Ludwig Stossel Movies

Elvis Presley stars in GI Blues as Tulsa McLean, a soldier stationed in Germany, who pulls strings to stage a big show for his fellow GI's. In the tradition of the musical chestnut The Fleet's In, Tulsa also bets his buddies that he can date "ice princess" entertainer Lili (Juliet Prowse). Song highlights include "Wooden Heart," "Blue Suede Shoes" and the title number. The spectacular box-office performance of G.I. Blues proved that Elvis' popularity had not only survived his Army tenure, but had actually increased. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sarah Werner (Osa Massen) begs Perry to locate her husband Hugo (Kurt Krueger), who ran off with all her money, leaving her alone and destitute. Perry's secretary Della suspects that Sarah isn't being entirely truthful, especially since the woman is wearing a very expensive perfume. As for Hugo--or as he is now calling himself, Hans Breel--he is currently involved in an elaborate scam involving a priceless gem called the Pundit Stone. When Hugo turns up murdered, Sarah is accused of the crime, whereupon Perry does some diligent digging into the facts (some of which are actually fallacies) to clear his client. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Whitney Blake, who played the first client of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) in the series opener "The Case of the Restless Redhead", returns in this episode as blonde Diana Reynolds, who shows up in Perry's office clad in a bathrobe and sporting a black eye. As Perry and Della listen attentively, Diana weaves an incredible tale of being framed for a jewel theft. But this turns out to be the least of the girl's problems when she is charged with the murder of Marian Shaw (Judith Ames). A long-lost grandson also figures prominently in this episode, which is based on a 1944 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The resurgence of interest in Jules Verne following the release of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) led to a brief cycle of Verne-based films. Produced in Mexico by Benedict Bogeaus, From the Earth to the Moon stars Joseph Cotten as eccentric Civil War-era scientist Victor Barbicane. Claiming to have invented a source of "infinite energy" called Power X, Barbicane is able to secure financing for a rocket trip to the moon. Along for the ride is Barbicane's bitter enemy, Stuyvesant Nicholl (George Sanders), who feels that Barbicane is violating the laws of God and nature with his extraterrestrial dreams. Thus, Nicholl sabotages the space vessel, setting the stage for a suspenseful finale. The requisite romantic interest is handled by Barbicane's daughter Virginia (a newly blonde Debra Paget) and his assistant Ben Sharpe (Don Dubbins). Wandering in and out of the proceedings is a mysterious bearded character known only as J.V. (Carl Esmond). Hampered by a small budget, From the Earth to the Moon doesn't deliver the special effects highlights that its ad campaign implicitly promised, but the actors are convincing and the story is logically presented. Originally slated for RKO release, the film was ultimately distributed by Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stan Freberg fans are advised to keep an eye open for the obscure Republic musical Geraldine. Freberg plays recording star Billy Weber, a devastating takeoff of "crying tenor" Johnnie Ray. Looking for a new song, Billy chances to hear an old folk tune, rearranged by college music professor Grant Sanborn (John Carroll). Several incredible intrigues later, Billy's star has eclipsed and it is Sanborn who's the new singing heartthrob. Mala Powers, Jose Ferrer's vis-a-vis in Cyrano de Bergerac, is rather overshadowed by the male stars in her nondescript role. The songwriting credits on Geraldine are most impressive, including Freberg, Victor Young, Irwin Koster, and even western comic sidekick Fuzzy Knight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director John Ford, notoriously difficult to please, regarded The Sun Shines Bright as his favorite film. Laurence Stalllings' screenplay is based on several short stories by Kentucky humorist Irvin S. Cobb, some of which had previously been cinematized in Ford's 1934 Will Rogers vehicle Judge Priest. Charles Winninger stars as Judge William Pittman Priest, whose down-home, common-sense approach to his job has endeared himself to most of the residents of his small Kentucky home town, while alienating many of the "better" people. Up for election, Judge Priest is challenged by a Yankee upstart who has most of the influential citizens in his pocket. Almost deliberately courting defeat, the doggedly honest Priest champions several unpopular causes. In the film's most memorable scene, the Judge arranges a fancy funeral procession for an impoverished town prostitute. The film retains much of the charm of its predecessor Judge Priest; unfortunately (at least by P.C. standards), The Sun Shines Bright also retains the most questionable aspect of the earlier film: the stereotyped routines of African-American comedian Stepin Fetchit. One hardly knows how to react to the sequence in which the supplicative Fetchit tries to hush up a defiant young black man who is in danger of being lynched (Ford plays this scene for laughs!) While Fetchit's participation will hardly endear the film to modern audiences, it is unfair to write off the rest of The Sun Shines Bright, which otherwise fully lives up to director Ford's affectionate assessment. Long available only in its 90 minute release version, the film has in recent years been restored to the 100-minute "director's cut." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by Irving Brecher, best known for his weekly TV series Life of Riley and The People's Choice, Somebody Loves Me is the highly fictionalized life story of vaudeville and Broadway star Blossom Seeley (Betty Hutton) and her husband-partner Benny Fields (Ralph Meeker). Unflatteringly, the film depicts Fields as something of an opportunist, who maneuvers Blossom into marriage for the benefit of his own career. Eventually he does penance for his callousness, particularly in a scene wherein Fields is reduced to playing straight for a pair of crummy Burlesque comedians. Meanwhile, Blossom also goes into an eclipse as a "single." The tearful finale is, like the rest of the film, a bit at odds with the truth, but effective nonetheless. Betty Hutton does pretty well as Seeley, even though she looks and sounds nothing like genuine article; Meeker seems uncomfortable, except when lip-synching to the prerecorded voice of Pat Morgan as Benny Fields. Jack Benny makes an amusing cameo appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on an operetta by Franz Lehar, this remake of the 1934 original finds a wealthy widow (Lana Turner) returning to her husband's native land to dedicate a memorial to him. The king (Thomas Gomez) of the country, deep in debt, tries to convince her to stay by offering a young count (Fernando Lamas) for her to marry. The film earned Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Costumes. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Corky of Gasoline Alley was the second and last Columbia "B"-picture inspired by Frank King's popular comic strip Gasoline Alley. As in the first film, the emphasis is on young gas jockey Corky (Scotty Beckett), who must put up with Elwood Martin (Gordon Jones), the shiftless cousin of Corky's wife Hope (Susan Morrow). One of Elwood's get-rich-quick schemes involves gasoline pills, which all but destroy the service station managed by Walt Wallet (Don Beddoe) and his foster son Skeezix (Jimmy Lydon). When threatened with eviction, Elwood feigns a back injury, forcing everyone to wait on him hand-and-foot until his ruse is discovered. Director Edward Bernds handles his material in the slapsticky manner of his Columbia 2-reelers, which pays off in belly laughs even though this approach isn't altogether faithful to the spirit of the original comic strip. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based loosely on the Dostoyevsky novel, The Gambler stars Gregory Peck as a sensitive 19th-century Russian author. His "great sin" is gambling, which starts when he attempts to rescue aristocratic Ava Gardner from the gaming tables. He succeeds, only to lose himself to gambling fever, which costs him his friends, his reputation and his talent. Director Robert Siodmak was never happy with the screenplay for The Great Sinner, constant revisions bloated the film's rough-cut running time to nearly six hours! After Siodmak pared the film down, MGM insisted that the director reshoot the love scenes. Siodmak refused, thus the new sequences were filmed sans screen credit by Mervin LeRoy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Song of Love is the MGM-ified version of the lives and loves of 19th century musicians Clara Wieck Schumann (Katharine Hepburn), Robert Schumann (Paul Henreid) and Johannes Brahms (Robert Walker, who the previous year had played another composer, Jerome Kern, in Til the Clouds Roll By). Clara gives up her thriving career as a concert pianist to devote herself to her struggling composer husband Robert. Unable to cope with disappointment and failure, Robert dies in an asylum, leaving poor Clara to cope with seven children and mounting debts. At this point, the eminently successful Brahms, who has loved Clara all along, proposes to her, but Clara insists upon going it alone, perpetuating her husband's memory on the concert stage. Also represented in this musical "through the years" pageant is Franz Liszt, played with remarkable understatement by Henry Daniell. Clearly designed to capitalize on the popularity of Columbia's Chopin biopic A Song to Remember, Song of Love is slow and poky at times, though it's fascinating to see Katharine Hepburn at the piano (reportedly, she learned to play enough classical music to get by in the close-up scenes, though her music is dubbed in medium and long shots). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this aqueous musical comedy, an opera singer brings his son to Michigan's Mackinac Island where the son falls in love with the star of the "aquacaper." It is difficult to woo her as she is constantly surrounded by her piano-playing bodyguard and her ever-present grandmother. It's musical and comedic chaos as the son attempts to overcome these and other obstacles while trying to win her heart. Highlights include Jimmy Durante singing his trademark tune "Inka Dinka Do." Other songs include: "M'Appari" from "Martha," "La Donna E Mobile" from "Rigoletto," Cole Porter's "You Are So Easy to Love," "A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That," "Chiquita Banana," and "When It's Lilac Time on Mackinac Island." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide