June Gittelson Movies

The Man From Oklahoma is set during a 20th century renactment of the 19th century Oklahoma land rush, but if patrons wanted to assume that the film had something to do with the Broadway musical hit Oklahoma!, that was certainly their privilege. Roy Rogers is on hand to help Peggy Lane (Dale Evans) stake her rightful land claim, despite the machinations of the villains. This time, Roy's comical sidekick Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) gets to have a romantic entanglement of his own, in the ample form of Peggy's self-style duenna Grandma Lane (Maude Eburne). The musical portion of the program includes several juke-box hits along with the usual quota of cowboy ballads and hillbilly novelty songs. As was customary in the Roy Rogers vehicles of the era, action takes a back seat to music in Man From Oklahoma. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Convicted Woman was Columbia's annual "all girl" B picture, allowing studio executives to decide which of their female contractees would be retained and which would be dropped. Rochelle Hudson plays Betty Andrews, a jobless girl who through a series of unfortunate setbacks ends up in a girl's reformatory. Her fellow inmates include three-time-loser Hazel (Lola Lane), the nasty Duchess (June Lang), and such Columbia "regulars" as Iris Meredith, Lorna Gray, Mary Field, Beatrice Blinn, Dorothy Appleby, and hefty June Gittleson (aka June Bryde). Reporter Jim Brent (Glenn Ford) tries to secure a release for Betty, all the while exposing corruption among the prison officials. Also concerned with Betty's welfare is lady lawyer Mary Ellis (Freda Inescourt), who has some of the best scenes in the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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, Rovi

There's That Woman Again was the second and last entry in Columbia's own spin on MGM's "Thin Man" series. Virginia Bruce and Melvyn Douglas star as Sally and Bill Reardon, husband-and-wife private eyes (Bruce took over from Joan Blondell, who costarred with Douglas in 1938's There's Always a Woman). This time around, the Reardons investigate a series of jewel robberies which lead to a brace of murders. At times the comedy threatens to overwhelm the mystery angle, but rest assured that Bill Reardon will have collared the guilty party (or, in this case, guilty parties) a few minutes before closing. In emulation of MGM's "Thin Man" art direction, the leading characters in There's That Woman Again live in a lavishly furnished apartment roughly the size of Rhode Island. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In one of the best Charlie Ruggles-Mary Boland vehicles of the 1930s, Ruggles plays a mild mannered husband prone to sleepwalking. His nocturnal prowlings cause no end of embarrassment for his wife (Mary Boland), especially since Ruggles is a more aggressive personality when asleep. Eventually, Ruggles' midnight wandering gets him mixed up with gangsters. It looks bad for our stars, but Ruggles and Boland manage to wriggle out of the dilemma and into a happy ending. Early to Bed was scripted by versatile character actor Lucien Littlefield, who plays a small part in this film and had previously appeared with Ruggles and Boland in the memorable Ruggles of Red Gap (36). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This low-budget precursor to Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings stars Jack Holt as Bob Kent, the head of a charter-airplane service in South America. When not risking his life flying mail and supplies through the treacherous Andes, Kent must contend with the earthbound hostilities between his Bolivian and Paraguayan employees. He also gets into hot water by attempting to romance Theresa (Mona Barrie), never suspecting that she's the wife of Bolivian major Tovar (Antonio Moreno). The conclusion finds Kent taking to the air in mortal combat against a renegade pilot. For a man who was reportedly deathly afraid of flying, Jack Holt certainly made more than his share of aviation pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lost in the Stratosphere is one of three Monogram vehicles for James Cagney's look-alike brother William (later a successful producer). Inspired by the U.S. Army's recent experiments with atmospheric balloons, the film stars Cagney and Edward Nugent as inveterate practical jokers Cooper and Wood. Their friendship cleft in twain by the arrival of pretty Evelyn (June Collyer). The climax occurs when one of the boys' pranks misfires, sending both of them aloft in a fragile weather balloon. By the time they've managed to land the darned thing, they've become heroes. The film's laughable special effects (one can see the process-screen clouds "bleed" through the actors) are counterbalanced by the overall energy and enthusiasm of its stars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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, Rovi

Nancy Welford, a minor musical-comedy lead of the early 1930s, plays the title role in this Chesterfield Studios quickie. Welford is cast as department-store model Patricia Murray, the sweetheart of wealthy Herbert Carter (Jason Robards Sr.) The hero's class-conscious mother (Dorothy Phillips) wants nothing to do with Patricia, insisting that Herbert marry socialite Mildred Vane (Myrna Loy). Some four reels later, Herbert grows a backbone and walks out on Mildred in favor of Patricia. At the bottom of the cast list of Jazz Cinderella is hefty June Gittelson, best known for her appearances opposite the equally chubby Curly Howard in Columbia's Three Stooges comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi