Franz Planer Movies

Another timely entry from the Columbia assembly line, Canal Zone stars Chester Morris as flight instructor "Hardtack" Hamilton (his nickname sums up his personality with sublime perfection). Our hero's students will eventually help ferry bombing planes across the Atlantic-with the possible exception of stuck-up civilian pilot Harley Ames (John Hubbard), who shows no signs of acquiring discipline and responsibility. When the chips are down, however, Ames proves he's got the Right Stuff, rescuing Hardtack after a particularly nasty plane crash. The heroine is Harriet Hilliard, later beloved by millions as one-half of TV's "Ozzie and Harriet", while one of the pilots is portrayed by future Jolson Story star Larry Parks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Glenn Ford plays Martin Eden, an aspiring writer who signs on a merchant ship as a sailor. Tormented by the ship's sadistic captain (Ian McDonald), Eden survives the voyage, determined to write an expose of his horrible experiences. At first opposed by the maritime authorities, Martin's book becomes a best-seller. Its publication results in punishment for the wicked captain and the exoneration of a sailor (Stuart Erwin) accused of murder. Based on Jack London's semi-autobiographical novel, Adventures of Martin Eden earned a minor niche in media history as the first major-studio film to be released to television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There are moments in Columbia's Flight Lieutenant that approach "high camp"; indeed, one is hard pressed to remember if any cliché is left unturned. Pat O'Brien plays air pilot Sam O'Doyle, who is professionally disgraced when he survives a crash in which his co-pilot is killed. He tries to get work elsewhere, but finds that he can't shake the onus of his apparent dereliction of duty (Even the newspapers conspire against him, trumpeting his humilitation in front-page headlines!) Finally O'Doyle escapes to the tropics, leaving his young son in the care of his best friend Sanford (Jonathan Hale). As the years pass, young Danny Doyle (Glenn Ford), an aviator himself, grows to despise his father's memory-especially since he has married Susie Thompson (Evelyn Ankers), the daughter of Sam's unfortunate co-pilot. When WW2 breaks out, Danny is promoted to flight lieutenant, whereupon his father enlists as an Army Air Corps private under Danny's command. The elder Doyle finally redeems himself when he knocks Danny out and takes over a suicidal test-pilot assignment (That darn fool kid-er, darn fool grownup!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, which blends romance with suspense, Prince Kurt von Rotenberg (George Brent) is attempting to flee his native Austria one step ahead of German troops. In his travels, he meets Marta Keller (Martha Scott), and amidst the chaos that surrounds them, the two fall in love, even though she is already engaged to another. Kurt and Marta set their sights on Czechoslovakia, but they lose track of each other along the way, and in time Kurt decides to make a profound sacrifice for the woman he loves -- when he learns that Marta's fiancé has been captured by Nazi troops, Kurt offers to turn himself in to German authorities in exchange for his release. They Dare Not Love proved to be the last feature film credited to British director James Whale, though he did not in fact complete the project; midway through the shooting, Whale was replaced by Charles Vidor. Lloyd Bridges and Peter Cushing both appear in minor roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A strong lineup of guest stars enhances the enjoyment of the Columbia B-plus musical Time Out for Rhythm. The somewhat futuristic storyline finds producers Dan Collins (Rudy Vallee), Mike Armstrong (Richard Lane) and Off-Beat Davis (Allen Jenkins) lining up talent for a series of television specials. Trouble brews when Collins selects singers Kitty Brown (Ann Miller) and Joan Merrill (playing herself) to star in his upcoming show, while Armstrong hires Frances Lewis (Rosemary Lane) for the same purpose. The plot is happily forgotten when the specialty acts begin parading before the camera. The highlights include a Busby Berkeley-ish musical production number featuring Glen Gray and His Casa Loma Orchestra, and the Three Stooges' classic "Maharaja" routine ("Ma Ha? Ah Ha!") ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this low-budget thriller (which developed something of a cult following among film buffs in the '60s and '70s), Peter Lorre plays Janos Szabo, an immigrant from Hungary who is a skilled craftsman. After he's caught in a fire, his face is horribly scarred; his terrifying appearance makes it impossible for him to get a job. With nowhere else to turn, Janos begins working for the criminal underworld, where he eventually raises enough money to purchase an expensive mask whose expressionless features are only a slight improvement over his distorted visage, but at least allow him to go out in public. However, Janos begins having second thoughts about his life of crime, especially after he falls in love with Helen (Evelyn Keyes), a kind-hearted blind woman. Director Robert Florey supposedly shot this film and Meet Boston Blackie in a mere 24 days. Florey and Lorre would team up again for another offbeat film buff favorite, The Beast with Five Fingers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ruby Keeler made her final screen starring