Gertrude Messenger Movies

Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard ranks among the most scathing satires of Hollywood and the cruel fickleness of movie fandom. The story begins at the end as the body of Joe Gillis (William Holden) is fished out of a Hollywood swimming pool. From The Great Beyond, Joe details the circumstances of his untimely demise (originally, the film contained a lengthy prologue wherein the late Mr. Gillis told his tale to his fellow corpses in the city morgue, but this elicited such laughter during the preview that Wilder changed it). Hotly pursued by repo men, impoverished, indebted "boy wonder" screenwriter Gillis ducks into the garage of an apparently abandoned Sunset Boulevard mansion. Wandering into the spooky place, Joe encounters its owner, imperious silent star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Upon learning Joe's profession, Norma inveigles him into helping her with a comeback script that she's been working on for years. Joe realizes that the script is hopeless, but the money is good and he has nowhere else to go. Soon the cynical and opportunistic Joe becomes Norma's kept man. While they continue collaborating, Norma's loyal and protective chauffeur Max Von Mayerling (played by legendary filmmaker Erich von Stroheim) contemptuously watches from a distance. More melodramatic than funny, the screenplay by Wilder and Charles Brackett began life as a comedy about a has-been silent movie actress and the ambitious screenwriter who leeches off her. (Wilder originally offered the film to Mae West, Mary Pickford and Pola Negri. Montgomery Clift was the first choice for the part of opportunistic screenwriter Joe Gillis, but he refused, citing as "disgusting" the notion of a 25-year-old man being kept by a 50-year-old woman.) Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical version has served as a tour-de-force for contemporary actresses ranging from Glenn Close to Betty Buckley to Diahann Carroll. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Samson and Delilah is Cecil B. DeMille's characteristically expansive retelling of the events found in the Old Testament passages of Judges 13-16. Victor Mature plays Samson, the superstrong young Danite. Samson aspires to marry Philistine noblewoman Semadar (Angela Lansbury), but she is killed when her people attack Samson as a blood enemy. Seeking revenge, Semadar's younger sister Delilah (Hedy Lamarr) woos Samson in hopes of discovering the secret of his strength, thus enabling her to destroy him. When she learns that his source of his virility is his long hair, Delilah plies Samson with drink, then does gives him the Old Testament equivalent of a buzzcut while he snores away. She delivers the helpless Samson to the Philistines, ordering that he be put to work as a slave. Blinded and humiliated by his enemies, Samson is a sorry shell of his former self. Ultimately, Samson's hair grows back, thus setting the stage for the rousing climax wherein Samson literally brings down the house upon the wayward Philistines. Hedy Lamarr is pretty hopeless as Delilah, but Victor Mature is surprisingly good as Samson, even when mouthing such idiotic lines as "That's all right. It's only a young lion". Even better is George Sanders as The Saran of Gaza, who wisely opts to underplay his florid villainy. The spectacular climax to Samson and Delilah allows us to forget such dubious highlights as Samson's struggle with a distressing phony lion and the tedious cat-and-mouse romantic scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

On the eve of her marriage to Cary Grant, socialite Nancy Carroll is visited by her sadistic ex-lover Louis Calhern, who threatens to have his gangster pal Jack LaRue rub out Grant if Carroll doesn't give up her marriage plans. She responds by killing Calhern with a piece of statuary; a sympathetic housekeeper helps Carroll hide all evidence of the crime, but LaRue, whom Calhern had telephoned just before the killing, has heard all. While on her honeymoon ocean voyage with Grant, Carroll is accosted by John Halliday, a friend of Calhern's who suspect her of being responsible for Calhern's death. Halliday's cat-and-mouse game comes to an ugly head during a mock trial held by the partying passengers. Carroll confesses, but the passengers think she's just playacting. Later on, Grant is informed that Carroll's confession was for real. The couple are met at dockside by Halliday, who has produced LaRue as a witness to the crime. Grant strongarms LaRue into changing his testimony; with no evidence, the DA is compelled to free Carroll. Had this labyrinthine melodrama been made after the Production Code went into effect, not only would Nancy Carroll have paid for her crime, but Cary Grant would also have spent a few years in stir for witness tampering. A Woman Accused is based on one of those "committee" literary works (a la The President's Mystery and Naked Came the Stranger) wherein each chapter is written independently by a different author. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This entry was part of MGM's short-lived "The Boy Friends" series, which was developed by director George Stevens. In this one, two elderly people, both widowed, want to get married, but the kids do their best to stop them. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp was another of Fox's lavishly produced "Sunset Kiddies" series, wherein most of the principal roles were enacted by children. In this case, Aladdin is portrayed by juvenile performer Francis Carpenter, while other key roles were filled by such stars-in-the-making as Virginia Lee Corbin, Gertrude Messenger and Buddy Messenger and Lewis Sargent. The film was by no means a parody: the youthful performers played their parts with utmost sincerity, and most effectively. As was traditional in the "Sunset Kiddies" films, a few adult performers were scattered throughout the proceedings, notably Elmo Lincoln, the screen's first Tarzan, who here portrayed the towering Genie of the Lamp. Unfortunately, none of the "Sunset Kiddies" efforts is currently available for reappraisal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi