Dora Clement Movies
Dora Clement (sometimes credited as Dora Clemant) spent most of her professional acting career in the far west of the United States, where she was born, in Spokane, WA, in 1891. The tall, elegant actress -- who made one think of Frieda Inescourt -- was in almost 700 plays before making her Broadway debut in November 1944 in the original cast of Harvey as Betty Chumley (the role played by Nana Bryant in the 1950 movie). By that time, she was no longer doing movies, having been in some 73 of them (usually in uncredited roles) between 1934 and 1942. Most of her movie work involved small roles with no more than a day -- or, at most, a few days' -- shooting at a time, and Clement was able to squeeze them in around acting in the theater and also lecturing and teaching about theater. She usually played smaller roles that required dignity and distinctly middle-aged beauty -- mothers, society matrons, middle-level female executives, and secretaries -- in bigger movies, such as a saleslady in Mitchell Leisen's Easy Living (1937) or the woman under the sunlamp in George Cukor's The Women (1939). She was called by all of the major studios at one time or another, including Fox, MGM, Paramount, and Columbia, but she seemed to get some of her best roles at Universal, most notably in Buck Privates (1941), Abbott & Costello's debut starring vehicle. She actually had three major scenes in that picture (one of them excellent) as Miss Durling, the woman in charge of the camp hostesses (which include co-stars Jane Frazee and the Andrews Sisters). And Clement's most important movie role in terms of plot -- also at Univeral -- was in one of the lowest budgeted vehicles in which she ever appeared, as Ann Zorka, the beloved wife of Bela Lugosi's mad scientist Alex Zorka, in the serial The Phantom Creeps (1939). Her character's death, caused accidentally by her husband in the second chapter -- when he disables a plane carrying the government agents pursuing him (on which his wife, unbeknownst to him, also happens to be traveling) -- pushes Zorka over the edge, to seek revenge on the entire world for the next 10 chapters. In the early '50s, she made a few appearances in various early television dramas and on anthology shows such as Philco Television Playhouse and Goodyear Television Playhouse, but she had retired from that medium, as well, by the middle of the decade. She reportedly passed away a quarter century later in Washington, D.C. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1938
Former doctor Jim Howard (Herbert Marshall) helps desperate Margot Weston (Barbara Stanwyck), pregnant and unmarried; when her son is born, Jim helps her place the baby with Phil Marshall (Ian Hunter) and his wife, on the condition that neither the Marshalls nor the child ever know Margot is his mother. Five years later, Margot is now a well-paid buyer for the store owned by Harriet Martin (Binnie Barnes); she meets Jim again, and a romance begins to blossom, but she's off to Paris on Harriet's behalf. There, Margot is wooed by the charming but carefree Count Giovanni Corini (Cesar Romero) and she happens to meet her son Roddy (Johnnie Russell), traveling with his aunt, as Mrs. Marshall has died. On the trip back to America, Margot and Roddy become very close, while Corini, on the same ship, continues to pursue Margot. At home, she becomes convinced that Jessica (Lynn Bari), Phil's new fiancee, doesn't love him, and will be a bad mother to Roddy, so she decides to break up the engagement, but Jim, beginning a career as a scientist, reminds her of her earlier promise not to interfere in the boy's life. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Cesar Romero, (more)
- 1941
Filmed on a B-picture budget, Buck Privates was Universal's biggest box-office hit of 1941, firmly securing the movie popularity of the studio's hot new team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The story is fairly evenly divided between the antics of Bud and Lou-here cast as sidewalk salesmen Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown-and the romantic triangle involving Randolph Parker III (Lee Bowman), Judy Gray (Jane Frazee) and Bob Martin (Alan Curtis). Escaping the wrath of policeman Mike Collins (Nat Pendleton), Slicker and Herbie duck into a nearby movie theater, which unbeknownst to them has been converted into a US Army recruiting center. As the boys are reluctantly inducted into the Service, wealthy draftee Parker hopes to pull a few strings to avoid putting on a uniform, while Parker's former chauffeur Martin willingly answers his call to the Colors. Once ensconced in boot camp, Slicker and Herbie continually run afoul of their sergeant, who is none other than their old nemesis Mike the cop. Meanwhile, Parker and Martin vie for the attentions of USO hostess Judy, who'll have nothing to do with Parker until he proves his worth as a soldier. Poor Slicker and Herbie are shunted into the background as the romantic subplot is resolved, but at least our heroes get to steal the film's closing scene. It's hard to believe that anyone cared about the Parker-Martin-Judy triangle with Abbott & Costello on hand to perform their classic "dice game", "awkward squad", "turn on the radio" and "boxing ring" routines-not to mention their timeless verbal exchanges, the best of which finds Bud convincing Lou that if he marries an underage girl, she'll eventually be older than he (it plays better than it reads!) As a bonus, the film spotlights the Andrews Sisters, performing such top-ten tunes as "Apple Blossom Time" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". Even from the vantage point of six decades, with the WWII draft but a dim memory, it is easy to see why Buck Privates was such a huge success. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis, (more)
Tom Destry (James Stewart), son of a legendary frontier peacekeeper, doesn't believe in gunplay. Thus he becomes the object of widespread ridicule when he rides into the wide-open town of Bottleneck, the personal fiefdom of the crooked Kent (Brian Donlevy). His detractors laugh even louder when Destry signs on as deputy to drunken sheriff Wash Dimsdale (Charles Winninger). But the laughter subsides when Destry casually proves himself a crack shot, despite his abhorrence of firearms. Later, when saloon chanteuse Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich), Kent's gal, takes umbrage at Destry's indifferent reaction to her charms, she vows to make a fool of the new deputy. A huge moneymaker, Destry Rides Again served as a spectacular comeback for Marlene Dietrich, who two years earlier had been written off as "box office poison." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, (more)
Financier J.B. Ball (Edward Arnold) -- known in the press as "the Bull of Broad Street" -- may be one of the wealthiest investment bankers in the country, but he also knows the value of a dollar. And when his wife (Mary Nash) spends 50,000 of them on a sable coat, he is driven into such a fury in the ensuing argument on the roof of their Fifth Avenue townhouse, that he throws the coat into the street -- where it promptly lands on the head of Mary Smith (Jean Arthur), a clerk-typist on her way to work, riding on the upper deck of a double-decker bus, ruining her hat in the process. She jumps off the bus to try to return the coat, but Ball insists that she keep it. What she really needs, however, is not a 50,000-dollar sable coat so much as a ride to work -- as she doesn't even have a dime for bus fare -- and perhaps a new hat. Ball obliges, taking her to one of the top clothing stores in New York, buying her an expensive fur hat to go with the coat, and then dropping her at work in his limo. Her superiors, seeing her decked out in a sable coat and a new hat, and getting out of the chauffeured car, conclude that Mary is a kept woman, and, therefore, unfit to work for the boys magazine where she is employed, and they fire her. Now out of work and virtually broke, she seems to have become a victim of random fate, but suddenly the scales start to tip the other way from the very same misunderstanding that got her fired. Having been seen in the company of J.B. Ball -- whose name she didn't even get -- she is rumored to be his mistress; the prissy clothing store proprietor (Franklin Pangborn) spreads this story, and that turns Mary into the object of attention for Mr. Louis Louis (Luis Alberni), the owner of a failed luxury hotel on which Ball's bank holds the mortgage, and is about to foreclose. For reasons that she can't begin to understand, since there is nothing going on between her and J.B. Ball (whose name she doesn't even know), or between her and anyone, Louis moves her into the most luxurious suite in his hotel for a dollar a day, asking her only to inform "that certain someone" of how she loves living there. Mary has no idea of who "that certain someone" is, or what Louis is talking about, but she needs a place to live, and Louis is insistent. She still needs to eat, and, while trying to get a meal at the automat, she crosses paths with a handsome, well-meaning, but inept waiter (Ray Milland), who gets fired for helping her. She takes him into her suite so he has a place to stay, and the two fall in love in the course of finding out about each other. She knows that he is John Ball Jr., but doesn't realize that he is the son of J.B. Ball, trying to make it on his own, nor does she yet realize who J.B. Ball is, in terms of being the man who gave her the coat and the new hat, or one of the wealthiest men in the country. But after the elder Ball spends an innocent night at the Hotel Louis, a gossip columnist named "Wallace Whistling" (William Demarest) prints that he is keeping a woman at the hotel, and suddenly the Hotel Louis, perceived as a fashionable playground for the upper-crust, is filled with guests. This multiple case of mistaken identity plunges through two or three new layers, eventually bringing about an impending stock market crash to rival 1929, before Mary discovers who her would-be benefactor and her would-be fiancé are. She bails them out of the jam that they're in, also restoring the Ball's marriage, her own reputation, and her romance with Ball's son in the process. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, (more)
- 1939
To dim-bulb accountants find themselves working for a bookie in this comedy. Their jobs and their lives are placed in jeopardy when they accidently fumble $50,000 worth of the bookie's cash over to the secretary who wastes no time in spending $44,000 of it in less than 8 hours. The bookkeepers are given 36 hours to get all of the money back by their infuriated boss. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Lang, Robert Kent, (more)
- 1936
Forgotten Faces is the third of four versions of the old chestnut Heliotrope Harry. Herbert Marshall stars as Harry Ashton, a gambler-turned-jailbird saddled with a vindictive ex-wife named Cleo (Gertrude Michael). Seventeen years after the break-up, an impoverished Cleo, now a cheap burlesque performer, searches for her daughter Sally (Jane Rhodes), whom she gave up for adoption. She blackmails Sally's foster parents, threatening to tell the girl that her real mother is a tramp and her real father has just served a long prison term. But Harry, recently paroled, stops Cleo in her tracks by killing her. This grand gesture also costs him his own life, but at least he can shuffle off his mortal coil secure in the knowledge that his daughter will be spared the truth. Director E. A. Dupont is at his Germanic best in Forgotten Faces, which is altogether suitable to the melodramatic nature of the storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herbert Marshall, Gertrude Michael, (more)
- 1939
Spunky Joan Blondell is practically the whole show in the diverting comedy Good Girls Go to Paris. Blondell is cast as ambitious college-campus waitress Jenny Swanson, who yearns to see the sights in Gay Paree. She gets her chance by latching onto British exchange professor Ronald Brooke (Melvyn Douglas), who is en route to the City of Light. Once she sets foot on French soil, Jenny proves the veracity of the film's title by straightening out the wayward family of dyspeptic millionaire Olaf Brand (Walter Connolly)-though for a while it looks as though she's a "bad girl", merely out to take the Brands for every penny they've got. In later years, Joan Blondell ruefully recalled that the film's original title was Good Girls Go to Paris Too, but the Hays Office nixed that harmlessly suggestive monicker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, (more)
- 1938
Though it may be difficult for modern audiences to understand or appreciate the appeal of canary-voiced boy soprano Bobby Breen, the fact remains that he was one of the most popular box-office attractions of the 1930s. Adapted from Don Blandings' novel Stowaways in Paradise, Hawaii Calls stars Breen as shoe-shine boy Billy Coulter, who in the company of his young newsboy pal Pua (Pua Lani) stows away on a Honolulu-bound ocean liner. Here he finds an unexpected ally in the form of persimmon-faced musician Strings (Ned Sparks), who conspires to hide Billy and Pua from irascible Captain O'Hare (Irvin S. Cobb). Once the ship arrives in Hawaii, Billy eludes the authorities by hiding with Pua's native family. The plot goes off on a new tangent when foreign spy Blake (William Harrigan) steals valuable Navy secrets from young Commander Milburn (Warren Hull). Billy and Pua save the day by locating the thieves' hideout and alerting Milburn. Before this happens, Bobby Breen sings ever so many Hawaiian tunes, this best of which include "Down Where the Trade Winds Blow" and the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Breen, Ned Sparks, (more)
- 1938
This tuneful campus comedy features aging star John Barrymore as a sly, blustery Southern governor with his eye on the Senate (aka Louisiana's Huey Long). He sees opportunity knocking when he learns how desperate his constituents have become to build their miserable state college football team into winners. He figures that if the team wins, so will he. To this end, he surreptitiously recruits a number of burly professional wrestlers to pose as football players. Unfortunately his chief opponent is running a similar racket with a rival university. When the governor's trickery is revealed on the eve of the big game, things look bleak until a quick-thinking coed shows up to save the day. The story is also titled Hold That Girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, George Murphy, (more)
- 1936
In this drama, the big city wife of a small town doctor learns a valuable lesson as she struggles to adapt to rural life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, Josephine Hutchinson, (more)
- 1935
Oklahoma's own Will Rogers stars in In Old Kentucky. The storyline is in the grand tradition of most films about the Bluegrass State: There's a long-standing family feud, a pair of star-crossed lovers, and a crucial horse race. Rogers cuts through the banality with his seemingly off-the-cuff observations about Kentucky life in particular and the World in general. The best moment of In Old Kentucky has Rogers attempting to escape from jail by putting on blackface makeup and disguising himself as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson--whereupon he's forced to tap-dance to prove his identity. 1935's In Old Kentucky was the third film version of Charles T. Dazey's 1895 stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Dorothy Wilson, (more)
- 1936
King of Hockey was one of three low-budget hockey films released during the 1936-37 season, each one produced by a different studio. Dick Purcell stars as swell-headed hockey champ Gabby Dugan, whose career is abruptly terminated when he's accused of shaving points during a crucial game. Even worse, a blow on the skull induces temporary blindness, causing Gabby to wonder if he'll ever get to play again. Not only does he stage a spectacular comeback, but he also wins back the love of his estranged sweetheart Kathleen O'Rourke (Anne Nagel). A goodly portion of the film is given over to juvenile performer Ann Gillis, whom Warner Bros. evidently hoped would develop into the "new Shirley Temple" (even though there was still plenty of mileage left in the "old" Shirley Temple). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Purcell, Anne Nagel, (more)
- 1941
Another of Universal's Richard Arlen-Andy Devine actioners, Lucky Devils casts the mismatched duo as a pair of intrepid newsreel cameramen. When they're not risking their lives coverning the Hot Spots of the world, Dick (Arlen) and Andy (Devine) busy themselves romancing Norma (Dorothy Lovett) and Gwendy (Janet Shaw), respectively. Our heroes' predilection for sticking their noses where they shouldn't gets them mixed up with a gang of Axis saboteurs. Perfect nonthink entertainment, Lucky Devils was specifically designed for the lower half of double bills. Sharp-eyed viewers will spot future Universal star Maria Montez among the bit players. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Andy Devine, (more)
- 1940
In this musical, a sharp witted press agent teams up with an unemployed chorine and dubs her "Miss Manhattan" to promote a cheap line of clothing. To escort her about town, the agent invents a "Mr. Manhattan." He then has them fake a marriage. When he realizes that he is in love with his creation, the agent promptly fires "Mr. M" and takes her to the altar personally. Songs include: "Ma, He's Making Eyes At Me," "Unfair To Love," and "A Lemon In The Garden Of Love." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Brown, Constance Moore, (more)
Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior senator, puts in a call to Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee) reporting the news. Hopper then calls powerful media magnate Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who controls the state -- along with the lawmakers. Taylor orders Hopper to appoint an interim senator to fill out Foley's term; Taylor has proposed a pork barrel bill to finance an unneeded dam at Willet Creek, so he warns Hopper he wants a senator who "can't ask any questions or talk out of turn." After having a number of his appointees rejected, at the suggestion of his children Hopper nominates local hero Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), leader of the state's Boy Rangers group. Smith is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who quotes Jefferson and Lincoln and idolizes Paine, who had known his crusading editor father. In Washington, after a humiliating introduction to the press corps, Smith threatens to resign, but Paine encourages him to stay and work on a bill for a national boy's camp. With the help of his cynical secretary Clarissa Sanders (Jean Arthur), Smith prepares to introduce his boy's camp bill to the Senate. But when he proposes to build the camp on the Willets Creek site, Taylor and Paine force him to drop the measure. Smith discovers Taylor and Paine want the Willets Creek site for graft and he attempts to expose them, but Paine deflects Smith's charges by accusing Smith of stealing money from the boy rangers. Defeated, Smith is ready to depart Washington, but Saunders, whose patriotic zeal has been renewed by Smith, exhorts him to stay and fight. Smith returns to the Senate chamber and, while Taylor musters the media forces in his state to destroy him, Smith engages in a climactic filibuster to speak his piece: "I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna leave this body until I do get them said." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Jean Arthur, (more)
- 1936
Ann Sothern essays the title role in My American Wife. The story opens in Smelter City, Arizona, where the richest man in town is grizzled old Indian fighter Lafe Cantillon (Fred Stone). Lafe's social-climbing sister-in-law (Billie Burke) insists that her daughter Mary wed a titled European, Count Ferdinand (Francis Lederer). Much to Lafe's delight, Mary isn't assimilated into Continental high society; instead, she instructs Count Ferdinand in the virtues of good, old-fashioned American democracy. And, of, course, the Count and Lafe become great chums when the "furriner" proves that he can ride a bucking bronco with the best of 'em. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Lederer, Ann Sothern, (more)
- 1938
Sonja Henie is the "lucky star" in this enjoyable 20th Century-Fox musical. Henie plays Kristina Nelson a humble department store sales clerk who is spotted while skating by George Cabot Jr. (Cesar Romero_, son of the store's owner. George is so taken by Kristina that he gets her an athletic scholarship in a major university. It is hoped that our heroine will serve as a living advertisement for the store by strolling around in an expensive sports wardrobe; instead, she incurs the jealousy of her fellow students, causing a slump in sales. George also loses out romantically when Kristina falls in love with handsome teacher Larry Taylor (Richard Greene). Expelled from college, Kristina recovers from the blow when she's hired by a popular ice capades-style extavaganza. The film's highlight is Sonja Henie's "Alice in Wonderland" ice ballet, originally released in Sepiatone. Those not interesting in skating will be compensated by the lunatic comedy of supporting actress Joan Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonja Henie, Richard Greene, (more)
- 1940
No, No, Nanette was the second film version of the popular Otto Harbach-Vincent Youmans Broadway musical. Though slightly updated, the basic plot remains the same, with heroine Nanette (Anna Neagle) entering into a financial arrangement whereby she must answer "No" to every question during a 24-hour period. It's all for the sake of her rogueish uncle (Roland Young), who's heavily in debt thanks to a gaggle of gold-digging chorines. Nanette's task is complicated by her romantic entanglements involving an artist (Richard Carlson) and a flashy theatrical producer (Victor Mature). The songs include "I Want to Be Happy", "Tea for Two" and the title number. Unlike the previous Neagle-RKO Radio-Herbert Wilcox collaboration Irene, No, No, Nanette fizzled at the box office. For many years, the film was withdrawn from circulation because of Warner Bros.' 1950 remake, the Doris Day vehicle Tea for Two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Richard Carlson, (more)
- 1937
Three former stalwarts of producer Hal Roach's two-reel comedies, actresses Patsy Kelly and Lyda Roberti and director Gus Meins, combine their talents in the Roach feature film Nobody's Baby. Kelly and Roberti play nurses-in-training Kitty and Lena, who reluctantly come into possession of a cute baby. The kid's mother, nightclub dancer Yvonne (Rosina Lawrence), doesn't want her public to know that she's married to her partner Cortez (Don Alvarado), so she prevails upon our heroines to take care of the baby "temporarily." Naturally, the presence of a squawling infant in the apartment of two bachelor girls results in all sorts of gossip and innuendo -- and this being a Hal Roach picture, situation comedy gives way to farce, gives way to slapstick. Sadly, Nobody's Baby was among the last of Lyda Roberti's screen appearances: she died the following year of an acute heart condition at the age of 29. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Kelly, Lyda Roberti, (more)
- 1941
The studio concocted the film as a showcase for its 9-year-old discovery Joan Carroll, here cast as precocious Bridget Potter. Little Bridget has been willingly "kidnapped" by secretary Linda Norton (Ruth Warrick), who hopes that the girl's disappearance will precipitate a reunion between Bridget's divorcing parents (John Miljan, Marjorie Gateson). Instead, Linda's well-intentioned crime results in a film-length slapstick chase, largely involving two rival newspaper reporters (Eve Arden and Edmond O'Brien). Obliging Young Lady was directed by Richard Wallace, who as a former employee of Hal Roach Studios was well-grounded in this sort of frenetic farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Carroll, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1935
The first major film about psychiatry, Private Worlds stars Claudette Colbert as a psychiatrist with more than a few problems of her own. Colbert's appointment to a top mental hospital is frowned upon by head doctor Charles Boyer, who doesn't have much confidence in woman doctors of any kind. A secondary storyline involves Boyer's sister Helen Vinson, who lusts for a young married doctor (Joel McCrea). The doctor's wife (Joan Bennett) subsequently goes insane in an "off-angled" scene anticipating the techniques of film noir by nearly a decade. Meanwhile, doctors Boyer and Colbert establish a mutual respect which deepens into love. Based on a novel by Phyllis Bottomes, Private Worlds is stronger in its vignettes (including a scene in which Boyer comforts a dying patient by speaking a few words in the patient's native tongue) than in its longer "plot" scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1935
"She" is secretary Claudette Colbert and "Her Boss" is Melvyn Douglas. Once married, Colbert discovers that Douglas expects her to work as usual. She must also contend with his wealthy, snooty family, whose most hateful member is his spoiled brat of a daughter (Edith Fellows) by a previous marriage. Rebelling against her repressive existence, Colbert eventually puts her in-laws in their place and arouses the ardor of the "strictly business" Douglas. While consistently amusing throughout, the highlight of She Married Her Boss is a first-reel bit of pantomimic whimsy involving Claudette Colbert and a roomful of department store mannequins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, (more)
- 1940
Directed in 1940 by S. Sylva Simon, Sporting Blood stars Robert Young as racing stable owner Myles Vanders. Shortly after traveling back to his ramshackle family estate in Virginia, he stirs up a long-term family rivalry with Davis Lockwood (Lewis Stone), who runs a neighboring stable. Vanders (Young), in order to get under Lockwood's (Stone) skin, initiates a romance with Lockwood's daughter Linda (Maureen O'Sullivan. As the big race approaches, however, Vanders slowly realizes he truly loves Linda. Though a stable fire harms his best racing prospect, Vanders' cockiness has waned significantly, and he enters Linda's best nag in the race against her father's stable. Following the competition, Vanders attempts to mend fences between himself and Lockwood. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Young, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
Based on an idea by Will Rogers, the story concerns the efforts by the President of the United States to get the public's mind off the Depression. To this end, he appoints Broadway impresario Lawrence Cromwell (Warner Baxter) to the new cabinet position of "Secretary of Amusement." Wasting no time, Cromwell sets about to nationalize the entertainment industry, organizing singers, dancers, actors and other variety artists into batallion-like touring units. Cromwell is fought at every turn by a cartel of wealthy industrialists, who've been profiting from the Depression and have no desire to see America pull itself upward. Happily, every effort to bribe or cajole Cromwell into giving up his mission is thwarted and the Department of Amusement goes on to help the the country at a time when its citizens most needed it. Among the highlights are an energetic "revival-meeting" musical number by Aunt Jemima (Theresa Gardella), and 6-year-old Shirley Temple's rendition of "Baby Take a Bow." Originally released at 80 minutes, Stand Up and Cheer was edited to 69 minutes for reissue, then to 65 minutes (removing most of Stepin Fetchit's scenes) for television: it was this last version which was computer-colorized in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Madge Evans, (more)
- 1934
Student Tour looks like an MGM musical two-reeler that was expanded to feature length as it went along. Charles Butterworth and Jimmy Durante are teamed respectively as fey philosophy professor Lippincott and brash athletic coach Hank. The two comics shepherd a co-ed college rowing team on a world tour, with orders to keep the team's rowdy captain Bobby (Phil Regan) out of trouble. Lackluster leading lady Maxine Doyle co-stars as Ann, a plain-jane who takes off her glasses at a Monte Carlo masquerade ball and wins BMOC Bobby for her very own. Ann also brings the story to a rousing conclusion by substituting for the cockswain in the climatic rowing race, urging the team to victory with a peppy song-and-dance. Nelson Eddy also shows up to sing "The Carlo," a pulsating number obviously inspired by "Bolero." The film's giddy highlight is "Taj Mahal," in which a group of pretty students (including a young Betty Grable) go swimming in the pool of the famous Indian shrine! According to studio publicity, a crop of genuine college coeds were hired to play the students in Student Tour, but to the trained eye they sure look like standard Hollywood extras and bit players. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Durante, Charles Butterworth, (more)
