Virginia Welles Movies
- 1956
Though both star Donald O'Connor and director Arthur Lubin had said goodbye to the "Francis the Talking Mule" series, Universal-International wasn't about to give up on so valuable a property. Thus, Francis in the Haunted House starred Mickey Rooney, with Charles Barton calling the shots. Likewise missing from the earlier series entries was the voice of Francis, Chill Wills; he is replaced by the ubiquitous Paul Frees, who also narrated the film's promotional trailer. The plot and comic content of Francis in the Haunted House is summed up by the title, as Francis and his new buddy David Prescott (Mickey Rooney) try to corral a gang of art thieves. Along the way, they get mixed up with a phony heiress (Virginia Welles), a series of murders (one of the victims is Richard Deacon!) and, of course, a spooky old house. Most of the "scare" gags in Francis in the Haunted House had been done earlier, and better, by Universal's own Abbott and Costello. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Virginia Welles, (more)
- 1951
Despite its Latino title, Casa Manana was an all-American production from Monogram studios. The title refers to the nightclub where songstress Linda (Virginia Welles) works. Linda's boyfriend Larry (Robert Clarke) has purchased the nitery, hoping to transform his lady love into a big star. The fly in the ointment is brutish Horace (Robert Karnes), who is also in love with Linda and who isn't too particular about the methods he uses to win her away from Larry. Guest stars in this musical melodrama include the Rio Brothers, Eddie Le Baron Orchestra, Spade Cooley, Yadira Jimenez, Zarco & D'Lores, the Mercer Brothers, Armando & Lita, Betty & Beverly, Olga Perez and Davis & Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Clarke, Virginia Welles, (more)
- 1950
In this musical, an ambitious young singer and her band leave their small hometown to head for the Big Apple in hopes of finding fame and fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Monogram's low-budget, high-grossing "Joe Palooka" series carries on in this 66-minute entry. Joe Kirkwood plays Joe Palooka, the soft-hearted pugilist created for the funny papers by Ham Fisher. This time, Joe is framed on a bum rap by a group of gamblers who hope to fix the outcome of an upcoming bout. When Joe manages to clear himself, the gamblers go a step farther by having the scrupulously honest boxer accused of murder. On the lam from the law, Joe is forced to solve the murder himself--and he'd better hurry if he's going to get to the Big Fight on time. Virginia Welles is cast as Joe's love interest Ann Howe, while comedian Leon Errol is afforded top billing as Joe's manager Knobby Walsh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Errol, Joe Kirkwood, Jr., (more)
Dynamite is a 1949 effort from the Pine-Thomas production mill. William Gargan and Richard Crane star as Gunner and Johnny, troubleshooters for dynamite contractor Hard Rock Mason Frank Ferguson. Though forced to work as a team on the job, Gunner and Johnny fall out when romance enters the picture in the form of Mason's pretty daughter Mary Virginia Welles. However, all misunderstandings are swept aside, however, when one of the men is trapped in a tunnel where several tons of TNT are about to go off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Virginia Welles, (more)
- 1949
Shirley Temple's final starring film, A Kiss for Corliss is a sequel to the actress' 1945 hit Kiss and Tell. The 21-year-old Temple again stars as impulsive teenager Corliss Archer, who on this occasion harbors a crush on notorious playboy Kenneth Marquis (David Niven), who has already been to the altar many times and to the boudoir many more. So moonstruck is she by Marquis (who barely acknowledges her existence) that Corliss begins writing down her imaginary romantic trysts with him in her diary. Naturally, the book falls into the hands of Corliss' parents (Tom Tully and Gloria Holden), who believe every word...especially when Marquis, evidently hoping to teach Corliss a lesson, "verifies" that the diary speaks the truth. Our heroine tries to extricate herself from this embarrassing situation by relying on one of moviedom's oldest clichés; no mean trick, inasmuch as this film is virtually a cliché smorgasbord, albeit an enjoyable one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, David Niven, (more)
- 1949
Make Believe Ballroom is a feature-length derivation of the popular LA-based radio series of the same name. Hosted by Martin Block and then by Al Jarvis, the original Ballroom was a combination disc-jockey program and quiz show. Jarvis plays himself in the film version, introducing such musical artists as Frankie Laine, the King Cole Trio,Jack Smith, Kay Starr, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey, Jan Garber, Gene Krupa and Pee Wee Hunt. The barely relevant plot concerns two carhops, Gene Thomas (Jerome Courtland) and Josie Marlow (Virginia Welles), who participate in the question-and-answer portion of the radio series. Though competitors on the air, Gene and Josie eventually fall in love. The supporting cast is filled with such stock Columbia players as Sid Tomack, Adele Jergens, and Vernon Dent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerome Courtland, Ruth Warrick, (more)
- 1947
No relation to the 1961 Jerry Lewis comedy of the same name, the 1947 musical Ladies' Man stars Eddie Bracken as the title character. It all begins when rural rube Henry Haskell (Bracken) inherits an oil fortune in Oklahoma. Enjoying his newfound wealth, Henry goes on a sightseeing tour of New York City, where he is quickly bamboozled into playing "Prince Charming" on a radio giveaway show (this plot device is a takeoff of the "Miss Hush" contest on radio's Truth or Consequences). The architect of this chicanery is ad agency exec Gladys Hayden (Virginia Field), who convinces Henry that she'll lose her job if he doesn't go along with the gag. Somewhere along the line, the plot is put on the back burner in favor of a steady stream of specialty numbers, performed by the likes of Cass Daley and Spike Jones & His City Slickers, the latter aggregation performing their classic Cocktails for Two." Eddie Bracken himself does a nice singing job with a pair of Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn numbers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Bracken, Cass Daley, (more)
- 1947
Adapted from the popular stage play of the same name, Dear Ruth features Mona Freeman as teenaged Miriam Watkins, who can't keep her nose out of other people's affairs. Fired up by patriotism, Miriam inaugurates a warm pen-pal relationship with an overseas air force officer (William Holden), hinting at a future marriage. When the airman arrives in town, he insists upon seeing Miriam's older sister Ruth (Joan Caulfield). It seems that Miriam, in an effort to appear older, signed her letters with her sister's name, and even enclosed her sister's picture. Ruth, however, is engaged to her nerdish employer (Billy DeWolfe), and it isn't hard to imagine the plot convolutions that ensue from this set-up. Dear Ruth was written by Norman Krasna, who based the Watkins household on the family of his old friend Groucho Marx (whose first wife's name was Ruth). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Caulfield, William Holden, (more)
- 1947
This story of two young hopefuls who come to Hollywood is merely a thin device to feature almost every star working for Paramount Studios in 1947. Mary Hatcher plays Catherine Brown, a woman of humble origins who arrives in Hollywood, where she meets another wanna-be movie star, Amber La Vonne (Olga San Juan). They work their way through the Paramount studios, trying to impress every important person. Mostly, the film is a cavalcade of songs by various stars that take place at several studio and Hollywood locations, including the famous Brown Derby restaurant. Many of the film's songs were written by Frank Loesser. Dorothy Lamour and Alan Ladd sing "Tallahassee"; Bing Crosby and Bob Hope play golf and sing a duet, "Harmony"; the Original Dixieland Jazz Band plays "Tiger Rag"; and a host of other top performers of the era appear in brief cameos. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Alden, Mary Hatcher, (more)
- 1946
Olivia De Havilland won the first of her two Academy Awards for To Each His Own. During World War I, De Havilland falls in love with a young soldier (John Lund). He is killed in battle before they can marry, leaving De Havilland to raise their child alone. She gives the baby up for adoption, then goes to work in the cosmetic business, working her way up to an executive post. While in London on business during World War II, Olivia comes face to face with her grown son (John Lund again), now a military officer himself. Though she resists revealing her true identity, mother and son are brought together by a wise old British peer (Roland Culver). Olivia De Havilland's Oscar win was doubly sweet in that To Each His Own was her first film after an enforced two-year absence, brought about when she sued Warner Bros. to get out of her restrictive contract. Long available only in washed-out TV prints, To Each His Own was eventually restored to its pristine 35-millimeter glory by the American Film Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Mary Anderson, (more)
- 1945
If there were any doubts that little Shirley Temple was all grown up by 1945, those doubts were disippated by her appearance in Columbia's Kiss and Tell. Based on the mildly risque stage comedy by F. Hugh Herbert, the film casts Temple as impulsive teenager Corliss Archer, who is the only person in on the secret marriage between her GI brother and local girl Mildred Pringle (Virginia Welles). When Mildred becomes pregnant, Corliss can't reveal the marriage, since the Archers and the Pringles aren't overly fond of one another. Thus it is that Corliss herself pretends to be expecting, intending to claim Mildred's baby as her own. She further identifies her next-door boyfriend Dexter Franklin (Jerome Courtland) as the father, opening yet another can of worms. Somehow this mess straightens itself out, but not before several "chancy" scenes and lines of dialogue that must have given the Hollywood censors headaches aplenty. Kiss and Tell (the original play, that is) not only spawned a 1949 movie sequel, A Kiss for Corliss, but also inspired the popular radio and TV sitcom Meet Corliss Archer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Jerome Courtland, (more)
