Harold Williams Movies

In this quirky romantic comedy about soul transference, Alec Baldwin plays Peter Hoskins, the straight-laced head of the microfiche department at a company that publishes scientific journals. When he meets a free-spirited, sleep-deprived bartender named Rita (Meg Ryan), the opposites attract and launch into a round-the-clock romance characterized by private jokes and an intense connection that defies description. When the two decide to marry, however, an unforeseeable cosmic occurrence entirely alters the nature of their relationship. Those who claim that marriage changes a person couldn't be more right in this case, as a confused old man (Sydney Walker) wanders into the wedding reception and plants a single kiss on the lips of the new bride. Longing for the youthfulness he sees in the happy couple, the man inadvertently causes the two to switch bodies during the smooch. Thinking no one will believe the story, Rita (now hidden inside a cancer-ridden octogenarian) leaves the premises before causing any more of a stir, while the old man in Rita's body is whisked off with Peter on their honeymoon before anyone is the wiser. Soon, Peter begins noticing that his new bride is an entirely different person, but can't figure out why -- and wonders if it's just a natural dose of cold feet. When he can no longer ignore the total dissimilarity, Peter begins suspecting that something supernatural has occurred, and wondering how he can restore his wife to her former self, especially when her body's new occupant resists the effort and goes on the lam. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

After nearly a decade of nominal "leading lady" roles, Carole Lombard landed her first genuine starring vehicle with Hands Across the Table. Reasoning that the way to a man's heart is through his cuticles, Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) takes a job as a manicurist at a fancy barbershop, unabashedly admitting that she hopes to use this position to snag a rich husband. Sure enough, Regi's charms prove irresistable to Allen Macklyn (Ralph Bellamy) a wealthy and charming invalid, who knows that the girl is a golddigger but doesn't care. The other man in Regi's life is Theodore "Ted" Drew III (Fred MacMurray), who though born into a wealthy family is stone broke, and on the verge of marrying a rich debutante (Astrid Allwyn) to replenish his lost fortune. Hoping to briefly escape this fate and his other financial problems, Theodore hides out in Regi's apartment. It is, of course, a platonic relationship: Having been burned in the past, Regi doesn't want to get romantically entangled with a pauper, while Ted is already promised to someone else. But, as is often the case in 1930s comedies, things don't quite turn out the way that either Regi or Ted expect. Full of delightful, unexpected touches, Hands Across the Table proved to be a major boost for Carole Lombard's career, and didn't exactly do any harm to up-and-coming Fred MacMurray either. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ingagi was one of the most outrageous hoaxes ever perpetrated upon a gullible movie public. Assembled by a fly-by-night firm called Congo Pictures Ltd., the film purported to be a documentary about the ritual sacrifice of Congolese native girls to an "ape god." Virtually naked, the sacrificial maiden is carried off into the jungle by a huge, almost human ape, presumably for purposes of procreation. The rest of the film deals with the efforts by white hunters to kill the ape without hurting the girl. The "authenticity" of this project was vouched for by someone calling himself Sir Hugo Winstead of London, who appears in the film's prologue. Upon its initial release, Ingagi was swallowed whole by audiences everywhere; even the otherwise cynical trade publication Variety accepted the film as fact. Only when a few sharp-eyed industryites recognized the lead native girl as a well-known Hollywood extra did the deception begin to unravel. Soon it was revealed that Ingagi was filmed in its entirety in California, that its scenes of marauding wildlife were lifted from previous documentaries, and that the titular ape-man was actually portrayed by famed simian impersonator Charles Gemora! With threats of legal action ringing in their ears, the distributors of Ingagi quickly withdrew the film from circulation, but not before posting a handsome profit. The 1940 all-black horror film Son of Ingagi was in no way a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi