Pat Parrish Movies

The spirit of love is back, and she's working in retail in this bubbly romantic musical comedy. Eddie Hatch (Robert Walker) is a window dresser at a large department store; he's become especially fond of one of his mannequins who looks like the sort of girl he'd like to meet, and one night he impulsively gives the dummy a kiss. To his tremendous surprise, the mannequin comes to life, and it turns out to be inhabited by the spirit of Venus, the Goddess of Love (Ava Gardner). Suddenly, romance is in the air as Eddie's fellow employees throw caution to the wind and finally express their infatuations with their co-workers; however, Eddie is too intimidated to follow through on his feelings for Venus, even though she'll only be in human form for 24 hours. Adapted from a popular Broadway musical, One Touch of Venus features a number of memorable songs by Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash, including "Speak Low" and "The Trouble with Women," though a number of other songs they wrote for the stage production were replaced for the film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Thousand and One Nights is an occasionally strident but generally successful satire of the popular Universal Jon Hall/Maria Montez epics. Cornel Wilde stars as a twentyish Aladdin, whose magic lamp yields two genies: Collosus-like Rex Ingram (repeated the role he played in 1940's Thief of Baghdad) and ravishing redhead Evelyn Keyes (who, like future TV genie Barbara Eden, was seemingly born without a navel). Wilde uses his new-found wealth and magical powers to woo princess Adele Jergens, but not without the opposition of villainous Dennis Hoey. Phil Silvers plays Wilde's comic sidekick, a man "born 2000 years ahead of his time" who wears glasses, spouts jive-talk ("Slip me some skin, Abdul!") and cracks anachronistic jokes. The final gag in Thousand and One Nights, in which the genie gives Phil Silvers the voice of Frank Sinatra, has been removed from many TV prints. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bob Crosby, bandleader brother of Bing, heads the cast of Columbia's Meet Miss Bobby Socks. The thin-as-cheesecloth plot concerns WW2 veteran Don Collins (Crosby), who becomes the idols of teenaged girls everywhere when he pursues a singing career. Obviously intended as a takeoff of the "Sinatra craze", the film's comedy is rather dated, especially the story angle wherein Collins' fans, rather than cagey promoters, find a series of jobs for their idol. It's hard to tell who the titular "Miss Bobby Socks" is since the film is virtually wall-to-wall girls; apparently, the title refers to Susan Tyler (Louise Erickson), kid sister of nominal heroine Helen Tyler (Lynn Merrick). Guest stars include Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five and the Kim Loo Sisters, though they're seen but briefly in the course of events. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi