Jan Buckingham

The popular screen team of Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray stars in this wartime farce. MacMurray is an army pilot who develops engine trouble during a vital mission. Thinking he's about to die, MacMurray radios back his undying affection for his dog "Piggy." But the radio reception is fuzzy, and it is assumed that he has said "Peggy"--which happens to be the character name of Colbert, who intercepts the message. MacMurray survives the plane crash, whereupon he is whisked back home into the arms of Peggy, which is not to the liking of Peggy's gormless fiance (Gil Lamb). Practically Yours was guaranteed to make money, which it did. Its humor not meant to survive the ages, which it hasn't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Freely adapted from a successful Broadway musical by Moss Hart, this story stars Ginger Rogers as Liza Elliott, the editor of a popular fashion magazine. Despite her beauty, wealth, and success in business, Liza is unhappy and out of sorts. And while three men are vying for her affections -- advertising director Charley Johnson (Ray Milland), newly single Kendall Nesbitt (Warner Baxter), and youthful and handsome Randy Curtis (Jon Hall) -- Liza has been unlucky in love, and she feels that she's come to the end of her emotional rope. She begins seeing Dr. Brooks (Barry Sullivan) in hopes of resolving her emotional crises and finding happiness, and her self-searching explorations of her past take the form of a handful of musical numbers. While the stage version of Lady in the Dark featured songs written by the estimable team of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, several of them were replaced for this screen adaptation; "The Saga of Jenny", "One Life to Love", and "Girl of the Moment" were the most notable among the Weill/Gershwin tunes that survived the editing process. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

14-year-old Shirley Temple receives her first on-screen kiss in this innocuous romantic comedy. Temple is cast as the titular Annie Rooney, the starry-eyed, idealistic daughter of erstwhile --and impoverished--inventor Tim Rooney (William Gargan). Annie is swept off her feet by intellectual high-schooler Marty White (Dickie Moore), the son of a millionaire rubber magnate (Jonathan Hale). At first cold-shouldered by Marty's snooty friends, Annie wins them over at a party with a lively jitterbug dance (future choreographer Roland DuPree, who appears in the film as Joey, doubled for Dickie Moore in the dance sequence). It is, however, a different story with Marty's socially conscious parents, who are appalled by such riff-raff as Annie's dad and grandpop (Guy Kibbee). But circumstances change when, in true "touring stock company" fashion, Tim Rooney comes up with a new form of synthetic rubber which Mr. White simply cannot do without. In later years, Shirley Temple's co-star Dickie Moore would recall that the much-publicized scene in which he kisses Temple was extremely embarrassing for him, inasmuch as it was the first time he had ever kissed any girl; conversely, in her autobiography Temple cheekily pointed out that it most certainly wasn't her first time, and that she breezed through the scene with her customary professional aplomb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Preston Sturges' classic comedy of Depression-era America, filmmaker John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), fed up with directing profitable comedies like "Ants in Your Plants of 1939," is consumed with the desire to make a serious social statement in his upcoming film, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" Unable to function in the rarefied atmosphere of Hollywood, Sullivan decides to hit the road, disguised as a tramp, and touch base with the "real" people of America. But Sullivan's studio transforms his odyssey into a publicity stunt, providing the would-be nomad with a luxury van, complete with butler (Robert Greig) and valet (Eric Blore). Advised by his servants that the poor resent having the rich intrude upon them, Sullivan escapes his retinue and continues his travels incognito. En route, he meets a down-and-out failed actress (Veronica Lake). Experiencing firsthand the scroungy existence of real-life hoboes, Sullivan returns to Hollywood full of bleeding-heart fervor. After first arranging for the girl's screen test, he heads for the railyards, intending to improve the lot of the local rail-riders and bindlestiffs by handing out ten thousand dollars in five-dollar bills. Instead, Sullivan is coldcocked by a tramp, who steals Sullivan's clothes and identification. When the tramp is run over by a speeding train, the world at large is convinced that the great John L. Sullivan is dead. Meanwhile, the dazed Sullivan, dressed like a bum with no identification on his person, is arrested and put to work on a brutal Southern chain gang. With its almost Shakespearean combination of uproarious comedy and grim tragedy, Sullivan's Travels is Sturges' masterpiece and one of the finest movies about movies ever made. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Dix is his usual strong, silent self in RKO Radio's Men Against the Sky. Dix plays a washed-up pilot who designs a revolutionary new plane. Realizing that he is persona non grata in the aviation industry due to his irresponsibility and alcoholism, Dix allows his sister Wendy Barrie to take credit for the "wonder" plane. Preliminary tests of the aircraft prove disastrous, but Dix establishes the viablity of his design by flying the plane himself, a spectacular act of self-sacrifice that has the salutary effect of restoring his tattered reputation. Among the aircraft seen in Men Against the Sky is the plane used by Howard Huges to establish a new transcontinental record when he flew from California to New Jersey in less than 7 1/2 hours. The film was scripted by Nathaniel West, better known for his trenchant Hollywood novel Day of the Locust. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, a horsewoman is forced to work in a society dame's stable. There she meets and falls in love with a destitute polo-player who has curried the favor of his lovely employer. The matron gets jealous of the budding relationship between the horsewoman and the player. A wealthy man, who wants the stable girl, also gets jealous. Fortunately, the young lovers are able to withstand the ensuing turmoil and they elope. A while later, the other man attends a lively party aboard a yacht. There a drunken chorine falls overboard and drowns. One of the ship's officers blames the wealthy man and says he saw him leaving with a mysterious "woman in red." During the ensuing trial, the horsewoman clears his name by admitting that he was with her. It is a difficult admission because she knows she is risking her marriage. Fortunately, her husband and his family support her all the way and the marriage is strengthened. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide