IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER

Bette Davis and Leslie Howard

IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937). Director: Archie Mayo. Colorized.  

Basil Underwood (Leslie Howard of Pygmalion) and his battling lover and acting partner Joyce Arden (Bette Davis) are appearing in a production of Romeo and Juliet (which they aren't very good in) when starstruck heiress Marcia West (Olivia de Havilland) comes to his dressing room dripping with adoration. Her fiance, Henry (Patric Knowles of Five Came Back), begs Basil to come out to the West estate and disillusion Marcia, act the cad, so that she will fully belong to him. (Apparently he's unaware that Marcia did not expect to see Basil again). With his faithful retainer Digges (Eric Blore of Swiss Miss) in tow, Basil arrives at the estate and puts his plan into motion -- only everything he thinks up backfires on him! Then Joyce shows up and is told by Marcia that she must step aside, Basil belongs to her. Indeed?

de Havilland with Howard

It's Love I'm After is a delightful screwball comedy that has a funny script and situations and some wonderful performances. Howard throws himself into the spirit of the thing from the very beginning and is a lovable egomaniac and ham. Davis, generally too intense for comedy, is fine in this as the angry woman whose long-awaited wedding to her paramour never quite seems to take place. Olivia de Havilland is also excellent, and she gets fine support from George Barbier as her consistently befuddled father and Knowles as the eternally unamused fiance. Bonita Granville and Spring Byington add to the fun as members of the West household, and Eric Blore nearly walks off with the movie as the wise and long-suffering Digges, who excels at bird calls. 

Verdict: Cute picture. ***. 

DRAGONWYCK

Gene Tierney and Vincent Price

DRAGONWYCK (1946). Written for the screen and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Colorized. 

In the mid-19th century Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney) is sent for by her sort-of cousin, Nicholas Van Ryn (Vincent Price), who invites her to live at his Catskills estate Dragonwyck with his wife, Johanna (Vivienne Osborne) and daughter, Katrine (Connie Marshall of Wake Up and Dream). Katrin's parents hardly pay attention to the lonely child, but there's an attractive doctor named Jeff Turner (Glenn Langan) who is kind to both the girl and her companion, Miranda. Unfortunately Miranda falls not for the doctor but for Nicholas, and it isn't too long before Mrs. Van Ryn falls ill ...  Miranda discovers it is all too true to "be careful what you wish for." 

Vincent Price and Glenn Langan

Based on an old-fashioned gothic novel by Anya Seton, Dragonwyck is an earnest if sometimes silly melodrama that is bolstered by some very good acting and, especially, an outstanding score by Alfred Newman that richly embellishes every sequence (although some may fell the film is over-scored). As the haughty patroon who lords it over the resentful tenant farmers (including Harry Morgan in a good turn) Price gives a good if theatrical performance that is full of dramatic flavor but isn't always convincing. Tierney is excellent throughout, and Glenn Langan make his mark as the good doctor. Langan was talented enough that he shouldn't have wound up in The Amazing Colossal Man (although it mut be said that he gave a strong performance in that). Walter Huston and Anne Revere score as Miranda's simple Connecticut parents, and Spring Byington has an unusual role as a somewhat sinister and gossipy maid named Magda. Jessica Tandy [A Woman's Vengeance] is fine as Miranda's crippled maid, Peggy, who comes in for Nicholas' cruel scorn. The picture is beautifully colorized. 

Verdict: Well-acted, entertaining, and with a great score. ***.

WHEN LADIES MEET (1941)

Greer Garson and Joan Crawford

WHEN LADIES MEET (1941). Director: Robert Z. Leonard.

Successful novelist Mary Howard (Joan Crawford) is having an affair with her married publisher, Rogers Woodruf (Herbert Marshall of Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble). Exploring this situation in her latest unfinished novel, Mary thinks that her heroine should go and talk things over frankly with her lover's wife. Jimmy Lee (Robert Taylor of The Night Walker), a boyish reporter who is in love with Mary, contrives to put wife and mistress together at a house in the country during a weekend in an effort to pull Mary away from Woodruf. When Mary meets Clare Woodruf (Greer Garson of Random Harvet) the latter is using a phony name as part of Jimmy's ploy, and has no idea who she really is. Neither does Clare realize that Mary is her husband's latest mistress. The two, who like each other very much, talk frankly about men, love, marriage, infidelity and the like until Rogers walks into the room, and the tenor of the conversation changes dramatically. 

Greer Garson and Robert Taylor

When Ladies Meet is a remake of the 1933 version starring Myrna Loy and Ann Harding. This version, although longer and with added sequences that are only mentioned in the original film, is equally entertaining and just as well-acted. One might argue that while Woodruf might get bored with the sweet Ann Harding, the very glamorous and beautiful Garson is a different kettle of fish! Still, Garson gives a good performance, along with Crawford, and as in the original film, the best scene is when the two ladies have a long talk just before bedtime. Taylor is good, but a cut below Robert Montgomery in the original, while Spring Byington as the weekend's hostess, Bridget, while perhaps not as funny as Alice Brady in the '33 version, is as spirited and delightful as ever.

Herbert Marshall and Joan Crawford

One improvement in the remake is the casting of Herbert Marshall as Rogers Woodruf. While Frank Morgan in the original was about as romantic as a dead fish, the more attractive and likable Marshall makes a convincing playmate for Crawford. While Woodruf is still a philandering dog in this version, the script and his emoting make his character much more palatable, and he seems genuinely concerned that he may have hurt Mary. Bridget's French butler, Pierre (Max Willenz) is funnier in this version, while Rafael Storm makes a bit more of an impression as Bridget's architect boyfriend, Walter. Another difference with the remake is that the Woodrufs have no children.

Verdict: A remake that is just as good as the original. ***. 

STAGE STRUCK (1936)

STAGE STRUCK (1936). Director: Busby Berkeley.

Dance director George Randall (Dick Powell of Star Spangled Rhythm) is working on a new production when he is told that there is a new financial backer who just happens to want to star in the show as well. Peggy Revere (Joan Blondell of Good Girls Go to Paris) has absolutely no experience and no talent, but she is famous for shooting her husband -- a mere "flesh wound" -- in France and getting acquitted. Now the producers figure Peggy's notoriety will sell lots of tickets. The trouble is that she and George can't stand each other. At the same time George becomes a little struck on young hopeful Ruth Williams (Jeanne Madden), who is talented but is told by George in a rather patronizing way that she should just go home. Obviously thinking show girls are some kind of lesser breed of female, he is afraid she will become just like "all the rest." (His condescending and negative attitudes towards these gals goes basically unremarked upon and unresolved, but that's show biz.) So which of these two ladies will walk out on stage on opening night? Stage Struck is an entertaining and well-played musical with a couple of very nice song numbers by Harburg and Arlen: "This Can't Be True" and "In Your Own Quiet Way." Powell is terrific as both actor and singer, but the cute Jeanne Madden only made two more pictures after this more than satisfactory debut. Other notable cast members include Frank McHugh as George's assistant; Warren William [The Man in the Iron Mask] as his nervous and excitable producer; the eternally old Spring Byington; Jane Wyman, charming in a bit part; two adorable dachshunds and a bigger pooch who loves to rough house with George; and the Yacht Club Boys, a quartet who figure prominently in a clever and funny number called "The Body Beautiful," which has decided Marx Brothers overtones.

Verdict: Fun minor musical with nice songs and excellent performances. **3/4. 

PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES

David Niven and Doris Day

PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES (1960). Director: Charles Walters.

Kate MacKay (Doris Day) and her husband, Larry (David Niven of Enchantment) are raising four adorable if rambunctious boys and planning a move to the country. Larry, a professor of drama, is made a theater critic for a top newspaper. In a contrived event, he is assigned to review his best friend, Alfred's (Richard Hadyn), new musical, and not only slams it, but prints that the leading lady, Deborah Vaughn (Janis Paige of This Side of the Law), has no talent. This leads into amusing encounters between Larry and Deborah as well as an opportunity for Alfred to get a kind of revenge on Larry. Meanwhile Kate is worried that her husband is turning into the kind of justifiably-abhorred critic who is more interested in making clever jokes at a playwright's expense than in writing serious and fair-minded theater reviews. If you take some of the improbable developments (they move into a house that resembles a castle) with a grain of salt, Please Don't Eat the Daisies is a delightful comedy, with the two leads in top form. Day and Niven work very well together and seem to be having as much fun as the audience. Some of the critical words that come out of the mouth of Doris' mother make her seem like a monster, but the casting of sweet Spring Byington makes her character more palatable.  Patsy Kelly plays the housekeeper but isn't given much of a chance to shine, although Hadyn scores as the angry Alfred, and Paige is just wonderful and very sexy as Deborah. Jack Weston is also fine as a taxi-driving wannabee playwright, and Kathryn Card of I Love Lucy appears briefly as a principal. The business with the baby being kept in a locked cage would raise eyebrows today and frankly makes little sense. (The rationale is that he can pick locks, but wouldn't that include the locks on his cage?) Please Don't Eat the Daises -- the title comes from a reference to one of the boys eating flowers -- is based on a novel by Jean Kerr, a playwright who was married to Walter Kerr, best-known as a theater critic for the N.Y. Times; the couple had six children. Doris does a reprise of "Que sera, sera" from The Man Who Knew Too Much and also nicely warbles the title tune and "Anyway the Wind Blows."

Verdict: Very amusing and well-acted comedy with an especially winning Day. ***.

ARKANSAS JUDGE

ARKANSAS JUDGE (1941). Director: Frank McDonald.

Tom Martel (Roy Rogers, who is not the star but heads the supporting cast) comes back to Peaceful Valley, Arkansas where two women are waiting for him: "Nice girl" Maggie (Pauline Moore), daughter of the judge, and the much sexier Hettie (Veda Ann Borg of Jungle Raiders). However, there's bigger trouble when old Widow Smithers (Elly Malyon) insists that $50 was stolen from her flour barrel by Mary Shoemaker (Spring Byington of On Their Own), who does cleaning for all the ladies in town. Before long the whole community is torn apart, and Hettie's father, August (Frank M. Thomas), who heads the church council, wants everyone to shun Mary but has suspicions about his own daughter. In the meantime Tom and Hettie grow closer, much to Maggie's consternation. The members of Maggie's family are played by Leon, Frank and June Weaver, who had formed a hillbilly singing group called "The Weaver Brothers and Elviry." As Cicero, Frank just whistles a la Harpo Marx. Minerva Urecal has a small role as one of the town biddies. Arkansas Judge is a good comedy-drama with pleasant songs, good performances, and an unpredictable story line. And Roy! Pauline Moore appeared in three Charlie Chan movies, the best of which is Charlie Chan at Treasure Island.

Verdict: Nice picture. ***.

LIVING IN A BIG WAY

LIVING IN A BIG WAY (1947). Director: Gregory La Cava.

Leo Gogarty (Gene Kelly) got married to Margo (Maria McDonald) just before he shipped out, but the two never really got to know one another. Now Leo's back with her wealthy family, but she and everyone else feel the rushed marriage was a mistake, and Leo begins to agree. Things begin to change when Margo's peppery Granny (Jean Adair) takes her shuttered old manor house and turns it into apartments for homeless veterans and their families, with both Margo and Leo pitching in. Will these two kids finally realize they really are in love with each other?

It's funny, but for some reason I can't quite explain I've never cared for Gene Kelly. He's not bad-looking, has a fair to middling voice, is an okay actor, and an excellent dancer, but there's just something about him that I've never liked -- perhaps he lacks the genial amiability of a Fred Astaire, coming off more like a prick. This, admittedly, is just a reaction to something in his screen image, as he generally plays good guys. In one scene Kelly tells war widow Peggy (Phyllis Thaxter) that she ought to forget about staying where she met her late husband and go home to her family in the small town where she was born, but Kelly's matter-of-fact delivery of the lines only makes him seem like a rather tactless and unfeeling bastard; Thaxter is excellent, however. As for the rest of the players, Adair is wonderful (even if sometimes Granny's pithy comments are semi-moronic, consisting of badly dated epithets passing for wisdom); Charles Winninger and Spring Byington both score as Margo's parents; that cute little child actor Jimmy Hunt [Pitfall] is as delightful as ever as Thaxter's son; Paul Harvey [Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid] makes a memorably funny judge in a sequence in divorce court; and acerbic Clinton Sundberg makes his mark as the dyspeptic and opinionated butler, Everett, whom anyone but Winninger would have fired. Leading lady McDonald [Guest in the House] is attractive and competent but there's nothing special about her. Living in a Big Way boasts some excellent dancing from Kelly, and some good and amusing moments, but it never develops into anything all that terrific.

As for Kelly, according to imdb.com "he was voted the 42nd greatest movie star of all time by Entertainment Weekly [not that I take EW all that seriously] and named the fifteenth greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends list by the American Film Institute." The question is why? Kelly was admittedly a great dancer, but a great actor, no! He must have been quite popular in his day, but number fifteen! To each his own.

Verdict: Pleasant if forgettable. **1/2.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Lionel Barrymore, Spring Byington and Sara Haden

A FAMILY AFFAIR (1937). Director: George B. Seitz.

"Holy Jumpin' Jerusalem! A party with girls!" -- Andy Hardy. 

When 20th Century Fox adapted a play and came out with Every Saturday Night  -- which led into the long-running Jones Family series -- MGM also adapted a play the following year and came out with this picture, which also became a long-running series. Spring Byington played the small-town mother, as she did in Every Saturday Night and in all of the other Jones' films, but she was replaced by Fay Holden for subsequent Hardy entries. Lionel Barrymore was the first Judge Hardy but his replacement in all the other films in the series, Lewis Stone, is understandably more associated with the role. Both Byington and Barrymore are very good, although one could argue that the latter seems a bit pooped, weird, and possibly inebriated, but that was often the actor's style. The plot has to do with Judge Hardy putting a temporary restraining order on an aqueduct that might mean great prosperity for Carvel, and earning the enmity of the ingrate townspeople. Daughter Marion (Cecelia Parker) has fallen for a man, Wayne (Eric Linden of No Other Woman), who may lose his job because of the Judge's actions, while her sister Joan (Julie Haydon), who was never seen or mentioned again, is having serious marital problems. Son Andy (Mickey Rooney), who is horrified at the prospect of taking a girl to a party, changes his mind when he gets a load of old playmate Polly Benedict (Margaret Marquis of Escort Girl). Aunt Milly (Sara Haden, who played the role in most but not every Hardy picture) remarks that Joan "feels things too intensely," while the Judge observes that in his day young people were awkward about talking about "the facts of life" -- which elicits a gasp from Mrs. Hardy -- but now it's religion that has them squirming. There's an exciting scene when Marion and Wayne nearly have a disaster when two drunks tow their car to a gas station -- or at least try to -- and they come afoul of a truck whose brakes have failed. The entire cast is wonderful, with especially nice work from Eric Linden, Julie Haydon, and the remarkable Mickey Rooney, who pretty much makes it clear even in this first outing why the series increasingly focused on young Andy. Eric Linden's character of Wayne, who gets engaged to Marion, was never seen again. Marquis is good as Polly if not quite as distinctive as Ann Rutherford, who took over the role.

Verdict: Fun old movie with that irrepressible Mickey. ***.

PRESENTING LILY MARS

PRESENTING LILY MARS (1943). Director: Norman Taurog.

"Peter Pan! Macbeth! The Follies!"

Lily Mars (Judy Garland) is a talented singer, but for some reason she decides to audition for Broadway producer John Thornway (Van Heflin) -- who comes from the same small town and whose father delivered her -- by doing a scene from Shakespeare, in which she stinks. Lily follows Thornway to New York, where he's staging a new show starring Isobel Rekay (Marta or Martha Eggerth). Is Lily a desperate and naive amateur or a coldly calculating, rather pushy worldling who knows full well what she's doing? In this simplistic movie in which the key to Broadway stardom is to become an annoying pest and vamp the producer, we're supposed to believe the former, but I'm not so sure. In any case, things don't work out so smoothly for Lily until the Hollywood happy ending. Presenting Lily Mars was originally a novel by that fine American writer Booth Tarkington, whose books Alice Adams and The Magnificent Ambersons, among others, were turned into pretty good movies. While I've read the first two excellent novels, I've not read Presenting Lily Mars, but it had to be better than this treacle, which is simply a standard Judy Garland Movie when it could have been a whole lot more. That being said, Lily Mars is by no means a bad movie, with Garland in her reasonably effective cutesy mode between child and adult, and Van Heflin, as good as ever, managing to play quite well with her.

The movie has many charming elements. The brother (Douglas Croft of the Batman serial) who steals and collects doorbells. The younger sisters who sob along with Judy/Lily whenever she's upset [they are a cute bunch]. In an early development Judy does a scene outside Thornway's home which causes some of his associates to think he knocked her up and abandoned her, and there's the eyebrow-raising scene when Thornway has playwright Owen Vail (Richard Carlson) stand in for Isobel in a love scene. When Owen keeps it up after the scene is over Thornway tells him to stop kidding around. "Who's kidding?" says Owen, in a scene meant as a joke but which probably caused some fluttering among nervous censors. [Lily watches all this wide-eyed and confused.] Connie Gilchrist [A Woman's Face] makes her mark as an ex-actress who does a number with Judy, who also nails "Tom the Piper" and "When I Look at You." My favorite scene has Isobel giving her black maid, Rosa (Lillian Yarbo of Between Us Girls), a hat that she no longer wants because Lily wears a copy of it. When Isobel sees the maid wearing it, she commands her to throw it out. Later both of them see a chimp wearing the hat, which infuriates Isobel even as the maid, having the last laugh, smiles behind her back.

Spring Byington is wonderful as Lily's mother, as is Ray McDonald as her boyfriend, whom she discards early on. Fay Bainter is also notable if a bit wasted as Thornway's mom. Bob Crosby and Tommy Dorsey also make appearances. Despite a fairly nice if unspectacular voice, Eggerth doesn't make much of an impression, which may be why she was hired -- this, after all, is a Judy Garland Movie and nobody better get more attention than her.

Verdict: Silly but enthusiastic twaddle with a dignified Heflin and energetic Garland. **1/2.

ON THEIR OWN

Spring Byington and Florence Roberts

ON THEIR OWN (1940). Director: Otto Brower.

In this final installment of Twentieth Century-Fox's Jones Family series, Mr. Jones, who is not seen (Jed Prouty, who played the role, is not in the movie as he wanted more money) has a nervous collapse after a Building and Loan crash and the embezzlement of several board members. While Jones recuperates, his wife, Louise (Spring Byington), and children have to deal with the fact that they're going to lose their home and their business. After this grim development, Mr. Jones is sent to a sanitarium in California to recuperate, and his family follows, but have severe money troubles. In an incredible and gutsy maneuver that borders on the unethical and even criminal, Louise and her oldest sons Jack (Kenneth Howell) and Roger (George Ernest), manage to "buy" a rental court from the owner, but not before he evicts his non-paying relatives. The family transform the court into a place where entertainers are welcome, not to mention people with children and pets, which infuriates the landlord of the property next door, who's afraid his tenants will complain about the noise and commotion, leading to a battle in court. Spring Byington takes center stage in this final Jones Family film, and runs with it, and the other actors, including Florence Roberts as Granny, are all terrific. Marguerite Chapman, Chick Chandler, ever-grumpy Charles Lane, and Irving Bacon are in the supporting cast. Call me a sentimental slob, but the depiction of the very obvious love these characters feel for one another is sometimes touching. NOTE: Your reviewer has seen all of the Jones Family films with the exception of Young as You Feel, Off to the Races, and A Trip to Paris. In the unlikely event that anyone has copies of these, especially Paris, please let me know!

Verdict: Not the best of the series, but some sentiment and humor and wonderful performances, and a more than interesting wind-up to the Jones Family (mis)adventures. **1/2.

TOO BUSY TO WORK

Florence Roberts, Spring Byington, and Joan Davis

TOO BUSY TO WORK (1939). Director: Otto Brower.

"If you sent her to Ripley I bet he wouldn't believe it!" -- Granny Jones on Lolly.

Mayor Jones (Jed Prouty) is alarming his wife (Spring Byington) and mother (Florence Roberts) because he's volunteering for too many duties as mayor and neglecting his drug store business to the point where he may lose it. Mrs. Jones decides to wake him up by neglecting her own duties and starring in a little theater production supervised by her old friend, Marge (Marjorie Gateson of Lily Turner). Added complications are the arrival of a niece, Lolly (Joan Davis of Around the World), who becomes the maid in exchange for food and board. Lolly has an eye on policeman Gilligan (Irving Bacon, Ethel's father on I Love Lucy) who loves her cooking but is preoccupied with the capture of safe cracker "Cracker" McGurk (Chick Chandler of Spy Train). Then the mayor discovers that his fellow board members have been behaving unethically and some money turns up missing ... Too Busy to Work is probably the funniest of the Jones Family films, with a good script and many amusing lines and situations to keep it consistently entertaining. Granny is especially acerbic in this entry. The entire cast, including Ken Howell and George Ernest, is top-notch, and Spring Byington certainly gets her chance to shine.

Verdict: Delightful! ***.

THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA

Marsha Hunt and Richard Carlson

THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA (1942). Director: Jules Dassin.

The town of Rock Bay, Long Island is in an uproar when a columnist publishes an item about how one of the maids is going to publish a memoir about the family she works for. The ladies of the town hold one meeting, while all of the maids hold another. Meanwhile Martha (Marsha Hunt), who works for the Sommerfields and is secretly married to son Jeff (Richard Carlson), has to deal with romantic overtures from her publisher, Joel (Allyn Joslyn), as well as a young lad named Danny (Barry Nelson), when she then discovers that Jeff has come home with a fiancee (Frances Drake). While Martha has some similarities to the earlier Theodora Goes Wild, it has much less on its mind, although a spirited cast makes certain that the picture is generally fun. In addition to the already named there are good performances from Marjorie Main [The Law and the Lady] as the Sommerfield cook, Spring Byington as Mrs. Sommerfield, and Virginia Weilder as her precocious daughter, Miranda. Sara Haden, Margaret Hamilton and Grady Sutton all have smaller roles. Jules Dassin also directed Thieves' Highway.

Verdict: Cute if minor comedy. **1/2.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS [JONES FAMILY]

Lucy is comforted by her mother 

SAFETY IN NUMBERS (1938). Director: Malcolm St. Clair.

Mrs. Jones (Spring Byington) wins a radio contest as "best mother" after daughter Lucy (June Carlson) pens an essay about her. Meanwhile Major Jones (Jed Prouty) is nearly hornswoggled by some folks who say the town swamp contains mineral water with miraculous properties and want money to build a health spa on the site. On the romantic front, Jack (Kenneth Howell) falls seriously for a gal, Toni (Iva Stewart), who is already engaged to another, a situation which doesn't thrill her mother (Helen Freeman). The title comes from a speech Mrs. Jones has in which she mentions that the advantage of large families is that if one member is sad or in trouble, the others can pitch in and help -- there's safety in numbers. Robert Lowery [Batman and Robin] has a small role as a radio show host, and Cy Kendall is again the portly Chief of Police. Followed by The Jones Family in Hollywood.

Verdict: More than acceptable entry in the Jones Family series. **1/2

THEODORA GOES WILD

Irene Dunne

THEODORA GOES WILD (1936). Director: Richard Boleslawski.

Seemingly the whole town of Lynnfield, Connecticut is up in arms because a risque novel by a "Caroline Adams" is being gleefully serialized in the town paper by editor Jed Waterbury (Thomas Mitchell). The most outraged townsfolk are members of the Lynnfield ladies literary circle, who would be astonished to learn that one of their number, Theodora Lynn (Irene Dunne) is actually the author of the scandalous book! On a trip to New York to see her publisher, Arthur Stevenson (Thurston Hall), Theodora encounters a man named Michael (Melvyn Douglas), who follows her back to Lynnfield and threatens to expose her secret. Only Michael has secrets of his own ... Theodora Goes Wild still makes a timely statement today about small-town hypocrisy, how people are secretly titillated by what they profess to abhor, and the need to shed off constricting small-mindedness and be true to one's instincts and nature. Even better is that it has some very good performances and a number of laugh-out-loud funny sequences. Unfortunately, the middle section, with Michael coming to Lynnfield where he becomes a gardener for Theodora and her aunts and drives them crazy with his constant whistling (the audience as well!), drags a lot and is rather tiresome, although the movie picks up in the final quarter. Dunne and Douglas are fine, with great support from Mitchell and Hall, Nana Bryant (Possessed) as Hall's jealous wife, and Elisabeth Risdon (The Egg and I) and Margaret McWade as Theodora's prudish but loving aunts. Spring Byington (Walk Softly Stranger) has a great scene when she reads an "offensive" passage from Adams' book with such gusto that you can tell she's privately thrilled with it. Robert Greig also makes an impression as Theo's free-spirited Uncle John, who wants her out from under the influence of his spinster sisters. Jake the dog is rather wonderful, too. This comes so, so close to being a classic but misses by that much.

Verdict: Still good for a laugh or two and a lively message. ***.

BORROWING TROUBLE

Tommy and Roger make plans

BORROWING TROUBLE (aka The Jones Family in Borrowing Trouble/1937). Director: Frank R. Strayer.

As Bonnie Jones (Shirley Deane) nervously prepares for her wedding to florist Herbert (Russell Gleason), her father, now Mayor Jones (Jed Prouty), becomes a "Big Brother" to a troubled boy from the wrong side of the tracks named Tommy (Marvin Stephens). Mayor Jones is none too thrilled to have the boy among his household, but his wife (Spring Byington) and mother (Florence Roberts) importune him to give Tommy a chance. Part of Tommy's problem is that his older brother, Lester (George Walcott), who works in a pool room, has fallen in with a bad crowd. And then the safe in Mayor Jone's drug store is robbed ... Borrowing Trouble, in which Papa Jones learns not to judge people by their appearance (although his wife's "no bad boys" attitude is quite unrealistic), the seventh entry in the Jones Family series, is, as usual, well-acted with its sentimental aspects never becoming too cloying. Bonnie and Herbert finally get married even if the ceremony is interrupted in riotous fashion. The Jones get a new addition in this installment -- a dog. Oldest son Jack (Kenneth Howell) has little to do in Borrowing Trouble, as he only shows up for the wedding at the end. Roger (George Ernest) gets the lion's share of the footage and gives a very ingratiating performance; Stephens is also notable. His character of Tommy McGuire was carried over to future Jones films, such as The Jones Family in Hollywood, becoming Lucy Jones' (June Carlson) boyfriend. The ever-mediocre Cy Kendall, who plays Chief Kelly in this and other Jones' films, was in a number of serials [Jungle Queen] and "B" movies [The Shadow Strikes].

Verdict: Another amiable evening with the Joneses. **1/2.

HOT WATER

Jed Prouty and Spring Byington as Mr. and Mrs. Jones

HOT WATER (1937). Director: Frank R. Strayer.

Mr. Jones (Jed Prouty) is up in arms over a place called the Red Mill, which has illegal gambling in its back parlor and sells liquor to the under-aged. But will the mayor shut it down, or does he have an interest in the place himself? Jones is importuned to run for mayor himself, with son Ralph (George Ernest) both helping and hindering him by putting out his own newspaper and promoting his dad. Oldest son Jack (Kenneth Howell) is waylaid by a pretty singer who works at the Red Mill in a frame up which has him accused of paralyzing a pedestrian, but Ralph comes to the rescue with a bunch of bees. Bonnie (Shirley Deane) and Herbert (Russell Gleason), who seemed to get engaged at the end of the last Jones Family film, Big Business, still aren't married. The acting is as good as ever. Spring Byington and Florence Roberts play Jones' wife and mother respectively.

Verdict: Amiable and entertaining if minor. **1/2. 

EDUCATING FATHER

Granny Jones reads her horror stories

EDUCATING FATHER (1936). Director: James Tinling.

The first sequel to Every Saturday Night, in which the Evers Family became the Jones Family, was rushed out the same year, becoming a sort of theatrical hour-long sitcom for fifteen more installments. In this entry Mr. Jones (Jed Prouty) wants his son, Jack (Kenneth Howell) to follow him into the pharmacy business, but Jack is more interested in the field of aviation and has been taking flying lessons on the sly. There's a hair-raising bit when a silly gal named Millicent (Dixie Dunbar) climbs into the back seat of a plane without his knowledge and nearly causes a crack-up. In another sub-plot Mr. Jones goes fishing in a place miles away from anywhere just when his lease is coming up on his pharmacy, and Jack has to fly into the wilderness to get him back to town in time or he'll lose his store. Granny Jones (Florence Roberts) reads horror stories, and Mrs. Jones (Spring Byington) wrings her hands and offers sage advice. In this entry oldest daughter Bonnie is played by Shirley Deane.

Verdict: Passable comedy with likable players. **.

EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT

Jack gets advice from his granny

EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT (1936). Director: James Tinling.

When 20th Century-Fox came out with this adaptation of the stage play about a warm and loving family with their share of minor disagreements, they probably had no idea it would make enough money to engender no less than sixteen sequels! That means that there was one more entry in [what became] the Jones Family series than in MGM's Andy Hardy/Hardy Family series (even when you count the much-later Andy Hardy Comes Home and don't count a couple of Andy Hardy shorts), which began with A Family Affair (also from a play) the year after Every Saturday Night debuted. Ironically, the Jones Family series is pretty much completely forgotten, while everyone has heard of Andy Hardy, probably thanks to the irrepressible Mickey Rooney. 

In Every Saturday Night the name of the family is actually Evers, but it was changed for subsequent entries, although when the film was re-released as a "Jones Family" feature the "Evers" name wasn't over-dubbed. Evers/Jones (Jed Prouty) is a small-town pharmacist who, as his mother (Florence Roberts) tells him, raises his children as if it were twenty years earlier, and forgets the trouble he got into himself when he was a boy. His oldest daughter, Bonnie (June Lang) is dating a guy named Clark (Thomas Beck) who drives drunk and nearly kills a girl. The younger daughter, Lucy (June Carlson) wants to be an actress and is always imitating Hepburn, Garbo or someone else. Oldest son Jack (Ken Howell) gets in hot water when he takes Dad's car without permission, and borrows money from his serious younger brother Roger (George Ernest) at high interest. Then there's a near-crisis when little Bobby (Billy Mahan) gets a serious cut. Mrs. Evers (Spring Byington) is wise enough to know when to intercede and when to keep quiet. Every Saturday Night is certainly not a masterpiece, but it is surprisingly touching at times in its warmth and honest sentiment, and the obvious love these characters feel for one another is almost palpable, thanks to very adept performances by the entire cast.

Verdict: A lost bit of Hollywood history. **1/2.

THE JONES FAMILY IN HOLLYWOOD

George Ernest tries to console June Carlson

THE JONES FAMILY IN HOLLYWOOD (1939). Director: Malcolm St. Clair.

The long-running Jones Family series [a total of 17 movies!] actually started with Every Saturday Night in 1936 when the family was named "Evers." (Presumably somebody with the same name objected because they became the more generic Jones Family with the next installment and thereafter.) This movie is about at the halfway mark for the series, and has the family traveling to Hollywood when Father Jones (a dithery and unappealing Jed Prouty) attends an American Legion convention, and everyone else, including the peppery Granny Jones (Florence Roberts), insists on going along. Lucy (June Carlson) thinks she's going to become a movie star thanks to the manipulations of sleazy actor Danny Regan (William Tracy of Terry and the Pirates), while girl-crazy Jack (Kenneth Howell) thinks he's fallen for an actress who only wants to use the handsome lug for research. The more studious brother, Roger, is played by the aptly-named George Ernest. At one point Roger, who is making a home movie, stands in for Lucy and shows her how to make love to her boyfriend, Tommy (Marvin Stephens), making it seem as if he has a crush on him. The actors are all adept, but the script is thin and silly and the laughs merely sporadic when they come at all.The only "name" in the cast is Spring Byington (Walk Softly Stranger), who is her usual self as Mrs. Louise Jones. Howell was also in Henry Aldrich for President and Junior G-Men. St. Clair also directed Jitterbugs with Laurel and Hardy.

Verdict: If nothing else a quaint curiosity of a long-forgotten series. **.

IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME

Van Johnson and Judy Garland

IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (1949). Director: Robert Z. Leonard.

"I have hardly any voice at all." -- Judy Garland

This venerable story was originally filmed as The Shop Around the Corner. This (first) semi-musical remake casts Van Johnson and Judy Garland in the roles originally essayed by Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and both are fine. The two are clerks in a shop (in this version a perfumery has been turned into a music store) who can't stand each other, but unknowingly have been sending romantic letters to one another via mailbox. (The third version of the story, You've Got Mail, turned the letters into email.) Johnson and Garland, both at their most charming, play very well together whether they're antagonists or falling in love. "Cuddles" Sakall is swell as the old man who owns the shop, with Spring Byington her usual adept self as the clerk who has unofficially been engaged to him for decades. The only cast mate who doesn't really deliver the goods is silent star Buster Keaton, who seems completely out of place as the boss' nephew, although he tries. This version drops some sub-plots relating to the other employees, and adds a completely unnecessary one involving Johnson's fellow boarder, Louise (Marcia Van Dyke), who plays the violin and is in love with him; Van Dyke is fine but had very few credits. Of course, Garland is given ample opportunities to sing (and for a mere music ship clerk she sure sings like a trouper!), and she delivers, especially on the "Barbershop Chord" production number, although some may feel the quivering lips bit during other numbers is a little too much. The sequence when Johnson and Garland first bump into each other, literally, is very funny, as is their encounter in a restaurant. The same story was the basis for the Broadway musical "She Loves Me."

Verdict: A Technicolor treat with music and romance. ***1/2.