Mary C. McCall, Jr. Movies

Max Reinhardt's legendary Hollywood Bowl production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was transferred to the screen by Warner Bros. in 1935. Like most of Shakespeare's comedies, the story contains several seemingly unrelated plotlines, all tied together by a single unifying event, in this instance the impending wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. One story thread concerns the mistaken-identity romances of four young Athenians; another involves a group of "rude mechanicals" who plan to stage a production of "Pyramus and Thisbe" in honor of the wedding; and third plot strand is motivated by the mischievous misbehavior of invisible fairies Oberon, Titania, and Puck. While one of the members of Reinhardt's original stage cast, Olivia De Havilland (Hermia) was retained for the film version, the remainder of the roles went to Warners' ever-reliable stock company. Some of the casting is inspired: James Cagney is brilliant as vainglorious amateur thespian Bottom, while Joe E. Brown is ideal as the reluctant female impersonator Flute. As the four lovers, De Havilland and Jean Muir far outshine the smirking and simpering Dick Powell and Ross Alexander. In the dominion of the fairies, Mickey Rooney is a bit too precious as Puck, but Anita Louise is a lovely Titania and Victor Jory a suitably menacing Oberon (his opening line "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania!" still sends shivers down our spines). Cagney and Brown's fellow "mechanicals" are an odd mixture of the sublime (Frank McHugh) and the just plain silly (Hugh Herbert). While the performances and direction (by Reinhardt and William Dieterle) are uneven, the art direction and special effects (especially the nocturnal dance of the fairies) are breathtakingly beautiful. Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream" incidental music is masterfully orchestrated by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, while the cinematography by Hal Mohr earned the first write-in Academy Award in Hollywood history (Mohr had not been nominated due to hostilities arising from a recent industry strike). Considered a brave failure at the time of its first release, on a purely visual level A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the more satisfying Shakespearean cinemadaptations of Hollywood's golden age. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Last seen on Bonanza in the 1968 episode "A Girl Named George," Jack Albertson paid a return visit to the series in the December 5, 1972 episode "The Sound of Loneliness." Albertson is here cast as elderly widower Jonathan May, who goes to great lengths to make sure that two orphan boys will not be separated when the older boy (but not the younger) is adopted by a childless couple. Also in the cast is another frequent Bonanza guest star, John Randolph, this time in the role of Mr. Dawson. "The Sound of Loneliness" was written and directed by series star Michael Landon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is the second episode in the Maisie series, which focused upon the exploits of a feisty, clever, smooth-talking showgirl. The story begins when Maisie has hidden herself aboard a West African steamer after she discovers that she cannot pay her hotel tab. She winds up in a hospital upon a rubber plantation. There she keeps a predatory female away from a married doctor and saves the plantation from a native attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This musical comedy stars William Powell as Emery Slade, who was once a major film star but lately isn't getting much work. Arrogantly determined to climb back to the top, Slade convinces studio chief Melville Crossman (Adolphe Menjou) to give him the male lead in the film version of a Broadway musical. However, Crossman's offer comes with a catch: Emery has to persuade the show's female lead to appear in the movie. Slade heads to New York to seal the deal, but instead he discovers a gifted young unknown named Julie Clark (Betsy Drake) and decides she's perfect for the role. Crossman is not too enthusiastic about this news, and neither is publicist Bill Davis (Mark Stevens), who is given his pink slip along with Slade. However, Slade is determined to make a career for Julie in Hollywood, though it's not until later that he realizes why he feels so strongly about her. Movie buffs will get a kick out of Menjou's performance, closely modeled on 20th Century Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paul Muni is a prominent physician who is kidnapped by gangsters and forced to tend the needs of head crook Barton MacLaine. MacLaine takes a liking to the intellectual doctor and allows him to go home after his job is done. Muni finds himself the reluctant "staff physician" for the gangster, thus is periodically spirited away from his practice to look after the criminal. He has given his word not to "rat" on the crooks, but he can't sit idly by while the gangsters loot the city. Muni foils the crooks by injecting them with a drug which induces temporary blindness. Dr. Socrates was remade in 1939 as King of the Underworld, with Humphrey Bogart as the gangster boss and actress Kay Francis in Paul Muni's role (with surprisingly few dialogue alterations to accommodate the gender switch!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The racy, ribald Cole Porter musical Du Barry Was a Lady is here given a thorough dry-cleaning by prudish MGM. Richard "Red" Skelton takes over the role of Louis Blore (played on Broadway by Bert Lahr), while Lucille Ball steps into the shoes of the original play's Ethel Merman. The story proposes that Blore is a men's room attendant in a New York nightclub who has a yen for gorgeous showgirl May Daly (Lucille Ball). After drinking a potent mixture, Louis dreams that he is King Louis XV of France, and May is the magnificent Madame Du Barry. Also showing up in Louis' dream is Alex Howe (Gene Kelly), who in "real life" is the guy who ends up with May at fade out-time. It's hard to determine what's more fun to watch in Du Barry Was a Lady: the three stars, the antics of supporting player Zero Mostel, or the incredible sequence in which Tommy Dorsey & His Band -- including drummer Buddy Rich -- perform in 18th century garb and powdered wigs. Five of the original Cole Porter songs are retained for this Technicolor-ful film: "Katie Went to Haiti," "Do I Love You, Do I?," "Well, Did You Evah?," "Taliostro's Dance,", and, best of all, "Friendship." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This third installment in MGM's "Maisie" series finds eternally stranded showgirl Maisie Revere (Ann Sothern) stuck in a deserted mining camp. Here she links up with Davises, an impoverished migrant family which hopes to strike gold somewhere in the neighboring hills. Their efforts are resisted by hard-hearted local rancher Bill Anders (Lee Bowman), who orders the family off his property. With Maisie's assistance, the Davises are offered the opportunity to launch a cooperative farming project, with Anders' blessing. Evidently inspired by The Grapes of Wrath, Gold Rush Maisie is hardly in the same league, but it passes the time painlessly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Chester Morris plays a working stiff unable to provide for his family on his meager salary. He arranges a loan with the seemingly benign Leo Carrillo, but soon learns that he can't keep up with the usurious interest payments. Carrillo's loan company is actually a racket in league with the local crime organization; Morris gets in so deep that he can't get out, and before long his wife and daughter are in dire jeopardy. As was customary at Columbia Pictures, the screenwriters were handed the title I Promise to Pay and then told to fashion a story from it. In this instance, inspiration came from a recent government crackdown on loan sharks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A European princess and her aunt come to New York to buy clothes for the royal coronation, Riff Manson (Jack Jones) is employed by unknown clothier and former junkman Brodine (Hans Conried) to sway the royals to purchase his designs. Broadway revue rehearsals and parties provide the backdrop for the musical selection. George Jessel plays himself and sings "Spring Is The Time For Remembering". The princess (Jo Morrow) sings "Let's Fall In Love". Jones sings the title tune. Other songs are performed by the Earl Grant Trio, The Treniers and The Nitwits, while Johnny Otis renders the classic rock & roll anthem "Willie And The Hand Jive". ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A disparate group of women join the Women's Army Corps to fight WW II in this upbeat war-time drama. One of the women is a frivolous debutante who is informed that she will not receive a dime from the family fortune until she can prove herself mature enough not to squander it on nightclubs and fancy cafes. She joins up with no intention of remaining a WAC; as soon as she gets the money, she is planning to leave. Another recruit comes from an Army family and sees no other recourse than to join up to. The third gal is married to a soldier and wants to be close to him. The army brat and the debutante constantly lob barbed remarks at each other leaving the wife to try to make peace. Things get even more out of hand when the Army brat gets promoted and begins abusing her rank. Things come to a head when the debutante slaps her and is brought up on charges. Meanwhile the wife is devastated to learn that her husband has been killed. Still she says nothing and instead tries to get her other two cohorts to make up. Ironically, it is the pain of her loss that brings the three together and cements their friendship and commitment to the Corps. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The combination of Ann Sothern and Red Skelton pays off in giggles, chortles and guffaws in Maisie Gets Her Man. Broke and stranded once more, showgirl Maisie Revere briefly works as the wrong end of a knife-throwing act, then dedicates herself to helping would-be comedian Hap Hixby (Skelton) overcome his debilitating stage fright. The plot then goes off on an entirely new tangent, as the hapless Hap gets mixed up with cherubic con artist Denningham (Lloyd Corrigan). Things end happily for both Maisie and Hap, but not quite in the way that either one of them would have predicted. It's a tribute to the comedy genius of Red Skelton that he can raise laughs while playing a character who can't raise laughs! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Out of work as usual, showgirl Maisie Revier (Ann Sothern) takes a job as the maid for a wealthy family. She wins over the young man of the household (Lew Ayres), but the rest of the family is too wrapped up in its own problems to benefit from Maisie's good-natured personality. The daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) tries to kill herself when her engagement breaks up, prompting Maisie to instill a sense of purpose and self-confidence in the shallow lives of her employers. Maisie Was a Lady is enjoyable "B" fare, given substance by the battle of wits between down-to-earth Maisie and imperious family butler C. Aubrey Smith. This film was the fourth in MGM's "Maisie" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Will Ballard (Rod Cameron) is the longtime foreman of the Hatcher ranch, a spread renowned for its size and the wealth it contains. When owner Phil Evarts dies suddenly, the speculation in the territory is that Hatcher will be broken up, especially since it was Evarts' determination coupled with Ballard's skills as a foreman and gunman that held it together -- but Ballard decides that the ranch is worth saving, even though the only help he really has is one top hand (Chill Wills, in a beautifully restrained performance) and a couple of young brothers (Al Caudebec, Roydon Clark) picked up on the trail. He figures it's worth saving for what it is, and also for Evarts' daughter, Celia (Ella Raines), who is engaged to marry neighboring rancher Sam Danfelser (Forrest Tucker). Ballard and Sam were once friends, but as the foreman discovers, there's been bad blood brewing on the other side of the friendship for a long time, mostly out of Sam's jealousy -- not only is Ballard a better rider and a better gun, but he's a better man than he is, and he can't abide the fact that Celia knows this deep in her heart, even though she and Sam are engaged. Then there's Bide Marriner (Brian Donlevy), a local "operator" who'd love to get a range war started and grab up some land and cattle, and immediately uses friends and intermediaries, plus a few hired guns, to start spreading the word, convincing the neighboring ranchers that Hatcher land is free and open. And then there's Lottie Priest, whom Ballard figured to marry soon -- is she more interested in what her greedy father can make from the breakup of Hatcher? Caught in the middle of it all is the county sheriff, Joe Kneen (J. Carrol Naish), who'd like to stay civil with all of those involved but soon finds out that he's going to have to choose sides, and that he's too good a man for that to be the "easy" choice. There's a lot of back-shooting in Ride the Man Down, as well as some brilliantly and cleverly designed action sequences, and a level of duplicity in the characters that makes this picture play at time almost more like a film noir of the period. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide