FRANKIE AND JOHNNY

Harry Morgan, Elvis, Nancy Kovacks

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (1966). Director: Frederick De Cordova. 

Frankie (Donna Douglas) and Johnny (Elvis Presley) are entertainers on the riverboat-casino S. S. Mississippi Queen. Frankie's jealousy is ignited when a gypsy fortune teller tells Johnny that a redhead will bring him good fortune, so he zeroes in on Nellie Bly (Nancy Kovak of Jason and the Argonauts). All he wants from Nellie is for her to accompany him when he gambles, but both Frankie, and Nellie's boyfriend -- also Johnny's boss -- Braden (Anthony Eisley), get the wrong idea. Things come to a head when Frankie, Nellie, and showgirl Mitzi (Sue Ane Langdon) all dress up as Madame Pompadour for a masquerade ball, and Braden's associate Blackie (Robert Strauss) comes up with a criminal way of eliminating Johnny as a rival during a rendition of the title tune. 

Sue Ane Langdon and Donna Douglas

Frankie and Johnny could have been a really interesting look at the riverboat scene of the 19th century as well as a trenchant observation of what unruly passions can lead to, but instead it's just an Elvis Presley Picture, although on that level it's fun and entertaining. Elvis doesn't so much act as exude personality, and Donna Douglas -- who just can't eliminate that Elly Mae Beverly Hillbillies accent entirely -- while adequate, pretty much shows why she made no further theatrical movies after this one. On the other hand Nancy Kovack is classy and sexy as Nellie, Langdon is a lot of fun as Mitzi, who also loves Braden, and Harry Morgan [All My Sons] and Audrey Christie [Splendor in the Grass] score as Cully and Peg, a married couple who are friends and co-workers of the title duo. Anthony Eisley of Hawaiian Eye is also very good as boss Braden, and Joyce Jameson has an excellent turn as a drunken redhead whom Johnny thinks might temporarily substitute for Nellie. 

Douglas with Nancy Kovack

Frankie and Johnny comes pretty close to being a bona fide musical -- as opposed to just an Elvis Presley Musical -- because its score has quite a variety of music. The classic title tune is reinterpreted and there's a fine version of When the Saints Go Marching In. Elvis does a superlative job delivering such memorable ballads as Please Don't Stop Loving Me and Angel at My Side. He also has a charming number with a harmonica-playing shoeshine boy, Hard Luck, and a bouncy piece called Look Out, Broadway. (Jerome Cowan appears uncredited as a Broadway producer who likes F and J's act.) Except for Elvis, everyone's singing voice seems to be dubbed. Forget the gorgeous gowns of the ladies, Elvis himself wears one striking and beautiful ensemble after another! 

Verdict: The plot gets a bit bogged down and slightly tiresome, but it's hard to dislike the flick and even harder to dislike Elvis. ***. 

I MOBSTER

Steve Cochran

I MOBSTER (1959). Produced and directed by Roger Corman.

I Mobster traces the rise and fall of gangster Joe Sante (Steve Cochran of The Big Operator), whose father virtually disowns him and whose mother (Celia Lovsky) eventually follows suit. As a boy (played by an uncredited but talented youngster), Joey was taken under the wing of Black Frankie (Robert Strauss), and later also works for crime boss Paul Moran (Grant Withers of the Jungle Jim serial). Joe takes up with a nice neighborhood gal named Teresa (Lita Milan), who is at first highly disapproving of his activities but ultimately there's no arguing with love. But Joe's ambitions and high-risk lifestyle may become his undoing ...

Saucy Yvette Vickers 

I Mobster is an absorbing crime drama with a fine and charismatic lead performance by the always-under-rated Steve Cochran, who is perfect as Joe. Celia Lovsky does her usual hand-wringing turn as the heartbroken mother; Strauss is quite good as his mentor and associate; and Lita Milan [Never Love a Stranger] turns in a very nice performance as Teresa. Grant Withers also scores as the big boss, and there is a very nice bit by Yvette Vickers as a saucy blond who tries to pay off her gambling debt by coming on to Joe -- fat chance! Ed Nelson, Robert Shayne, Thomas Browne Henry and Bruno VeSota have smaller  parts, and stripper Lili St. Cyr (who is much more attractive than the rather horse-faced Gypsy Rose Lee) does her cameo on stage in a bath tub.

In the long run, however, I Mobster doesn't really rise above all of the hoodlum cliches -- sobbing mother, worried, conflicted girlfriend, rivals and hits -- but the darn thing is too entertaining and well-played for that to matter much. As for Cochran, a hell-raising lover boy off-screen, he died at only 48 under very mysterious circumstances.

Verdict: Fast-paced Corman melodrama with a well-chosen cast. ***. 

STALAG 17

William Holden and Peter Graves

STALAG 17 (1953). Director: Billy Wilder.

In a WW2 German POW camp, Sefton (William Holden) is a slick, callous wise guy who makes money anyway he can, whether it's from his fellow officers or from the German guards. When two hopeful escapees are discovered and shot, the other men suspect that someone in the barracks is feeding information to the buffoonish Schulz (Sig Ruman). The main suspect is Sefton, his accusers including the Security man, Price (Peter Graves); the barracks chief. Hoffman (Richard Erdman); blustery Duke (Neville Brand); and the two camp clowns, Shapiro (Harvey Lembeck) and "Animal" (Robert Strauss); among others. When it is clear that the Germans, represented by Commander Sherbach (Otto Preminger), intend to kill newcomer Lt. Dunbar (Don Taylor), who led a successful anti-German bombing raid, the group try to figure out a way to spirit him out of the camp without the quisling's knowledge. But is Sefton really the traitor? Stalag 17 might have made a great picture if there wasn't such insistence on catering to popular tastes and making a "feel good" movie about a Prisoner of War camp. No one expects Italian neo-realistic grimness in a Hollywood movie, but the comedy relief -- especially as it pertains to the bumbling and irritating Shapiro and Animal --  at times threatens to overwhelm everything else, as if it's a sitcom -- in fact, this movie with its cartoon Nazis was undoubtedly the inspiration for the series Hogan's Heroes, which even included a fumbling "Schulz". It's too bad, because the more serious aspects of the film are generally well-done. Holden gives his usual competent once-removed performance, and Graves [Beginning of the End] and Erdman [Cry Danger] and some of the others are fine, but Neville Brand is especially notable and dynamic as Duke. Holden won a Best Actor Oscar that he didn't really deserve, as it was well within his range and nothing at all special. Wilder and Strauss [September Storm] were nominated, but Brand should have been. The men in the camp talk about Betty Grable, but not once does anyone mention or even seem to think of wives and other loved ones back home aside from a brief scene when the POWs receive mail -- including letters from the finance company (!) -- from the States. [Apparently the Red Cross helped ship U.S. mail to Germany via neutral Sweden, but letters from the finance company are doubtful!] The film even tries to milk humor out of a throwaway scene when a prisoner realizes his wife is pregnant by another man but can't face up to it. (Trying not to over-sentimentalize, the movie goes to the other extreme.) There's a charming scene when the men all dance together in the absence of women.

Verdict: German POW camps as filtered through superficial Hollywood. **1/2.

SEPTEMBER STORM

SEPTEMBER STORM (1960). Director: Byron Haskin.

In Majorca Joe Balfour (Mark Stevens of The Dark Corner) and his buddy Ernie (Robert Strauss of Here Come the Girls) hope that model Anne Traymore (Joanne Dru) will use her feminine charm to convince handsome young Manuel Montoya (Asher Dann) to let them use his boat to find some lost treasure of doubloons. They don't realize that Manuel only pretends to be a wealthy playboy and the boat is really owned by his employer, LeClerc (Jean-Pierre Kerien). A bigger problem is that Ernie may not really be the buddy that Joe thinks he is. September Storm is okay enough, but is much too leisurely-paced to build up much suspense, and is rather slipshod all told. Dru is odd casting. Supposedly this was shot in 3D, but you'd never know it. This was charming Dann's first movie; his other four credits were in television. Kerien made mostly French films.

Verdict: Not even three dimensions could save this. **.

HERE COME THE GIRLS

HERE COME THE GIRLS (1953). Director: Claude Binyon.

Bob Hope plays a talentless, irritating, egotistical chorus boy who suddenly finds himself the lead of a Broadway show instead of the handsome star (Tony Martin). It seems that leading lady Arlene Dahl's ex-lover (Robert Strauss) has become a crazed killer who wants to murder anyone Dahl loves, hence she feigns affection for the hapless Hope and pretends to blow off Martin. Rosemary Clooney is the "nice" girl who loves Hope but finds him too easily drawn into Dahl's sinister web as well as a world of money and stardom. While there are only sporadic laugh-out-loud moments, Here Come the Girls has a highly workable storyline and is often quite amusing, with Hope in good form. The suspense is in wondering how the hell it will all work out for Hope. Great ending!

Verdict: Cute picture with a kind of dark premise. **1/2.