billy Reed (Emory Parnell) their own brand of arithmetic, which, incredibly, makes perfect sense as far as the Kettles are concerned. Richard Long is back as Tom Kettle, and Teddy Hart and Oliver Blake make a couple of politically incorrect but comical Indians.

Verdict: Lots of fun! ***.

MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN

Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride

MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN (1950). Director: Charles Lamont.

Pa Kettle (Percy Kilbride) wins another contest for a soda with the prize being an all-expenses paid trip to New York City! At first Pa and Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main) have trouble coming up with a babysitter for their fifteen rambunctious children, but along comes "Shotgun" Mike (Charles McGraw), a thief hiding out in town. Ma at least has some reservations about leaving the children with a complete stranger (although they prove to be more than he can handle), but she thinks he has a kind face, and off they go to Manhattan. There they encounter more problems with Mike's cronies, and discover some marital woes for son Tom (Richard Long) and daughter-in-law Kim (Meg Randall).

Richard Long and Meg Randall

Ma and Pa Kettle were introduced in The Egg and I and proved so popular that they got their own feature, Ma and Pa Kettle. This led into several sequels, of which this is the first. Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town is not only consistently cute and amusing, with great performances from Main and Kilbride and good work from the rest of the cast, but it avoids the cliche of New Yorkers being portrayed as horrible city slickers taking advantage of the Kettles; in fact, the pair actually like New York and the people who live there (although, of course, they're just as glad to get home). Ma and Pa exhibit sheer delight in seeing Manhattan from a cab as they stand up in a hole in the taxi's ceiling, and there's a great bit with Pa dropping a cup of water from the top of the RCA building and encountering that same water later on.

Verdict: Very cute picture. ***. 

MA AND PA KETTLE

Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main

MA AND PA KETTLE (aka The Further Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle/1949). Director: Charles Lamont.

"I still wish you'd fix the roof of the hen house. Would you like to sit in the broiling sun and have to lay eggs besides?" -- Ma to Pa.

Lovable hillbillies Ma and Pa Kettle (Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main), who first appeared in The Egg and I as supporting characters, are in danger of being thrown out of their messy and cluttered house along with their sixteen children. Fortunately, Pa wins a tobacco slogan contest and he and his brood become the proud possessors of a new ultra-modern home. All Pa really wanted was a new pouch for his tobacco, and he isn't crazy about all of the new-fangled inventions in his swanky domicile. Then the jealous termagant Birdie (Esther Dale) and her mother (Isabel O'Madigan) maintain that Pa stole the slogan from somebody else ...

The Kettle children minus Tom

It's amazing that Pa has so many children when he hardly seems to have the energy to get out of bed -- maybe that's his problem! Along with Kilbride and Main, we have Dale and O'Madigan, as well as Richard Long [House on Haunted Hill] as eldest son Tom Kettle (who's invented a new incubator) , as holdovers from The Egg and I, and there's also a guest appearance by Ida Moore, reprising her role as a rather dotty old lady. (One could argue that it's not in the best of taste to present a lonely old woman who talks to her late husband in front of people as if he were still alive and make a joke of it.) Still, Ma and Pa Kettle is an amusing enough picture with excellent performances. Meg Randall [Without Warning!] plays a pretty writer who becomes Tom's love interest. There were no less than six sequels to this film, making it a fairly successful movie series of the forties and fifties.

Verdict: The two leads are funny characters and actors, and Main is especially winsome. **3/4. 

STATE FAIR (1945)

Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain

STATE FAIR (1945). Director: Walter Lang.

The Frake family head for the Iowa state fair with a variety of goals: Father Abel (Charles Winninger) wants his boar, Blueboy, to win a prize; mother Melissa (Fay Bainter) also wants to win a ribbon for her mincemeat; restless daughter Margy (Jeanne Crain) has spring fever and is hoping to meet someone more exciting than her fiance, Harry (Phil Brown of Obsession); and son Wayne (Dick Haymes) just seems to want to have fun. Margy meets a newspaperman named Pat (Dana Andrews), who tells her he'll just disappear if if doesn't work out with her, and Wayne encounters singer Emily (Vivian Blaine), who has a little secret. Frankly, the romantic aspects of the movie are a little lopsided -- who really falls sincerely in love in two days? -- and the siblings blow off their respective beaus with casual, if not heartless, ease, but this is standard stuff for the period and since everything is just a framework for some excellent Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes, it doesn't really matter. "Spring Fever," "That's For Me," "I Owe Iowa" are all fine numbers, but the best songs are Haymes [Irish Eyes are Smiling] and Blaine's zesty delivery of "Isn't It Kind of Fun?" and the movie's best song, the beautiful "It's a Grand Night for Singing," a classic Rodgers melody. State Fair was not based on a Broadway show but on the first State Fair film, a non-musical starring Will Rogers made in 1933, although Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the screenplay for this remake (just as he did the librettos for their stage musicals). The acting in this is uniformly excellent, with Donald Meek nearly stealing the picture as a judge who gets drunk on Melissa's brandy-soaked mincemeat. Percy Kilbride scores as the Frakes' pessimistic neighbor, as do Jane Nigh, Harry Morgan, and William Marshall [The Phantom Planet] in smaller roles. Remade in 1962; both versions are in color.

Verdict: As stories go, this is not exactly The King and I, but the performances are good and the songs are all lilting and memorable. ***.

GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE

GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (1942). Director: William Keighley. Based on the stage play by Kaufman and Hart.

Bill Fuller (Jack Benny) is a harried husband whose wife, Connie (Ann Sheridan), wants to move to the country, a situation which does not sit well with Bill and even less with the opinionated maid, Hester (Hattie McDaniel), who threatens to resign at any second. The house Connie buys on the sly is a dilapidated wreck that is falling down around them, but Connie is impressed with the story that George Washington may have once stayed there. Unfortunately, Mr. Kimber (Percy Kilbride, playing a role similar to his "Pa Kettle" in The Egg and I  five years later), can't seem to find water in the well; neighbor Mr. Prescott (Charles Dingle) gets them into a legal hassle involving property lines; and unwelcome visitors include scamp nephew Raymond (Douglas Croft of Batman), free-loading Uncle William (Charles Coburn). and a cow who walks in through a hole in the wall of the kitchen. And wait'll you get a load of the seventy-year-locusts! In addition to these great cast members , we have John Emery and Lee Patrick as a couple who stop by during a storm, and the ever-delightful Franklin Pangborn as the manager of the Fuller's apartment house. Joyce Reynolds plays Connie's younger sister, Madge; Harvey Stephens is a helpful neighbor; and William Tracy is Madge's beau. Kaufman and Hart also wrote The Man Who Came to Dinner and You Can't Take It With You.

Verdict: A very, very funny movie. ***1/2.

FALLEN ANGEL

Alice Faye and Dana Andrews

FALLEN ANGEL (1945). Producer/director: Otto Preminger.

" ... and love alone can make the fallen angel rise,  for only two together can enter paradise."

In a small coastal town not far from San Francisco, ex-publicity man Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) has set his sights on the wealthy June Mills (Alice Faye), whose sister, Clara (Anne Revere), may be a tougher nut to crack. Then there's sexy waitress, Stella (Linda Darnell), who may throw a monkey wrench into Eric's schemes if he's not careful. A murder investigation ensues, which brings in tough detective Mark Judd (Charles Bickford), and a suspect named Dave Atkins (Bruce Cabot). Fallen Angel can be looked upon as a mystery, film noir, or whatever you want to call it, but it's full of such good performances and nice moments that it emerges as a strong (if flawed) and compelling drama. In a different role for her, Faye [On The Avenue] is excellent as a woman who loves someone unconditionally -- she has a particularly good moment telling Eric how she feels about him  --  Darnell [Day-Time Wife] is vivid and vital as the saucy waitress, and Andrews [Boomerang] gives another sharp and solid performance, playing a man who is more complex than he first appears. Revere, Cabot, Bickford, as well as John Carradine as a professor and Percy Kilbride as a cafe owner with feelings for Stella, are all on the mark. The story is, perhaps, wrapped up a bit too neatly, but this is an engrossing and interesting movie.

Verdict: One of Preminger's better efforts. ***.

MR. SOFT TOUCH

Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes

MR. SOFT TOUCH (1949). Directors: Gordon Douglas; Henry Levin.

A man with the unlikely moniker of Joe Miracle (Glenn Ford) returns from service and discovers that hoods have taken over his nightclub and murdered his partner. We never actually see Miracle learning about this -- we're introduced to him after he steals money (his money rightfully, he feels) from the nightclub safe and is on the run from the police. He eventually winds up befriended by a do-gooder named Jenny Jones (Evelyn Keyes), who works for a settlement house where there are numerous cute youngsters and the comparatively stern but warm-hearted Mrs. Hangale (Beulah Bondi), not to mention a handyman played by Percy Kilbride (The Egg and I). John Ireland (Raw Deal) is cast against type as a bespectacled reporter who wants to get info from Miracle. The trouble with Mr. Soft Touch is that it tries for equal amounts of sentiment, comedy, and action, but these elements simply never jell. Ford's character is so unlikable for the most part that the actor gives one of his few charmless performances. Keyes and Bondi come off better, but the movie just doesn't work, and you find yourself not only not caring for anyone but even for what happens. It seems to take forever to just end.

Verdict: A misfire on virtually all levels, deservedly forgotten. **.

THE EGG AND I

Colbert can do without MacMurray's attention to Allbritton

THE EGG AND I (1947). Director: Chester Erskine.

Bob MacDonald (Fred MacMurray), a selfish and inconsiderate husband, buys a farm without even consulting his wife, Betty (Claudette Colbert) -- which alone would be a reason for divorce for some women --   and the two set off for the country to raise chickens and sell eggs. While having assorted misadventures, the couple meet the odd Pa Kettle (Percy Kilbride), his big-hearted wife, Ma (Marjorie Main), and their huge brood, as well as the predatory Harriet (Louise Allbritton), who doesn't seem to care that Bob has a wife. The Egg and I is consistently amusing, has a nice scene when all the neighbors show up to help the MacDonald's after a fire, and boasts some very good performances; Colbert, in particular, is excellent, and her expressions throughout the movie are priceless. There are guest appearances by the likes of Donald MacBride, Elisabeth Risdon [from the "Mexican Spitfire" films], and Esther Dale, and there's even a pig named Cleopatra! Ida Moore shows up late in the film as a somewhat dotty old lady who has a tale of a giant chicken. While there are some fairly foolish marital developments at the end of the movie that make Betty seem like a dope, The Egg and I is still a very funny and entertaining picture. The characters of Ma and Pa Kettle soon got their own feature as well as several sequels.

Verdict: Colbert is a riot! ***.

GUEST IN THE HOUSE

Ruth Warrick and Anne Baxter

GUEST IN THE HOUSE (1944). Director: John Brahm.

Dr. Dan Butler (Scott McKay) brings his girlfriend and patient Evelyn (Anne Baxter) to his family home for a rest cure, and she manages to bring simmering tensions to the surface. Others in the household include Dan's artist brother Douglas (Ralph Bellamy), his wife Ann (Ruth Warrick), their Aunt Martha (Aline McMahon), their little girl Lee (Connie Laird), the peppery maid Hilda (Margaret Hamilton) and her husband John (Percy Kilbride), as well as Miriam (Marie McDonald), who is Douglas' model and who some suspect is carrying on with the painter. Evelyn sets her cap on Douglas but although she's blamed for the events that transpire they seem precipitated more by the others' suspicions than by her manipulations. The cast makes the movie more interesting than it might have been otherwise, but Leave Her to Heaven the following year made much more of the theme of an emotionally disturbed, selfish woman causing havoc in a household. Baxter gives a typically vivid and appropriate performance, while the others are all on target as well, and there's a pleasant score by Werner Janssen, but this is a half-baked melodrama and little else. Well-directed by Brahm, who also directed The Undying Monster, The Mad Magician, Hangover Square, The Locket, and many episodes of such shows as Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Verdict: At least it isn't predictable. **1/2.

SHE WOULDN'T SAY YES

SHE WOULDN'T SAY YES (1945). Director: Alexander Hall.

Dr. Susan Lane (Rosalind Russell) is a psychiatrist who has no time for love or marriage. Her father, the other Dr. Lane (Charles Winninger) has his own reasons for wanting her to marry. Michael Kent (Lee Bowman), a cartoonist, becomes one of Susan's patients, but he's more interested in romancing her. And Allura (Adele Jergens), whose lovers all die, is more interested in romancing Michael. Who cares? This presents an outrageous situation in which a man somehow marries a woman without her even knowing she got married! Percy Kilbride, Sara Haden, and Mary Treen all try to liven things up, but this is pretty much a dated dog. Carl "Alfafa" Switzer is a delivery boy. Mantan Moreland is supposed to be in this, too, but I didn't spot him. The lead performances are more than adequate. At one point Haden thinks that Bowman and Winninger are going to marry each other, with the expected reaction. [Did I say this was dated?]

Verdict: Rosalind doesn't need a man but gets one anyway. **.

FEUDIN', FUSSIN', AND A-FIGHTIN'

FEUDIN', FUSSIN', AND A-FIGHTIN' (1948). Director: George Sherman.

A fast-running traveling salesman named Wilbur (Donald O'Connor), comes to the town of Rimrock and is held captive there because they want him to run in -- and win-- the annual foot race they have with a rival community. With Marjorie Main as the Mayor and her Pa Kettle co-star Percy Kilbride as her sort of boyfriend, you know there'll be some fun in the picture --but there really ain't enough of it. Donald O'Connor mugs his usual schtick. Joe Besser of Three Stooges fame is one of the townspeople and Penny Edwards is the pretty love interest. With this cast you just wish there were a lot more laughs. Main and Kilbride are given the final scene, however -- and that's funny!

Verdict: Stick with the Beverly Hillbillies instead. **.