John Guedel Movies
- 1943
Paramount's Pine-Thomas unit continued humming profitably along with 1943's Tornado. Chester Morris (who eventually appeared in eight Pine-Thomas efforts) stars as coal miner Pete Ramsey, who falls in love with, and secretly marries, scheming showgirl Victory Kane (Nancy Kelly). Anxious to escape her poverty-stricken surroundings, Victory urges Pete to lobby for the position of mine superintendent. Climbing ever upward on the social and economic ladder, Victory has an affair with wealthy mine operator Gary Linden (Morgan Conway). She finally receives her comeuppance during the tornado of the title-an impressive piece of special effects, though obviously not in the league of Twister. Tornado was scripted by Maxwell Shane and directed by William Berke, two stalwarts of the Pine-Thomas operation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Nancy Kelly, (more)
- 1942
This compilation tape showcases three of TV personality Art Linkletter's television shows. The first, People Are Funny, was a show where Linkletter pulled practical jokes and pranks on unsuspecting people to see what reaction he would get. House Party was an afternoon talk show aimed primarily at women. Linkletter and the Kids was a show that grew out of a popular segment of House Party, where Linkletter would interview young children and basically just let them talk about their lives; they would often unknowingly blurt out somewhat embarrassing but often extremely funny "family secrets." ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Having successful moved his top comedians Laurel & Hardy from short subjects to features, producer Hal Roach endeavored to do the same with the Our Gang Kids in 1936's General Spanky. Set in the South during the Civil War, the story focuses on Spanky (George "Spanky" McFarland), an orphaned shoeshine boy who works his way down the Mississippi by riverboat. After messing up the activities of crooked gambler Simmons (Irving Pichel), Spanky is forced to jump ship, along with his newfound buddy, fugitive slave child Buckwheat (Billy Thomas). The kids find shelter in the home of handsome Marshall Valiant (Phillips Holmes), who just before marching off to war instructs Spanky and Buckwheat to protect Marshall's sweetheart Louella Blanchard (Rosina Lawrence) in his absence. Taking his responsibilities seriously, Spanky forms a "home guard" consisting of Alfalfa (Carl Switzer), Porky (Eugene Lee) and several other local kids. In this capacity, they manage to fend off a clumsy Northern regiment commandeered by Spanky's old nemesis Simmons, thereby earning the lasting friendship of a kindly Yankee general (Ralph Morgan). The Civil War setting is not entirely appropriate to the antics of Our Gang, and as a result General Spanky is more peculiar than funny. The film's lukewarm box-office performance might have spelled the end of "Our Gang" had not Hal Roach's distributor, MGM, demanded that the series continue in short-subject form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Phillips Holmes, (more)
