Ray Gilbert Movies
John Waters does a quirky spin on '50s nostalgia in Cry-Baby, his musical homage to Rebel Without a Cause and Romeo and Juliet. Set in Baltimore in 1954 at the birth of rock & roll, the film features Johnny Depp as Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker. Depp is pure charisma as a juvenile delinquent with a permanent tear slithering down his cheek, a reminder of his state-executed parents. In the depths of his despair appears goody-goody girl Allison (Amy Locane), who has a sexual crush on Cry-Baby. But Allison's Pat Boone-like boyfriend, Baldwin (Stephen E. Miller), the leader of the squares, is dead set against Cry-Baby and the rest of the juvenile delinquents and leads a revolt against them. In the resultant riot, the juvenile delinquents are blamed for the chaos, and Cry-Baby finds himself dispatched to reform school. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Amy Locane, (more)
Daws Butler provides the voice once again for the wacky titular bear. Between bouts of wit with Ranger Smith, Yogi juggles a little romance with Cindy Bear. Because of her fondness for Yogi, Cindy finds herself the victim of an evil circus impresario. He has her performing dangerous feats on a high wire while his demented pooch looks on with mad laughter. It is up to Yogi and his sidekick Boo Boo to save her. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this early episode of his TV anthology Disneyland, Walt Disney informs the viewers of how he has used music in his cartoons and live-action films, beginning with the classic "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" in 1933's The Three Little Pigs. Other examples include the songs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Song of the South, and especially Lady and the Tramp, which was still unreleased when this episode first aired. The Lady segments feature singer-composer Peggy Lee providing the voices for both of the Siamese Cats, composer-musician Sonny Burke coming up with instant lyrics, and the Mellow-Men vocal group singing a plaintive dog-pound ballad. Rounding out the hour is an explanation from Disney's staffers as to how the music is matched to the image. Though initially telecast in black-and-white, "Cavalcade of Songs" was providentially filmed in color, assuring the episode a rebroadcast on the producer's later NBC anthology Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Shelley Winters was still in the sex-symbol phase of her career when she headed the cast of Universal's Playgirl. Ms. Winters plays Fran, a nightclub vocalist whose main squeeze is married publisher Mike Marsh (Barry Sullivan). When Mike makes a play for new employee Phyllis Matthews (Colleen Miller), the jealous Fran shoots him down. The ensuing scandal ruins Phyllis' reputation, whereupon she, and not Fran, becomes the libertine $100-dollar-a-night playgirl of the title. When Phyllis' life is endangered by gangsters, Fran unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Though dealing with a censorable subject, Playgirl manages to stay within the bounds of good taste, for better or worse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Winters, Barry Sullivan, (more)
- 1953
This tuneful romantic melodrama is set in a tiny Mexican village and is comprised of three storylines. One tale concerns a pair of young lovers from rival villages who will not be able to marry until a long time feud is ended. In another tale, an heir to a large fortune falls in love with an impoverished girl. His family is dead set against the match. When he is diagnosed with a fatal tumor, the man begs the girl to marry him, but she refuses and instead arranges for him to marry another. In the third story, a matador's comely sister falls in love with a street vendor. Unfortunately, the matador hates her beloved and to break them up permanently, slyly convinces the peddler to enter the dangerous bullring. Fortunately for the sister, her brother's scheme fails spectacularly. She then marries the peddler and makes an ironic discovery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Pier Angeli, Ricardo Montalban, (more)
- 1948
One of the better Roy Rogers films of its period, The Gay Ranchero also happens to be one of the more violent Rogers efforts. The villains want to gain control of a private airport, and aren't above sabotage and murder to get what they want. Riding to the rescue is sheriff Rogers, who is aided by Latino-flyboy Nicci Lopez (Tito Guizar). Roy gets to warble several tunes both by himself and with heroine Jane Frazee, while Tito Guizar solos on "You Belong to My Heart" and "Granada." One of the writers of the title song was Abe Tuvim, the father of actress Judy Holliday. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, Tito Guizar, (more)
Disney was known for combining his musical cartoon shorts into interesting feature-length anthologies and Melody Time is one of the best. But for the fact that all of the featured segments have musical themes, they vary widely in musical and artistic style. Included are the exciting "Bumble Boogie," with a jazzy version of Rimski-Korsakov's famed "Flight of the Bumblebee," played by Freddy Martin and His Orchestra; the legend of Johnny Appleseed, "Little Toot," the story of a courageous tug-boat narrated by the Andrews Sisters; "Trees," based on Joyce Kilmer's poem and featuring songs by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians; "Blame It on the Cowboys," featuring Ethel Smith kicking up her heels with Donald Duck and his Three Caballeros pal Joe Carioca, and cowboy stars Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers in a live-action/animated retelling of the legend of "Pecos Bill." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, Dennis Day, (more)
In his first postwar animated feature, Walt Disney attempted to repeat the Fantasia formula, substituting "pop" music for the Classics. Make Mine Music consists of ten unrelated cartoon vignettes, each one featuring a popular recording artist. "A Rustic Ballad" is the story of the Martin-Coy hillbilly feud, narrated musically by the King's Men. "A Tone Poem" is an impressionistic interpretation of the song "Blue Bayou", sung by the Ken Darby chorus and rendered artistically by Disney's ace animators. "A Jazz Interlude", done in "sketchbook" style, is performed by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, and features the jitterbug specialty "All the Cats Join In". Jerry Colonna is next on the program in "A Musical Recitation", offering his own inimitable version of "Casey at the Bat". "Ballad Ballet" features Ballet Russe stars Tatiana Riabouchinska and David Lichine, dancing to Dinah Shore's vocalization of "Two Silhouettes". "A Fairy Tale with Music" turns out to be Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf", narrated by Sterling Holloway. Next, Benny Goodman and company return with a surreal visualization of "After You've Gone", followed by "A Love Story", which features the Andrews Sisters' rendition of the ballad "Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet." The hilarious "Opera Pathetique" finale finds Nelson Eddy narrating the story of Willy, "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met". Better in its individual components than its sum total, Make Mine Music was drubbed by critics, who felt that Disney had abandoned his "artistic" aspirations in favor of crass commercialism, but performed reasonably well at the box office, inspiring several more "omnibus" animated features. In later years, the ten individual segments would be released as separate short subjects, both theatrically and as episodes of Disney's various TV series (where the original narration was often supplanted by the unfunny interpolations of Professor Ludwig Von Drake). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benny Goodman, Sterling Holloway, (more)
