Howard Irving Young Movies

Sexual harassment can work both ways as can be seen in this romantic comedy when ad man endeavors to maneuver out of a relationship with his girlfriend. This is difficult as she controls a major account for his company and refuses to renew it unless he continues to go out with her. The frustrated fellow then begins having neurotic fits until, at last, he is taken off her account. For his new assignment, he must promote a psychiatrist's latest book. They meet and he is captivated by the lovely doctor. The nervous fellow then becomes her patient, and before long they both fall in love. Unfortunately, the other woman has not given up. His troubles are far from over when he later discovers that the shrink doesn't really love him--she is only using him for a case study. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, an aspiring actor from London lets a room in a hotel filled with theatrical personalities. No sooner does he arrive, than the man in the adjoining room, an Australian acrobat, is found murdered. Being the newest tenant, the Londoner is immediately blamed. But then the killer attempts to murder him while he wanders through a Hall of Mirrors. The Londoner lives and catches the real killer thereby clearing his name. He then gets an acting job. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Caryl Brahams-S. J. Simon novel The Elephant is White is the basis for the British Give us the Moon. Comic actor Vic Oliver delivers a broad performance as Sascha, a dour suicide-prone chap who belongs to an "I won't work" club. The organization was founded by Nina (Margaret Lockwood) on behalf of those who have no intention of ever making a living, and who make no bones about it. Romance enters the picture when the industrious son (Peter Graves) of a hotel owner poses as a member of the idle rich, the better to be close to Nina. To take the curse off an "unemployment" comedy in the middle of WW2 (when everyone was expected to "do their bit"), Give Us the Moon is set in a fanciful postwar London. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, set in Tangleton, a small English village, a handyman finds himself in trouble when he inadvertently assists two London reporters in their investigation of corruption in the town's postwar plans. To protect themselves, the town fathers have the handyman destroy several incriminating housing forms. Unfortunately an errant gust of wind sends the flying. Enlisting the aid of an eccentric inventor, the handyman succeeds in getting the corrupt officials out of office. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the late 1930s-early 1940s, diminutive British music-hall and radio comedian Arthur Askey enjoyed a popularity commensurate to that of Hollywood's Abbott & Costello; accordingly, Askey's earliest starring films were all box-office bonanzas. In I Thank You, Askey and his perennial straight man Richard Murdoch are cast as Arthur and Stinker, members of a nearly bankrupt theatrical troupe. To raise some much-needed money, our heroes hire on as servants for Lady Randall (Lily Morris), who'd been an entertainer herself before marrying into the Upper Crust. When Lady Randall learns of Arthur and Stinker's plight, she bankrolls a major stage production for the boys' fellow performers, leading to the inevitable big-production-number finale. Way, way down the cast list of I Thank You is distinguished Shakespearean actor Felix Aylmer, who was seen to rather better advantage as Polonius in Lawrence Olivier's Hamlet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, an American businessman gets into trouble and heads for England to stay out of jail. He and his faithful secretary end up in a Scottish mansion where the owner and the businessman try to outdo one another. In the end, the American's son ends up marrying the mansion owner's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This "Thin Man" derivation stars William Gargan and Orien Heyward as Dwight and Penelope Stanford. A mystery writer, Dwight enjoys impersonating his fictional hero and solving mysteries on his own. Much to the discomfort of the cops, Dwight insists upon tackling the baffling murder of old man Stettin (Tully Marshall). Then, much to the discomfort of Dwight, Penelope demands to tag along and offer her own theories. Thus when Penelope finds herself in dire peril, the film's title can be offered as explanation. It's odd that the police are baffled in She Asked for It; anyone in the audience could have told them whodunit from the third reel onward. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blackmail is the basis of this crime drama based on a novel by Edgar Wallace. The trouble begins when the leader of a ring of blackmailers becomes an amateur sleuth to outfox Scotland Yard. He spends a lot of time in the Yard getting to know the higher ups. When not schmoozing with the cops, the crook is plotting blackmail schemes. Despite their efforts the Yard has many problems figuring out the leader of the ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The 1932 Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein Broadway hit Music in the Air was brought to the screen two years later by Fox Studios. Temperamental Bavarian prima donna Frieda (Gloria Swanson) and equally volatile lyricist Bruno (John Boles) spend half their time quarrelling and the other half making love. To arouse each other's jealousy, Frieda and Bruno pair off respectively with music teacher Lessing's (Al Shean) virginal daughter Sieglinde (June Lang) and her schoolmaster fiancee Karl (Douglass Montgomery). The impressionable young couple respond to the attentions heaped upon them until they realize they're being used, whereupon the tables are turned upon the main characters. Though boasting such lilting tunes as "The Song is You" and "I've Told Every Evening Star" and the stylish direction of Joe May (perhaps his best American film), audiences didn't respond to Music in the Air; as a result, star Gloria Swanson vowed for the millionth time to "permanently" retire from pictures, a promise she kept to herself for a whole seven years. Incidentally, one of the screenwriters of Music in the Air was Billy Wilder, who later co-wrote and directed Swanson's 1949 "comeback" feature Sunset Boulevard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the tradition of Colleen Moore's best films, Her Wild Oat is nowhere near as "naughty" as its title. Moore is cast as Mary Brown, the orphaned owner of a tiny lunch wagon. Carefully salting away her money, Mary hopes to escape her tenement surroundings and take a long vacation. She gets the opportunity when she hires an assistant, handsome Philip Latour (Larry Kent), whom she assumes to be even worse off than she. In truth, Philip is quite wealthy, but out of love for Mary he pretends to be his own chauffeur. Checking out his story, Mary visits the hotel where Philip's "boss" is supposedly staying, only to end up being mistaken for the Duchess of Granville. This results in a ticklish situation involving Philip's flirtatious father, not to mention virtually everyone else in the hotel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Captain Jim Craig (William Russell) is not pleased that his foster brother Lieutenant Ralph Harrison (James Morrison) is carrying on a flirtation with the wife of Major Marston (George MacQuarrie). He goes to the woman's home to argue it out and a fight ensues between him and Harrison. Harrison is shot through the shoulder. Later the Major kills the Lieutenant, and to cover up the scandal, the wife convinces Craig that he is the killer. So Craig deserts, believing that he is preserving the wife's honor. He winds up as a bum in the city and meets Madge Summers (Agnes Ayres), whose mission it is to urge deserters to return to the army. But when she hears Craig's story, she tells him to keep running. Nevertheless Craig decides to allow himself be captured. Meanwhile, the Major has become fed up with his wicked wife and strangles her. Then he goes to the Colonel (Tom Brooke) and confesses to both her murder and that of the Lieutenant, whereupon Captain Craig is set free and he marries Madge. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide