THE BIG HANGOVER

Van Johnson and Liz Taylor

THE BIG HANGOVER (1950). Written, produced and directed by Norman Krasna.

David Muldon (Van Johnson) had a strange experience in the war that left him so "allergic" to alcohol that he can get tipsy just with a sip of it. The sensible thing to do would be to tell everyone of the situation without going into details, so that he wouldn't feel required to drink a toast, for instance, and act silly. Instead his boss's daughter, Mary (Elizabeth Taylor), decides to try to help him overcome the problem. You would think from its title that The Big Hangover is a riotous tale with frequent scenes of an "inebriated" David making a comical fool of himself, and while there are such scenes in the movie, that's not really what the picture is about. David has gotten a job with a prestigious law firm because he is an honor student and valedictorian. In a touching and well-played sequence, he demonstrates the speech he'll give on graduation day to Mary, telling of his best buddy, who dreamt of being a lawyer, but who died in his arms overseas during combat. He is determined to follow in his footsteps. When a Chinese-American doctor (Philip Ahn) is locked out of his apartment with his pregnant wife by a racist manager, David assumes his law firm will side with the doctor, who is not a "Chinaman" but an American born in the U.S. But David learns that the law isn't always on the side of what's right. While one can't necessarily say that this ranks with the best of Frank Capra as a thoughtful comedy-drama, it is still an entertaining and worthwhile picture that has more on its mind than at first glance. Van Johnson gives another excellent performance, maintaining the perfect balance between humor and seriousness, handling every sequence with aplomb. Elizabeth Taylor, who is no comedienne, at first seems miscast, but once you settle into the true tone of the picture, she is very warm, winning, and adept. As for the supporting cast, we've got Percy Waram and Fay Holden as Mary's parents; Leon Ames [The Velvet Touch] as a public attorney who is outmaneuvered by high-priced lawyers and Rosemary DeCamp as his wife; Edgar Buchanan and Selena Royle [The Damned Don't Cry] as Davis's amusing aunt and uncle; and Gene Lockhart [A Scandal in Paris] as a senior partner in the firm who does his best to get David drunk at a swanky gathering (a scene that will make you want to reach into the TV set and give Lockhart a major bitch slap!). The supporting performances are all wonderful, with Leon Ames having a fine, underplayed moment when he admits to his mediocrity during the aforementioned dinner, and Philip Ahn is as dignified and effective as ever as Dr. Lee. If I have one quibble I wish that they film hadn't tacked on an unconvincing happy ending to the love story. One simply can not see La Liz happy with a husband who isn't wealthy and successful, and who tells him she admires him but doesn't want someone who's so noble. Still, it hardly ruins the movie. If Percy Waram is unfamiliar to most viewers, it's because he was primarily a British stage actor and had very few credits in pictures.

Verdict: A lost gem of a movie. ***1/2. 

EYES IN THE NIGHT

Edward Arnold and Ann Harding

EYES IN THE NIGHT (1942). Director: Fred Zinnemann.

Norma Lawry (Ann Harding) goes to see her old friend, the blind private eye Duncan Maclain (Edward Arnold), because she's concerned for her stepdaughter, Barbara (Donna Reed), who has fallen for a roue, Paul (John Emery), who was once involved with Norma. Naturally this roue is murdered, but Eyes in the Night is not a murder mystery, unfortunately. We learn early on that Paul was part of a spy ring run by Barbara's friend, the playwright Cheli Scott (Katherine Emery), and they are responsible for his death. Cheli and her cohorts want Norma's husband, Stephen (Reginald Denny), to turn over some secret plans to them under pain of death. With the assistance of his miraculous seeing-eye German Shepherd, Friday, will the sightless Maclain be able to save the day, catch the spies, and turn the plans over to Washington? The trouble with Eyes in the Night is that it has absolutely no suspense or surprises, only coming to life in the final minutes. Arnold [Dear Wife] and Harding [The Unknown Man] are fine, but the zestiest performances are from Donna Reed; Katherine Emery [The Locket]; Mantan Moreland as Maclain's butler; Stanley Ridges as Hanson, the Lawry's butler; and, of course, that amazing dog, Friday. Rosemary DeCamp and Stephen McNally are also good as a couple employed in the Lawry household and also in Cheli's gang. Barry Nelson, Steven Geray and Allen Jenkins have less to do. Three years later Arnold did a sequel, The Hidden Eye, but mercifully this did not become a series. Arnold also played Nero Wolfe in Meet Nero Wolfe in 1936. Director Fred Zinnemann went on to better things. This was Katherine Emery's (no relation to John) first film out of only twelve.

Verdict: Never have 80 minutes seemed so long. *1/2.

CITY WITHOUT MEN

CITY WITHOUT MEN (1943). Director: Sidney Salkow.

Tom Adams (Michael Duane of Redhead from Manhattan) is framed for  picking up Japanese in a boat, and wrongly convicted of collaborating with the enemy or something and sent to jail for several years. His fiancee, Nancy (Linda Darnell) not only vows to wait for him, but moves into a woman's residence right next to the prison where other wives and girlfriends wait patiently for their men to be released. The husband of the owner of the house, Maria (Sara Allgood) is in jail for life, and in the film's best scene, another wife, Mrs. Slade (Rosemary DeCamp), nearly collapses when her husband is executed at midnight. Other residents of the house include brassy Billie (Glenda Farrell), Winnie (Doris Dudley), Dora (Margaret Hamilton), and high-hattin' Gwen (Leslie Brooks of The Secret of the Whistler), who is dating Mr. Peters (Don DeFore) and hopes to learn where her husband (Sheldon Leonard) hid some money. Edgar Buchanan plays a shady lawyer who is ostensibly trying to help Nancy, but spends most of her money on booze. This is a "concept" movie that seems to have been cobbled together from cliches from other movies, and it's never convincing, becoming fairly ridiculous towards the end. Darnell is fine -- odd that she was cast in this bad "B" movie -- and Allgood, Farrell, DeCamp, and DeFore give very good performances as well.Years later Salkow directed Vincent Price in Twice-Told Tales.

Verdict: Not utterly terrible but not worth the time it takes to tell. **.

SCANDAL SHEET

Broderick Crawford

SCANDAL SHEET (1952). Director: Phil Karlson.

"You're a neurotic screwball!"

The stockholders of the New York Express are up in arms because new editor-in-chief Mark Chapman (Broderick Crawford) has decided to increase profits and circulation by turning the paper into a vulgar tabloid. Chapman has been promised a significant bonus if he can really turn the paper around, and he's determined to publish hard-hitting stories no matter who he upsets. His protege, Steve (John Derek), wants to be just like Chapman, while Steve's girlfriend, Julie (Donna Reed), wishes he'd emulate just about anybody else. Things become complicated when a woman at a lonely hearts gathering sponsored by the Express recognizes Chapman as the husband who deserted her twenty years before, only now he has a different name ... Before long Steve is tracking down a story that Chapman wishes he could bury twenty miles deep. Scandal Sheet has an interesting premise and characters, is quite well-acted by the entire cast, but somehow it just misses the boat, perhaps because you're always one step ahead of most of the characters -- it just lacks sizzle and tension. Crawford is fine, and Henry O'Neill makes a notable impression as the alcoholic ex-reporter, Charlie, as does Rosemary DeCamp [Nora Prentiss] as Chapman's wife. Others in the cast include Kathryn Card and Ida Moore [The Egg and I], both of whom appeared on I Love Lucy. This was based on a novel by Samuel Fuller.

Verdict: Comes so close but misses. **1/2.  

NORA PRENTISS

NORA PRENTISS (1947). Director: Vincent Sherman.

Dr. Talbot: "I'm writing a paper on an ailment of the heart."

Nora Prentiss: "A paper? I could write a book!"

Dr. Richard Talbot (Kent Smith, in perhaps his most memorable performance) is a decent man with a disinterested wife, two children, and a dull routine. And then into his life comes an accident victim named Nora Prentiss (the saucy Ann Sheridan, doing nicely in a dramatic turn) and suddenly everything changes and his life heads in a completely different direction. This is a fascinating study of romantic obsession with a lot of great twists and a wind-up that may seem absurd at first but sort of works when you think about it. Franz Waxman contributes a great, near-operatic theme. Robert Alda, Rosemary DeCamp and Bruce Bennett also have important roles. It's interesting that while Nora is not a woman without flaws, Sheridan does not play her like a heartless siren or femme fatale -- an approach that other actresses may have taken -- but a real and genuinely warm human being. In their first encounter Dr. Talbot shows little humor or personality, but Smith is handsome enough --especially in this film -- for us to understand Sheridan's interest. The first half of the film is interesting enough as a straight romance, but the second half with the intrigue is also quite compelling. Not quite a classic, but good.

Verdict: A really twisted romance. ***1/2.

13 GHOSTS

13 GHOSTS (1960). Director: William Castle. 

Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods) and his family have serious financial problems, but discover that an uncle has left Cyrus his spooky old house-- and all of its ghosts. This movie has two clever ideas -- that the uncle actually collected ghosts to study, and that he invented a pair of weird goggles through which one can actually see the ghosts. Aside from that 13 Ghosts isn't one of the more memorable William Castle thrillers, although it's fun in its minor way. Rosemary DeCamp is Cyrus' wife and little Charles Herbert is his mischievous son, Buck; Martin Milner plays Ben Rush, the uncle's lawyer, who may have his own agenda -- all give good performances. Margaret Hamilton might seem like a casting coup as the dead uncle's creepy housekeeper and assistant, but her performance is only adequate. Donald Woods is perfect as the put-upon Cyrus, however. 

Verdict: Worth seeing once. **1/2.

CHEERS FOR MISS BISHOP

CHEERS FOR MISS BISHOP (1941). Director: Tay Garnett.

Ella Bishop (Martha Scott) graduates from a small town college and becomes a teacher there. Chances for love pass her by as the years roll on. This may sound like a dull, sappy movie, but it's actually an engrossing, warmly sentimental drama about small-town life and values, but it doesn't have a puritanical streak: at one point Miss Bishop becomes involved with a married man (Sidney Blackmer) whose wife refuses to divorce him. Donald Douglas plays Del, the man she nearly marries before her bitchy cousin Amy (Mary Anderson) steals him away, and William Gargan is the loyal Sam, who probably loves her better than anybody. There are memorable performances from the aforementioned as well as Edmund Gwenn, as president of Midwestern, Dorothy Peterson as Ella's mother, Rosemary DeCamp as Minna, Marsha Hunt as Amy's daughter, and the always-odd Sterling Holloway as the campus janitor. Martha Scott offers a simply outstanding performance as Ella; she's on top of the part whether she's playing the young student or the old lady retiring at seventy.

Verdict: A lovely movie. ****.