Ann Sothern Movies

Basically a filmed vaudeville presentation, The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' entry in the "all star, all talking, all singing and all dancing" sweepstakes of 1929. Though slightly better than MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929, the Warners entry pales in comparison to Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Paramount on Parade, due mainly to the film's master of ceremonies, the insufferable Frank Fay. Some of the individual acts seen in Show of Shows were pretty good, notably Winnie Lightner's delightful Singing in the Bathtub (a spoof of Hollywood Revue of 1929's Singin' in the Rain) and John Barrymore's brilliant rendition of Richard III's soliloquy from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Also easy to take was "Floradora Sextette," featuring such luminaries as Myrna Loy, Patsy Ruth Miller and cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin, and "Eight Sister Acts," including such Hollywood siblings as Dolores and Helene Costello, Sally Blane and Loretta Young and Shirley Mason and Viola Dana (also teamed in this number are Ann Sothern and Marion Byron, who were not sisters). But for the most part, the acts are on a par with "Skull and Crossbones," a boring production number showcasing entertainer Ted Lewis, and "Recitations," a one-joke affair in which three different anecdotes (related by Frank Fay, Louis Fazenda, Lloyd Hamilton and Bea Lillie) are melded into one. Show of Shows was originally released in two-color Technicolor but now exists only in black in white, save for the "Chinese Fantasy" number featuring crooner Nick Lucas and Warner Bros. contractee Myrna Loy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based upon an ambitious but unsuccessful stage operetta by Oscar Hammerstein and Vincent Youmans, Song of the West is set in the middle 1800s during the great western Gold Rush. At a fort in Kansas, Lt. Singleton is in love with Virginia, daughter of the fort's Colonel. Singleton encounters Capt. Stanton, who had the misfortune of getting involved in a romantic triangle that produced a bit of a scandal. Stanton quarrels with his rival from that triangle, Davolo, and ends up shooting him. Singleton and the Colonel lock Stanton up and hold him for murder. Stanton escapes, disguises himself as a man of the cloth and hitches up with a wagon train heading for California. As luck would have it, Virginia is part of the wagon train party. Along the way, Stanton and Virginia fall in love. Stanton's guilt over his past haunts him, however, and he worries that he is not good enough for Virginia. He leaves her and is involved in a mishap at a mining camp, after which he re-enlists as a private to avoid deportation and to pay for his sins. Happily, however, he also discovers that Virginia loves him and will always love him, no matter who he is or what he has done. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Super Sleuth stars Jack Oakie as an egotistical movie actor who specializes in detective roles. Despite the gentle remonstrations of his girl friend (Ann Sothern), Oakie fancies himself a genuine master sleuth, and in this capacity offers his services to the law in helping to solve a recent series of "poison pen" murders. In truth, Oakie is so dense that he can't figure out that the seemingly benign criminologist (Eduardo Cianelli), who supplies him technical information on his film roles, is the actual murderer. Edgar Kennedy, the real detective on the case, solves the mystery himself, but not before Oakie is nearly bumped off in the criminologist's "chamber of horrors." Super Sleuth was ineptly remade in 1946 as Genius at Work, a vehicle for RKO's prefabricated comedy team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carroll Baker, the Sharon Stone of the sixties, plays another classy-looking blonde with a sordid background in Sylvia. Millionaire Peter Lawford is about to marry the glamorous but secretive Sylvia (Baker). Before taking the plunge, he hires private eye George Maharis to do a background check on the girl. Whew, what he finds out! Apparently the only sin Sylvia doesn't commit is robbing parking meters, but we have no idea what might happen after the final fadeout. Shortly before it opened, Sylvia was the subject of several magazine articles, trumpeting the fact that Carroll Baker had conducted extensive interviews with real-life prostitutes in order to prepare herself for her role. This apparently left her no time to consult an acting coach. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gore Vidal adapted his biting and bitter political satire from his hit Broadway play. Franklin J. Schaffner directed and Haskell Wexler provided the sharp-edged cinematography. The story concerns the political back-biting and smear politics involved in a presidential election year scramble by potential presidential party nominees. Lee Tracy (in an Oscar-nominated performance and his final screen role) is Art Hockstader, a dying president who refuses to throw his support behind any of his party's presidential hopefuls. Hoping to get the nod as the party's presidential candidate is liberal do-gooder William Russell (Henry Fonda). His wife Alice (Margaret Leighton) wants to get a divorce from Russell but is delaying the divorce proceedings until after the party convention. Opposing Russell for the nomination is Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson), a slick and unscrupulous political monster who will use any bit of dirt to get ahead in the party. When he discovers that Russell once suffered from mental problems, he threatens to use it against him. Russell then finds out that Cantwell once had a homosexual relationship. Russell, who abhors smear politics, now has to decide whether to use the information against Cantwell or bury the secret and risk losing the nomination. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Ann Sothern and Jack Haley star in this inconsequential little musical. Haley is a struggling playwright of minimal talent, whose latest play is miraculously selected for a Broadway berth by producer Roger Pryor. The problem: Pryor isn't a producer at all, but an out-of-work actor anxious to get into anyone's play, even Haley's. After several ups and downs, the play actually makes it to Broadway, where it is regarded as the ultimate in ridiculous comedy and becomes a success! It would be stretching things to suggest that this was the inspiration for Mel Brooks' similarly plotted The Producers, since the backstage legend of a flop play becoming an accidental hit is as old as the Theatre itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Scrappy society belle Geraldine (Ann Sothern) is The Hell Cat in this peppy Columbia potboiler. Fed up with the intrusions of brash newspaper reporter Dan Collins (Robert Armstrong), Geraldine punches him in the nose -- whereupon he promptly punches her back. Feeling humiliated, Geraldine plots a diabolical revenge by vamping Dan, intending to drop him like a hot potato the minute he falls in love with her. Instead, Dan ends up saving Geraldine's hide by capturing a gang of crooks who've been using her father's yacht to smuggle aliens. In his first major film role, Benny Baker scores a comic bull's-eye as photojournalist Snapper Dugan. The basic plotline of Hell Cat would be reworked by Columbia several times, most memorably as Atlantic Adventure in 1935. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This genuinely perverse horror film stars John Savage as a young man forced to participate in the beachfront gang rape of Sue Bernard by his nasty friends. After two years in jail, he returns to the boardinghouse run by his mother (Ann Sothern), who does things like kissing him on the mouth and photographing him in the shower. Before long, he freaks out and strangles a cat while peeping at a new tenant (Cindy Williams), then almost drowns the poor girl in the pool before slashing her panties with a razor and choking her in the bathtub. He forces Bernard's car off a cliff, then makes his lawyer (Ruth Roman) drink herself stupid at knifepoint before setting her on fire. Savage and Sothern are fabulous and Luana Anders is creepy as the librarian next door who keeps trying to seduce the disturbed man. Quite a twisted little chiller, with several priceless bizarre moments like a dream sequence featuring a diapered Savage in a crib on the beach surrounded by laughing neighbors. The ubiquitous Gary Graver did 2nd unit photography. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

The Countess Framboise (Ann Sothern), aka Lucy's old school chum Rosie Hannigan, is now selling real estate. Lucy (Lucille Ball) tries to help her friend land a big commission by inveigling Mooney (Gale Gordon) into renting an "ultra-modern" apartment. Unfortunately, the apartment's door locks automatically for the weekend, leaving Lucy, the countess, and Mooney trapped with no food or water for three days! This episode actually marked the first of three appearances this season of Ann Sothern as the countess, but was telecast second for the sake of continuity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode is not only a reworking of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour featuring Betty Grable and Harry James, but it also represents the first season-four appearance of Ann Sothern as the Countess Framboise, otherwise known as Lucy's old school pal Rosie Hannigan. Showing up at Lucy's doorstep with plenty of luggage but no money, the countess confesses that her sole possession is a pregnant race horse named Oil Well left to her by her late husband. Instantly, Lucy (Lucille Ball) hatches a scheme to help both the countess and the horse -- with the unwitting aid of Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon). (William Frawley), the immortal Fred Mertz of I Love Lucy fame, makes his last-ever TV appearance in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Returning to town after a four-week (and four-episode) absence, Viv (Vivian Vance) is introduced to Lucy's old school chum Rosie Hannigan (Ann Sothern), now known as the Countess Framboise. No sooner has this happened than Viv is embroiled in a plan concocted by Lucy (Lucille Ball) to help the Countess impress some visiting royalty. That plan involves a crumbling old mansion which Lucy intends to "fix up" for a fancy party--and we all know what happens whenever Lucy tries to fix up anything! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lucy's old school pal Rosie Hannigan (Ann Sothern), now known as the Countess Framboise, would like to open a charm school in Danfield. Unfortunately, despite her lofty title, the Countess is flat broke, thus she conspires with Lucy (Lucille Ball) to entice a pair of wealthy patrons, Mr. and Mr. Dunbar (Reta Shaw, Byron Foulger), into bankrolling the school. This scheme entails a lengthy takeoff of "My Fair Lady" wherein the Countess endeavors to "transform" a dowdy scrubwoman named Liza Lumpwhomper (actually Lucy in disguise) into a society debutante. Alas, when Liza/Lucy attends a soiree held by the Dunbars, she completely forgets that she is violently allergic to caviar! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Outsider is a refreshingly cynical TV detective drama, starring master cynic Darren McGavin. McGavin plays David Ross, a John MacDonaldesque private eye who virtually lives in his beat-up car and who spends most of his time eluding creditors. An ex-convict, Ross is prohibited from carrying a gun, which means that he gets beaten up on an average of once every ten minutes. Ross is hired by a theatre manager who suspects a female employee of embezzlement; the employee winds up dead, and Ross winds up Suspect Number One. Capped with an twist ending right out of Mickey Spillane, The Outsider was an excellent intro for the weekly TV series which followed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide