Clarence Hennecke Movies

Who else but Esther Williams could star in a romantic drama (with musical numbers) bearing a title like this? In Million Dollar Mermaid, Williams plays Annette Kellerman, a real-life Australian swimming star who took up the sport as a child to strengthen her legs, which were severely weakened by a birth defect. The treatment proves effective, and as she grows to adulthood, Annette shows that she has the talent to be a champion swimmer, though she prefers to follow her dream of becoming a ballet dancer. When Annette's father Frederick (Walter Pidgeon) accepts a position in London teaching music, Annette opts to go with him, and along the way she meets James Sullivan (Victor Mature) and Doc Cronnol (Jesse White), the joint-owners of a boxing kangaroo they intend to exhibit in London. James is already aware of Annette's abilities as a competitive swimmer, and he offers to be her manager and help her earn a living from her aquatic skills. At first Annette isn't interested, but when Frederick's job falls through and she can't find work as a dancer, Annette reluctantly agrees to work with James. He arranges a publicity stunt in which Annette swims 30 miles down the Thames River, which attracts the avid attention of the British press and wins her some work as a dancer. Convinced that the big money is in America, James persuades Annette to travel with him to the U.S., where she creates a scandal in Boston by staging another long swim in a one-piece bathing suit, considered shockingly-revealing at the turn of the Century. The stunt nearly lands Annette in jail, but she escapes the long arm of the law and becomes the star of a water ballet revue. Annette had fallen in love with James, but after an argument, he resigns as her manager and Annette takes up with Alfred Harper (David Brian), the male lead in her show. Annette and Alfred agree to marry while working on a movie together, but James returns on the last day of shooting, determined to win back the heart of the woman he loves. Legendary choreographer Busby Berkeley staged the film's elaborate water-ballet sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This cautionary fable was produced by the Protestant Film Commission. The main character is plant-manager Joe Hanson (David Bruce), who manages himself to be free of all forms of racial prejudice. Yet when he feels that his job is being threatened by Jewish co-worker Al Green (Bruce Edwards), Joe can't keep his inbred hostilities to himself. He inadvertently causes Al to be transferred to a less-desirable job, resulting in misery all around. The timely intervention of Joe's minister (James Seay) rights the wrongs caused by careless talk. Featured in the cast of Prejudice as Mrs. Green is none other than Barbara "June Cleaver" Billingsley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barbara Stanwyck plays Polly Fulton, rebellious daughter of a wealthy industrialist (Charles Coburn). Polly marries a conservative economist professor (Richard Hart), but she chafes at his values and leaves him for socialist professor Van Heflin. Polly nearly ruins both her father's reputation and her own by embracing Heflin's radicalism. Based on a novel by J. P. Marquand, B.F.'s Daughter emerges as an unsubtle swipe at the policies of the late president Franklin Roosevelt; perhaps this was at the behest of MGM's arch-Republican head man Louis B. Mayer. In England, where the letters "B. F." comprise a euphemism for "bloody fool", the film was retitled Polly Fulton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Achieving "critic's darling" status with three well-constructed starring features, baby-faced comedian Harry Langdon became convinced that he could produce, write and direct his own vehicles, a la Charlie Chaplin. Langdon's first auteur exercise, Three's a Crowd, was a disaster; his second, The Chaser, was somewhat better, if only because Langdon returned to a domestic-comedy formula he'd utilized during his Mack Sennett days. Incongruously cast as a philanderer, Langdon is hauled into court by his disgruntled wife Gladys McConnell. As punishment, the judge orders Langdon to assume his wife's household duties, leading to the film's funniest moments. After this promising sequence, the film degenerates into an uninspired rehash of Langdon's 3-reel classic Saturday Afternoon (1925), with Langdon being led astray by pal Bud Jamison. Like Three's a Crowd, The Chaser was codirected without credit by Harry Edwards and written by Arthur Ripley, two of Langdon's collaborators at Sennett. After a third unsuccessful feature, Heart Trouble (1928), Harry Langdon was finished as an independent producer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Small time mores were satirized in this low-budget comedy-drama from poverty row company Gotham Productions. Claire Windsor played Bonnie Clinton, an enterprising girl who opens a beauty parlor in the village of Clinton Harbor. In an effort to drum up business, the girl bleaches her hair, much to the dismay of the Ladies' Aid Society. But when society hostess Caroline Bennett (Bodil Rosing) includes Bonnie on her guest-list, business starts to pick up, much to the chagrin of crooked businessman Benjamin Flint (Leigh Willard) and his snobbish daughter Olga (Bess Flowers). The Danish-born Bodil Rosing usually played rather dowdy-looking mothers and immigrant women. Her role as society leader in this film was reportedly much closer to the real-life Miss Rosing, the mother-in-law of Hollywood star Monte Blue and a former socialite in her own right. The on-screen credits for Blonde's By Choice included the unusual occupation of "comedy constructor"! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide