Barry Fitzgerald Movies
Dublin-born Barry Fitzgerald discounted his family's insistence that he was a descendant of 18th-century Irish patriot William Orr, but he readily admitted to being a childhood acquaintance of poet James Joyce. Educated at Civil Service College, Fitzgerald became a junior executive at the Unemployment Insurance Division, while moonlighting as a supernumerary at Dublin's famed Abbey Theatre. His first speaking role was in a 1915 production; his only line was "'Tis meet it should," which unfortunately emerged as "'Tis sheet it mould." A gust of laughter emanated from the audience, and Fitzgerald became a comedian then and there (at least, that was his story). By 1929, Fitzgerald felt secure enough as an actor to finally quit his day job with Unemployment Insurance; that same year, he briefly roomed with playwright Sean O'Casey, who subsequently wrote The Silver Tassle especially for Fitzgerald. In 1936, Fitzgerald was brought to Hollywood by John Ford to repeat his stage role in Ford's film version of The Plough and the Stars. It was the first of several Ford productions to co-star Fitzgerald; the best of these were How Green Was My Valley (1941) and The Quiet Man (1952). In 1944, Fitzgerald (a lifelong Protestant) was cast as feisty Roman Catholic priest Father Fitzgibbon in Leo McCarey's Going My Way, a role which won him an Academy Award. He spent the rest of his career playing variations on Fitzgibbon, laying on the Irish blarney rather thickly at times. His last film role was as a 110-year-old poacher in the Irish-filmed Broth of A Boy (1959). Barry Fitzgerald was the brother of character actor Arthur Shields, whose resemblance to Barry bordered on the uncanny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1930
Alfred Hitchcock's second talkie was a surprisingly static adaptation of the Sean O'Casey stage drama Juno and the Paycock. Set during the Irish "troubles" of the early 1920s, the film focuses on the trials and tribulations of a typical Dublin tenement family. Sara Allgood is brilliant as family matriarch Juno Boyle, who must contend with her bibulous, braggadocio husband, Captain Jack Boyle (Edward Chapman), known as the "paycock" because he always struts around like he owns the world. As Captain Jack carouses with his drinking buddy Joxer Daly (Sydney Morgan), Juno tries to keep her family together, a task that proves harder with each passing day, especially when daughter Mary (Kathleen O'Regan) is impregnated by her irresponsible boyfriend. Things take a tragic turn when Juno's weakling son Johnny (John Laurie), a member of the IRA, is shot as an informer by his own comrades. Sara Allgood's scenes after the death of her son are absolutely heart-wrenching, offering ample compensation for Hitchcock's plodding direction and the hopelessly hammy performance by Edward Chapman. Many of the supporting actors were drawn from the ranks of Dublin's Abbey Players, notably Barry Fitzgerald, making his film debut as The Orator. Juno and the Paycock was adapted for the screen by Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Allgood, Edward Chapman, (more)
- 1936
John Ford, whose fierce pride in his Irish heritage often manifested itself in his work, directed this historical drama which uses as its backdrop the 1916 Easter Rebellion of Irish patriots against British rule. Nora Clitheroe (Barbara Stanwyck) runs a rooming house in Dublin and tries to stay away from the political turmoil raging around her, so she becomes quite upset when she learns that her husband Jack (Preston S. Foster) has joined a militia of Irish rebels trying to drive out the British. Nora fears for Jack's safety and begs him to keep his distance from the revolutionary forces. Jack assures her that he'll step back from their activities, but it's not until it's too late that Nora learns that Jack has done just the opposite -- and has become a commander with the Irish Citizen Army as they plan an ill-fated raid on the Dublin Post Office. John Ford had several bitter disputes with RKO Pictures while making The Plough and the Stars, especially after the studio re-shot several scenes with another director to tone down the film's politics; while he distributed several independent productions through the studio, he never shot another picture for RKO. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1937
Technicolor is the main attraction of this overheated South Seas adventure. Ray Milland, Akim Tamiroff and Barry Fitzgerald play three shifty sailors who commandeer a smallpox-ridden boat and set out to sea. A typhoon washes them ashore on a faraway Pacific island, which is ruled by a white religious fanatic (Lloyd Nolan) who has set himself up as the local god. The three sailors anxiously await an opportunity to appropriate the "god's" valuable stash of pearls and head for the mainland. Only one of the sailors escapes to tell his story; check out the cast list and guess which one survives. The third filmization of Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osborne's novel, Ebb Tide is rough going until Lloyd Nolan shows up to deliver the picture's best and subtlest performance. The story would be filmed again in 1947 as Adventure Island. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oscar Homolka, Frances Farmer, (more)
M.G.M.'s opulent costume drama Marie Antoinette marked a return to the screen after a two-year absence for reigning Queen of M.G.M. Norma Shearer. Shearer plays the title role of an Austrian princess who is married off to Louis Auguste (Robert Morley), the Dauphin of France. Marie, by becoming the Dauphine, finds herself plopped smack in the middle of French palace intrigue between Louis's father King Louis XV (John Barrymore) and his scheming cousin, the Duke of Orleans (Joseph Schildkraut). With Louis unable to consummate his marriage to Marie, she takes to holding elaborate parties and gambling her fortune away. In a casino, she meets the handsome Count Axel de Fersen (Tyrone Power) and they have an affair. But when Louis XV dies and Louis becomes King Louis XVI, Fersen takes his leave, telling her that he could carry on an affair with a dauphine but not the Queen of France. Marie vows to be a great queen and remain loyal to her king. But the Duke of Orleans is plotting against Louis XVI, financing the revolutionary radicals. When the monarchy is overthrown, Louis and Marie are thrown into prison, awaiting execution. But when word gets back to Fersen, he travels back to France in an attempt to rescue Marie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, (more)
This 1938 remake of Howard Hawks' 1930 film The Dawn Patrol is faithful to the original's basic plotline. The story is set during World War I; the scene is the French headquarters of the British Royal Flying Corps, 59th division. The corps is suffering heavy losses, a fact that ace pilot Courtney (Errol Flynn) ascribes to the supposed ruthlessness of squadron commander Brand (Basil Rathbone). What the audience knows that Courtney doesn't is that Brand is distraught at losing his men, but is forced by his own superiors to push the pilots beyond their limits. After being accused day after day of being a butcher, Brand takes grim delight in turning over his command to Courtney. Soon Courtney finds himself enduring the "butcher" tag, especially after the younger brother of his best friend Scott (David Niven) is killed. To redeem himself, Courtney gets Scott drunk and takes his place in a suicidal bombing mission. Courtney is killed, Scott assumes command, and the cycle begins again. The extensive use of combat scenes from the original Dawn Patrol has led some viewers to assume that the 1930 version is the superior of the two. In fact, the remake is far better than the original on several counts, not least of which was the star power of Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in their third screen teaming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, David Niven, (more)
Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this inspired comedy about a madcap heiress with a pet leopard who meets an absent-minded paleontologist and unwittingly makes a fiasco of both their lives. David Huxley (Grant) is the stuffy paleontologist who needs to finish an exhibit on dinosaurs and thus land a $1 million grant for his museum. At a golf outing with his potential benefactors, Huxley is spotted by Susan Vance (Hepburn) who decides that she must have the reserved scientist at all costs. She uses her pet leopard, Baby, to trick him into driving to her Connecticut home, where a dog wanders into Huxley's room and steals the vital last bone that he needs to complete his project. The real trouble begins when another leopard escapes from the local zoo and Baby is mistaken for it, leading Huxley and Susan into a series of harebrained and increasingly more insane schemes to save the cat from the authorities. Inevitably, the two end up in the local jail, where things get even more out of hand: Susan pretends to be the gun moll to David's diabolical, supposedly wanted criminal. Naturally, the mismatched pair falls in love through all the lunacy. Director Howard Hawks delivers a funny, fast-paced, and offbeat story, enlivened by animated performances from the two leads, in what has become a definitive screwball comedy. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1938
This saga spans the globe as the three young heroes search for the man who killed their much-admired, beloved father, a cashiered officer who was wrongly dishonorably discharged before he was murdered. Their quest takes them from India to South America, London, Egypt, and the U.S. As the progress, they begin to discover the disturbing truth about the murder of the father they idolized. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Richard Greene, (more)
- 1939
The Saint Strikes Back was the second in the series of films featuring Simon Templay, better known as The Saint, and the first to star George Sanders in the role. Val Travers (Wendy Barrie) is the daughter of a police detective who killed himself after being dishonorably let go from the San Francisco Police Department, due to allegations that he was a member of a gang led by the mysterious criminal mastermind known only as Waldeman. Hoping to clear her father's name, Val has assembled a gang of minor criminal types to track down Waldeman, which puts her in trouble with the police. Templar crosses tracks with Val and, after hearing her story, believes that her father was framed, most likely by someone else working in the police department. Cullis, one of department's chief criminologists, dismisses this suggestion and implies that Templar might be Waldeman. Templar's investigations eventually find the real culprit and exonerates Val's father. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, (more)
- 1939
In this thriller, a man is brutally murdered and an innocent man takes the rap. The real murderer later confesses his crime to his priest. The priest strongly urges the killer to tell the police, but he steadfastly refuses. At the end, the killer attacks and mortally wounds the priest. The murderer feels guilty for his deed and gives the priest a lifesaving blood transfusion. He then admits his crime and saves the innocent man from execution. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen, Sally Eilers, (more)
- 1939
An outbreak of cholera threatens a luxury liner in this surprisingly low-budget melodrama from RKO. En route from Shanghai to San Francisco, chief engineer Crusher McKay (Victor McLaglen) and shipboard doctor Tony Craig (Chester Morris) become rivals for the attention of nurse Ann Grayson (Wendy Barrie). A Chinese stowaway, meanwhile, infects the stokehold with cholera and it is left to Crusher to keep the engines at full throttle until reaching harbor. But morale sinks to an all-time low when Crusher himself is stricken and the overworked men threaten with mutiny. Tony attempts to keep the stokers in check but the situation is growing more dangerous by the minute when a heroic Crusher rises from his sickbed. Leaving their previous petty squabbles behind, Tony and Crusher manage to guide the ship safely to harbor, where the doc and Ann rekindle their romance. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen, Chester Morris, (more)
John Ford welded four of Eugene O'Neill's one-act plays about the sea, Bound East for Cardiff, The Long Voyage Home, The Zone, and Moon of the Caribees, into this melancholy film about wayfaring seamen, changing the setting from the turn of the century to WWII. This was O'Neill's favorite of the films based on his work, and he watched it often enough to eventually wear out his print. After a night of revelry in the West Indies, the crew of the SS Glencairn return to the tramp steamer and set sail for Baltimore. They're a varied lot, from middle-aged Irishman Driscoll (Thomas Mitchell), to the young Swedish ex-farmer Ole Olsen (John Wayne), to the brooding Lord Jim-like Englishman Smitty (Ian Hunter). After the ship picks up a load of dynamite in Baltimore, the rough seas they encounter become especially nerve-racking to the crew, who are also concerned that Smitty might be a German spy. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, (more)
- 1941
Judging by the number of times it's popped up on TV, Tarzan's Secret Treasure was one of the most popular of the MGM "Tarzan" pictures, though it's hardly the best. This time around, a group of gold hunters invade the domain of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) and Boy (Johnny Sheffield). Expedition leader Professor Elliot (Reginald Owen) is an honorable man, but his assistants Medford (Tom Conway) and Vandemeer (Philip Dorn) are scoundrels, while the party's aggressively Irish general factotum O'Doul (Barry Fitzgerald) remains an enigma until the final reel. Thinking they've done away with Tarzan, Medford and Vandemeer force Jane and Boy to lead them through the jungle to a hidden gold mine, only to be captured by a hostile tribe which specializes in literally tearing its captives apart (via tastefully gruesome stock footage from 1936's Tarzan Escapes). Will ol' Tarz revive in time to rescue his loved ones from fierce tribesmen and even fiercer crocodiles? Perhaps the "campiest" of MGM's "Tarzan" entries, Tarzan's Secret Treasure is chock full of laughable vignettes, one or two of them intentional. Best line: When Jane asks Boy what he's been doing all day, the plucky youngster, who's just survived a series of hair-raising perils culminating with his nearly being burned at the stake by superstitious natives, replies "Oh, nothing much." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
Spanning 50 years, director John Ford's How Green Was My Valley revolves around the life of the Morgans, a Welsh mining family, as told through the eyes of its youngest child Huw (Roddy McDowall). Over the years, the family struggles to survive through unionization, strikes, and child abuse. As they do so, their hometown and its culture begins to slowly decline. Donald Crisp portrays Gwilym, the patriarch of the Morgan household, who dreams of a better life for young Huw. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Llewellyn, How Green Was My Valley won five Academy Awards in 1941, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Crisp), Best Art Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Picture (beating Citizen Kane). The book was later adapted into a 1975 BBC miniseries. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1941
- PG
The fifth film version of Jack London's The Sea Wolf stars Edward G. Robinson as "premature fascist" Wolf Larsen. The captain of the scavenger ship Ghost, Larsen is a heartless tyrant who can tolerate no sign of weakness in anyone. "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" is Larsen's philosophy (borrowed from the character of Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost), and accordingly he reigns over his hellish vessel in true satanic fashion. Idealistic writer Humphrey Van Weyden (Alexander Knox) and fugitive from justice Ruth Webster (Ida Lupino) are picked up by the Ghost when their ferryboat capsizes. Realizing that their chances of getting off the boat alive are nil, Van Weyden and Ruth conspire with embittered cabin boy Leach (John Garfield) to escape. They drift in a small open boat for days, only to return to the Ghost, which has apparently been scuttled by the mutinous crew. Larsen has gone blind, but refuses to allow his crew to learn this fact, forcing Van Weyden at gunpoint to perpetuate the illusion that Larsen can still see. Ultimately, the Ghost sinks beneath the waves, carrying Larsen and Van Weyden to their doom ("This is the end of Superman!" cries Van Weyden as the ocean envelops him); Ruth and Leach manage to save themselves, rowing toward the safety of a nearby island -- and hopefully escaping to a new life. The 1941 Sea Wolf would not be the last cinematic adaptation of London's novel; multiple versions have since been produced for both film and television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, (more)
- 1941
In this crime drama set on the seedy waterfront of San Francisco, a longshoreman studies in his spare time to become an aircraft mechanic. He is also in love with a barmaid who works at her father's saloon. One day at the bar, the longshoreman gets into a fight with a man who is later found dead. Naturally, the longshoreman becomes the prime suspect and is arrested. There are two men who can prove him innocent, but they are in league with the real killer, a fugitive from Alcatraz. Meanwhile, a priest, a drunk, and the girl's father try to prove that the longshoreman is innocent by finding the fugitive's wife. The barmaid and the trampy wife then get in a big fight. In the end, the priest and the fugitive wrestle it out and the thief gets his just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burgess Meredith, Irene Hervey, (more)
- 1943
Making her first film appearance since 1941, Deanna Durbin plays the title role in The Amazing Mrs. Holliday. Truth to tell, however, there is no Mrs. Holliday: it's the guise assumed by idealistic missionary Ruth (Durbin) to sneak a group of Chinese war orphans into the US. With the help of ship's steward Timothy (Barry Fitzgerald), Ruth poses as the wife of a wealthy shipping magnate who was lost at sea. This enables her to safely sequester the orphans in the Holliday family mansion until she can cook up her next scheme. But things begin to unravel when Ruth falls in love with her "husband"'s grandson (Edmond O'Brien)-and, of course, when Mr. Holliday (Harry Davenport) himself turns up alive and well. The Amazing Mrs. Holliday was originally intended as Durbin's dramatic debut, and originally directed by Jean Renoir, but Universal insisted upon retakes and added songs. Though virtually all of Renoir's completed footage was retained, final directorial credit was bestowed upon Bruce Manning, the film's producer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1943
Too expensive for a "B"-picture, yet not quite an A, Two Tickets to London is an acceptable vehicle for French leading lady Michele Morgan and Universal contract player Alan Curtis. The stars are cast as Jeanne, a café entertainer, and Dan Driscoll, an American naval officer unjustly imprisoned for treason. With Jeanne's help, Dan tries to make his escape -- and, hopefully, clear his name -- in fog-shrouded London. Many of the sets utilized in this film were recycled for Universal's horror epics and Sherlock Holmes films. Two Tickets to London bears a few traces of Warner Bros.' Casablanca, even unto featuring Dooley Wilson ("Play it, Sam") in a key scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Alan Curtis, (more)
- 1943
Randolph Scott was the star of Corvette K-225, a tribute to the World War II corvette escorts which guided Allied convoys through treacherous Atlantic waters. Scott plays the officer in charge of a Royal Canadian corvette cruiser, dedicated to keeping the troops safe from enemy submarine attack. The focus of the film is a danger-ridden journey from Halifax to Britain, the tension quotient heightened by the use of actual combat footage. Only the romantic triangle involving Scott, James Brown and Ella Raines bogs down this thrill-a-minute war picture. Corvette K-225 was produced by Howard Hawks, though the direction was credited to Richard Rosson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, James Brown, (more)
- 1944
It took some doing to persuade the staunchly Catholic Bing Crosby to play a happy-go-lucky priest in Going My Way; luckily he acquiesced, winning an Academy Award in the process. Crosby is cast as Father Chuck O'Malley, newly arrived at rundown, heavily in debt St. Dominic's Church. Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald), the cranky, set-in-his-ways curate of St. Dominic's, is none too pleased with O'Malley's breezy, "modernistic" methods. Fitzgibbon is content to adhere to the policies he has followed for nearly 45 years. Without overtly challenging Fitzgibbon's authority (he likes the old buzzard, and the feeling is mutual), O'Malley sets about to win the confidence of the local street toughs, organizing the boys into an angelic church choir. He also forestalls the plans of St. Dominic's mortgage holder Ted Haines (Gene Lockhart) to evict Fitzgibbons by arranging a fundraising choir tour, to be headlined by O'Malley's childhood friend, opera star Genevieve Linden (Rise Stevens). When he's not coming to the rescue of St. Dominic's, O'Malley is smoothing the path of romance for Haines' son (James Brown) and orphaned Carol James (Jean Heather), and arranging for a reunion between Fitzgibbons and his nonagenarian Irish mother. There is sentiment by the bucketful in Going My Way, but director Leo McCarey sagaciously tempers the treacle with moments of genuine hilarity and several delightful (and seemingly spontaneous) musical interludes. In addition to Crosby, Oscars went to Barry Fitzgerald, Leo McCarey, screenwriters Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, and Burke and Van Heusen's song hit "Swingin' On a Star." Bing Crosby repeated his father O'Malley characterization in McCarey's 1945 sequel The Bells of St. Mary's. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Rise Stevens, (more)
- 1944
Paulette Goddard and Sonny Tufts, two of the stars of director Mark Sandrich's wartime morale-booster So Proudly We Hail, were reunited in Sandrich's I Love a Soldiers. Looking gorgeous in bib overalls, Goddard plays defense-plant welder Eva Morgan, who avoids romance but gives generously of her time at the local GI canteen. One evening, soldier Dan Kilgore (Sonny Tufts) saunters into the canteen; Eva takes one look at the handsome hunk, and it's love at first sight, despite her vow to steer clear of romantic entanglements. Upon learning that Dan is already married, however, Eva bitterly breaks off the relationship. She is drawn back to him when he insists he's about to get a divorce, but renounces him again-not because she doesn't believe his divorce story, but because she feels that he'd be more valuable on the battlefield if he could only get his mind off women. Boy, is this a period piece! Outside of its stars, I Love a Soldier affords excellent acting opportunities for a number of character actresses, especially Mary Treen in a role specifically written for her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paulette Goddard, Sonny Tufts, (more)
- 1944
- NR
Cary Grant delivered Oscar-calibre performances all his life, but only when he played against type in None But the Lonely Heart did the Academy Awards people break down and give him a nomination. Grant plays a restless, irresponsible cockney who seeks a better life but doesn't seem to have the emotional wherewithal to work for such a life. The hero's shiftlessness extends to his love life; musician Jane Wyatt genuinely cares for him, but he prefers the company of fickle gangster's ex-wife June Duprez. June's former husband George Coulouris convinces Grant that the quickest means to wealth is a life of crime, but Grant drops this aspect of his life to take care of his terminally ill mother Ethel Barrymore. While Cary Grant did not win the Oscar he so richly deserved for None But the Lonely Heart, Ethel Barrymore did cop the gold statuette. Written and directed by Clifford Odets, None But the Lonely Heart unfortunately lost money for RKO, which could have used a little extra cash after paying the expenses of temporarily closing Ms. Barrymore's Broadway play The Corn is Green. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Ethel Barrymore, (more)
The Stork Club, the famed New York nightspot immortalized by columnist Walter Winchell (in return for special favors from its owners), is the setting for this typically brash Betty Hutton musical. Hutton plays a young hat check girl who rescues an elderly tramp (Barry Fitzgerald) from drowning. The old bum turns out to be a millionaire, and expresses his gratitude by setting up Hutton in luxury--asking for nothing in return. Hutton's boyfriend Don DeFore suspects hanky panky, but all is forgiven during the obligatory floor show. There are rumors that the Stork Club itself financed The Stork Club as a feature-length commercial. Whatever the case, ownership of the film was cloudy enough to allow it to slip into the public domain in 1982, which explains why Stork Club seems to be running 24 hours a day on cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, (more)
Based on the classic novel by mystery author Agatha Christie that was later adapted as the Broadway hit Ten Little Indians , And Then There Were None begins with ten characters, each with a skeleton in his or her closet, on a remote island off the English coast. They soon realize that they have been brought there by an insane judge, who has tried each of them for criminal behavior in the past, and who now feels it is his duty to render proper justice for each. The struggle to stay alive begins as each "guest" is eliminated in a fashion that corresponds to the titular nursery rhyme. Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, and C. Aubrey Smith are among those marked for death. The film's ending differs from that of the novel, and later remakes in 1966, 1975, and 1989 (all using the title Ten Little Indians), alternated between Christie's original finale and this film's climax. Depending on one's taste, the film's pacing is either excruciatingly slow or suspenseful, but the storyline has become a cinematic staple in everything from horror (Theatre Of Blood) to satire (Murder By Death). ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, (more)
- 1945
Incendiary Blonde is a highly entertaining if historically suspect biopic of "Queen of the Nightclubs" Texas Guinan. As played (or overplayed) by Betty Hutton, Guinan is a hoydenish Texas gal whose showbiz career gets under way when she joins a Wild West show in 1909. A favorite with male patrons because of her salty vocabulary and what-the-hell attitude, Guinan rises to fame as a Broadway musical-comedy star and movie actress, only to crash-land after an unhappy marriage to her manager Tim Callahan (Bill Goodwin). Taking advantage of Prohibition, Guinan opens the first of several nightclubs, fending off the Feds while welcome her customers with an insouciant "Hello, sucker!" Naturally, Betty Hutton is given several opportunities to sing and dance, which she does with her usual unbridled enthusiasm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Hutton, Arturo de Cordova, (more)
- 1945
Several of Paramount Pictures brightest stars make cameo appearances in this comedy set in "Duffy's Tavern," a favorite watering hole from old time radio shows. The trouble begins when the neighborhood bar is in danger of closing. The trouble begins when the proprietor, Archie, discovers that one of his regulars, Michael O'Malley, owner of a record company is going broke. This means that many veterans will soon be unemployed and therefore, unable to pay their tab at the tavern. Archie immediately begins recruiting famous stars to donate their services and help. They do, the record company is saved and so is the tavern. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, (more)