appearance in the Columbia musical Sweetheart of the Campus. Keeler plays Betty Blake, lead vocalist for Ozzie Nelson's orchestra. While performing a one-night stand at a college campus, Betty vows to prevent a hostile takeover of the establishment by puritanical trustee Minnie Sparr (Kathleen Howard). To this end, Betty, Ozzie and his entire band enroll as college students. The best musical number finds star Keeler tap-dancing to a boogie-woogie rhythm, while cinematographer Franz Planer indulges in all manner of innovative camera angles and process trickery. Also in the cast as co-ed cutie Harriet Hale is Harriet Hilliard, real-life wife of costar Ozzie Nelson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Next to Ann Miller, few Columbia contractees made more B musicals than Jinx Falkenberg. In Sing for Your Supper, Falkenberg is cast as Evelyn Palmer, the gorgeous proprietor of a dime-a-dance emporium. Bandleader Larry Hays (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) is the official owner of the joint, but when he finds himself in financial hot water, Evelyn, a wealthy socialite, secretly buys up the lease and takes a job as one of the dancers to keep tabs on her money-and the handsome Mr. Hays. Much of the film's running time is given over to comedian Bert Gordon, better known as radio's "Mad Russian" ("How do you doooooo?") Eve Arden is rather wasted as a wisecracking taxi dancer, but better things were to come her way within a few short years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Grand Hotel formula that was so overworked in the 1930s made an encore appearance in 1940's Escape to Glory. The story is given timeliness by placing the characters on a British merchant ship on the very day that World War II is declared. The ship is attacked by a Nazi U-Boat, resulting in a variety of reactions from the diverse passengers--one of whom (Erwin Kalser) is a German doctor. Constance Bennett is glamorous, Pat O'Brien is boozy, John Halliday is pensive, and everybody else (except for the German medico) is plain fearful. Twenty years later, director John Brahm would masterfully recreate the shipboard tensions he sustained so well in Escape to Glory for his classic Twilight Zone TV playlet "Judgment Night." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this desert adventure, a cruel commander viciously rules a regiment of foreign legionnaires. They tire of his brutality and rebel, stranding the despot and his few loyal soldiers in the burning sands with a few supplies. The deposed commander vows that he will return to civilization and have his revenge. It is difficult, but eventually the leader and his men make it back to the lonely outpost and find that it is under attack by Arab raiders. The soldiers inside take the leader back and they help to vanquish the invaders. Later the ring leader of the mutineers is awarded a medal for his courage then court-martialed for his crime. The leader too gets his just desserts when his second-in-command tells the court of his superior's cruelty. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Both film versions of Phillip Barry's stage comedy Holiday have their merits, but the 1938 version has the added advantage of supercharged star power. Katharine Hepburn and Doris Nolan play Linda and Julia Seton, two daughters of a very well-to-do family. Linda feels a bit lost in the shuffle as sister Julia prepares to marry self-made financier Cary Grant. Hepburn has always rebelled against her privileged trappings, and finds a kindred spirit in the unorthodox, iconoclastic Grant. On the verge of compromising his down-to-earth values with his marriage to the wealth-obsessed Nolan, Grant chooses instead to plight his troth with soul-mate Hepburn, celebrating his "liberation" by doing several cartwheels. Donald Ogden Stewart is careful to bring the pre-Depression frivolities of the Barry play up-to-date, first by changing the character of Grant's best friend (played in both films by Edward Everett Horton) from a lazy socialite to a dedicated professor, and by including several lines indicating how out of touch the privileged classes are--and choose to remain--with 1930s realities. The only element in which the remake does not improve on the original is in the casting of Hepburn's alcoholic younger brother; charming though Lew Ayres is in the 1938 film, he is still outclassed by Monroe Owsley in Holiday (1930). Katharine Hepburn managed to temporarily defray her "box office poison" onus when Holiday proved to be a success; alas, her next film, Bringing Up Baby (which reteamed her with Grant), was a financial bust, compelling her to return to Broadway--where she made a spectacular comeback in another Philip Barry play, The Philadelphia Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Austrian musical Premiere showcases the talents of Swedish stage and screen star Zara Leander. It's a backstage drama with the action equally divided on both sides of the curtain. As Fraulein Leander prepares for opening night, her life is thrown into turmoil by a variety of romantic misadventures. But she manages to show up on stage at the appointed time, scoring a huge success. It was reported that, during the filming of Zara Leander's musical numbers, the audience (ostensibly made up of paid extras) broke into spontaneous applause; when the film premiered in Vienna, the first-night moviegoers did the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide